I keep accidentally watching movies made by The Asylum. It's a problem.
I'm as confounded by the notion of the "urban myth" in the premise as I am by the fact that it was used as the premise for a movie; the scene in which it's spouted out as exposition is outrageously gauche. The opening scene is actually entirely unnecessary. The music we're treated to in the soundtrack as soon as the film jumps to the "present day" (presumably 2012) sounds about 20 years out of date, and is otherwise tiresome. The characters immediately come across as mostly obnoxious and unlikable, and the dialogue is altogether rotten. The scene writing and execution thereof is heavy-handed and downright crude, not least least as additional scenes beyond the opening are altogether superfluous (such as a sex scene), and the pace drags interminably. Chris Ridenhour's original music could scarcely be more bland, and the special effects are just about as bald-faced and unconvincing as they could be.
I didn't have especially high expectations for 'Hold your breath' in the first place; the realization all too late of who produced this set off alarm bells. It is, however, even worse than I could have anticipated. I'm not particularly familiar with the cast; so far as I'm aware Katrina Bowden is the only player I've seen before, and if nothing else she was one of the few bright spots of largely awful 2013 horror-thriller 'Nurse.' I generously assume that given the opportunity to earnestly demonstrate their skills in another picture the ensemble would prove their worth. To judge them based on this alone, however, one would never know, for there's not the slightest trace of nuance in any of the acting. In fairness it might really not be their fault, because Geoff Meed's screenplay and Jared Cohn's direction are both just as tawdry - blunt, juvenile, boring, unbelievable, and not engaging in the least. The idea lying at the foundation of the movie could have feasibly served as impetus for a suitable if unremarkable supernatural horror flick were any meaningful care taken, but the picture moves along so lackadaisically that even if the content were worthwhile, the value would be all but lost as the digital timer limps along. And to that point: more than anything the "horror" element in 'Hold your breath' is merely low-grade torture porn, like 'Hostel' but with far less craftsmanship.
The possible fun of seeing actors portray two different characters upon possession is crushed by the confoundedly forthright acting in any instance. The possible fun of tension, suspense, and atmosphere is ruined by unnecessary dialogue and lousy direction at all points. Every now and again while watching I think maybe it's not the absolute bottom of the barrel after all, maybe there's some infinitesimal joy to be found here - only to in the next moment have my worst fears confirmed again. What seems to have happened here is that The Asylum greenlit a feature based on the worst possible root concept, then approved a screenplay that was the worst possible treatment of that concept. I'm well aware that the production company is known for churning out such schlock, yet I'm as surprised as anyone that every now and again they release something that's not half bad - so when one stumbles onto another trash pile like this, one can nevertheless be baffled that the studio apparently has no shame. I feel bad for the cast and hope they have been able to move on from this in the time since. I cannot overstate: by whatever means one finds this film, whatever reason you think you might have to watch it, 'Hold your breath' is not worthwhile.
I'm as confounded by the notion of the "urban myth" in the premise as I am by the fact that it was used as the premise for a movie; the scene in which it's spouted out as exposition is outrageously gauche. The opening scene is actually entirely unnecessary. The music we're treated to in the soundtrack as soon as the film jumps to the "present day" (presumably 2012) sounds about 20 years out of date, and is otherwise tiresome. The characters immediately come across as mostly obnoxious and unlikable, and the dialogue is altogether rotten. The scene writing and execution thereof is heavy-handed and downright crude, not least least as additional scenes beyond the opening are altogether superfluous (such as a sex scene), and the pace drags interminably. Chris Ridenhour's original music could scarcely be more bland, and the special effects are just about as bald-faced and unconvincing as they could be.
I didn't have especially high expectations for 'Hold your breath' in the first place; the realization all too late of who produced this set off alarm bells. It is, however, even worse than I could have anticipated. I'm not particularly familiar with the cast; so far as I'm aware Katrina Bowden is the only player I've seen before, and if nothing else she was one of the few bright spots of largely awful 2013 horror-thriller 'Nurse.' I generously assume that given the opportunity to earnestly demonstrate their skills in another picture the ensemble would prove their worth. To judge them based on this alone, however, one would never know, for there's not the slightest trace of nuance in any of the acting. In fairness it might really not be their fault, because Geoff Meed's screenplay and Jared Cohn's direction are both just as tawdry - blunt, juvenile, boring, unbelievable, and not engaging in the least. The idea lying at the foundation of the movie could have feasibly served as impetus for a suitable if unremarkable supernatural horror flick were any meaningful care taken, but the picture moves along so lackadaisically that even if the content were worthwhile, the value would be all but lost as the digital timer limps along. And to that point: more than anything the "horror" element in 'Hold your breath' is merely low-grade torture porn, like 'Hostel' but with far less craftsmanship.
The possible fun of seeing actors portray two different characters upon possession is crushed by the confoundedly forthright acting in any instance. The possible fun of tension, suspense, and atmosphere is ruined by unnecessary dialogue and lousy direction at all points. Every now and again while watching I think maybe it's not the absolute bottom of the barrel after all, maybe there's some infinitesimal joy to be found here - only to in the next moment have my worst fears confirmed again. What seems to have happened here is that The Asylum greenlit a feature based on the worst possible root concept, then approved a screenplay that was the worst possible treatment of that concept. I'm well aware that the production company is known for churning out such schlock, yet I'm as surprised as anyone that every now and again they release something that's not half bad - so when one stumbles onto another trash pile like this, one can nevertheless be baffled that the studio apparently has no shame. I feel bad for the cast and hope they have been able to move on from this in the time since. I cannot overstate: by whatever means one finds this film, whatever reason you think you might have to watch it, 'Hold your breath' is not worthwhile.