Kolobos- my review

KOLOBOS opens in someone else's point of view, someone who's obviously out of it, wondering the nighttime street aimlessly. The person is suddenly hit by a car, and when one of the car's occupants gets out to check on the person, we find out that its a female as she faintly utters the word "kolobos".

The girl is taken to the hospital where she is operated on and is afterwards put in a room with bandages all over her face. She has obviously suffered very deep slashes on her face and various other parts of her body. She won't or can't talk, but the patient next to her decides to read the newspaper adds to her for the hell of it, and one of the ads triggers her to remember everything that has happened to her (we also find out that her name is Kyra, and she has spent time in a halfway house). Its an ad looking for five young people to participate in a groundbreaking new experimental film. They will be stuck in this big, fancy house with videocameras watching their every move (ala that dumb Big Brother show). There's just one problem. Something is VERY awry in this house, and all hell is about to break loose. Could ex-loony Kyra be behind it all, or is there something much more sinister afoot? And what is "kolobos", and what does it have to do with everything?

KOLOBOS is a film I passed by many times in the videostore and never even thought about checking out, as it looked just like another DTV shitfest. Later, I saw some raves about the film on one of the boards I frequent, so I decided to finally check it out, and I was blown away. The film's cover art does not do it justice at all, and it is easily one of the best, most atmospheric, and most downright creepy as hell independent horror films I've had the pleasure of viewing in quite some time.

The characters are all well portrayed, and they felt very real, which added to the film's effectiveness. The film is also pretty damn gory. Its not the goriest film of all time, but there are some damn gory moments, that's for sure! The first death in the film also took me by surprise big time.

The house is a big and creepy setting, and it oozes with bleak atmosphere, even before things go wrong. The film's score is also very nice and moody, and I loved how it was similar to SUSPIRIA's masterful score at times.

This film took me by surprise and turned out to be one hell of a creepy and interesting good time! It is now a permanent part of my collection, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The DVD is in widescreen, but isn't anamorphic. Either way, the transfer is still damn good, and the only problems were a small bit of grain and some softness to the picture at times. Neither is a major problem, and this is a damn good transfer! The disc also goes for really cheap most places, and I got mine for about 10 bucks at Best Buy.

The 5.1 stereo surround is nice and strong, and I had absolutely no problems with it.

To round of the DVD is a fittingly creepy trailer, and a star biography.

A great disc for a cheap price, and the film is an underseen gem!

[Hellbilly]

Another film I might add to my endless list .... that is, if Mark allows me to
Kolobos sounds interesting enough though. Thanks for the great review Cujo

I've passed by this many times and almost picked it up, but then I saw My Little Eye and calmed my craving for a reality show-style horror film.

[DefJeff]

great review Cujo! I definitally have to pick this one up next time im at Best Buy

[The Chaostar]

"Kolobos" as a word, equales, in greek of course, to "fucked-in-the-ass" - something that has always prevented me from watching this.

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally posted by The Chaostar
"Kolobos" as a word, equales, in greek of course, to "fucked-in-the-ass" - something that has always prevented me from watching this.

That's about fucked up!

[Hellbilly]

Hmmm now I'm having second thoughts about this film

Originally posted by The Chaostar
"Kolobos" as a word, equales, in greek of course, to "fucked-in-the-ass" - something that has always prevented me from watching this.

haha i only just realised you've got your location set as "Hell-as" funny play on words

[The Chaostar]

Thanks mate! Glad you noticed!

I saw this movie as part of a four movie set at BB for like 15 bucks.I always wondered if this one or any others were any good.Maybe I will pick it up if Kolobos is good.Hope they still have it.Thanks for the review.

Man, I can't believe you liked this movie. Your glowing review almost makes me want to watch it again to make sure I didn't put in a different disc by mistake. Almost.

I advise anyone thinking about buying this to rent it first. The acting wasn't bad, but the story is terrible. At the end I felt like the film had somehow reached into my brain and directly slapped my intelligence.

[gusse]

I saw this movie 15minutes ago. I think it's a pretty nice little film, it's just too bad about the crappy dialouge and lame actors...

The thing that I liked about this movie was the fact that it didn't turn out to be a run-of-the-mill slasher like you initially felt it would. Even though I have to say I figured out the ending pretty quick (to me it felt obvious at once, but there seems to be many people over att IMDB who still dont get it!?) it was still a fun ride. The metamorphosis from slasher to a more psychological ghost-mystery was fun!

As mentioned before there are a bunch of very obvious homages older movies. Most notably some of Dario Argento's work (most obvious beeing the teeth smashing from Deep Red and the music (as well as some of the lighting) from Suspiria and Inferno. ...I also found the cutting of the face of the girl to be remicent of Bird With The Crystal Plumage, but perhaps that's just me and my vivid imagination?) and Lucio Fulci (the famous stick-in-the-eye from Zombie Flesh Eaters). But to be honest the overall feeling I got from this movie wasn't all that "Italian". If you ask me this movie plays more like a mixture of The House On Haunted Hill (the remake that is - Im thinking about the faceless-shaking-ghostfigures, originally seen in Jacob's Ladder...), Evil Dead Trap (all the sinister traps... AND the Argento/Goblin homages) and last but not least My Little Eye (I know, I know - Kolobos was released before My Little Eye. But I saw "Eye" first... sorry about that ).

At the end of the day the movie plays like a crossbreed of a slasher and a ghost story. It has the gore of the slasher (I was actually surprised by the amout of carnage in this one. Gorehounds will love it!) and the surreal-spooky atmosphere of a ghost flick. The acting and dialouge leavs alot to be desired if you ask me, but all in all it's not enough to ruin the whole experience of this movie. ..Though it keeps it from being a alltogether enjoyable night at the cinema (DVD/VCR).

It's a Decent movie, better than moste of the junk the Hollywood studios try to sell to us!

Showed this film to my cousin for the first time earlier today, and he wound up loving it as well. I truly adore this film, and as I've said before, I think its the best direct to video movie that I've seen, and I think it deserved a theatrical run, as its better than several theatrical horror films too if you ask me. I may lengthen my review soon down the line, as I'd like it to be more extensive.

[Katatonia]

I've always really liked the film.

[dwatts]

Damn, like Cujo108 mentions in his original post, this is a film I see a lot, but continue to pass by. It's cheap, I really must pick it up...