11:11 (2004) User Reviews

The proverbial game of two halves...

[anxietyresister · 3/10 · 2 August 2007]

The film starts well enough. It is a truly terrifying scene as a couple of fugitives on the run from the law tear apart an innocent family living in a secluded country cottage by killing the mother and father. The young daughter only manages to escape with the aid of a mysterious spectre, who kills the two aggressors while she covers in a downstairs cupboard. Then, we catch up with her 15 years later as a drug-addled student researching the supernatural, living with her promiscuous aunt and being looked after by a mysterious redhead. She has no real friends, was almost raped at a party and keeps having bizarre visions which no-one else can see. So yep, life is grand. Things get a lot more pleasant when she has a falling out with her mum's sister, who is later found dead in a bathtub under suspicious circumstances with 11 etched into her forehead. Hmm, I wonder who the police's main suspect will be? This is quickly followed by more deaths, all linked by their relation to our heroine having been on bad terms with them before their passing. Could she be the culprit, or perhaps the explanation could be something of a more ethereal nature? Clue: If you think the former, you've picked up the wrong movie from Blockbuster. Go back and get the correct one, short-sighted gimp.

As I said, I was all ready to fast-forward to the good parts, safe in the knowledge that I wasn't missing out on anything but a mediocre suspense potboiler. But the first ten minutes grabbed me, and I decided to give it a chance. I was quite pleasantly surprised: it certainly wasn't a masterpiece but the acting was good enough and the script kept throwing up intriguing situations of which I looked forward to finding the solution to. Alas, 45 minutes in, I realised my attention start to wander during a long sequence where the main character is walking round a library, doing nothing. We then get a cheap scare, followed by quarter of an hour of goddledegook about the paranormal between her and her new hunk of a boyfriend. Things only got worse from there, as the promising beginning is thrown out the window as we get one unconvincing plot twist after another, followed by an ending so anti-climatic it's like being promised the moon and ending up with a teeny weeny meteorite instead. Pathetic.

If it was bad all the way through, it would have been far easier to swallow. The fact that it starts at a canter and barely ends with a whimper is not just disappointing, it is heartbreaking. How can something which began so promisingly end up being so formulaic? I don't know, and I don't particularly care. I'll just give the writer and director a bit of advice for next time: Don't spend 5 weeks writing the first part of your screenplay, then 5 minutes finishing the rest. You tend to notice these things in the final product when you treat your project as sloppily as you have here... 3/10

A Confused Screenplay and an Awful Lead Actress

[claudio_carvalho · 3/10 · 1 July 2005]

First of all, this movie is so confused that it is almost impossible to summarize it, since I myself did not understand this horrible story. Further, the unknown cast, leaded by an actress called Laura Mennell, is simply awful. The expressions and screams of the character Sara Tobias are laughable and ridiculous, confusing grimaces with acting. Last but not the least, there are many favorable reviews about this flick in IMDb as follows:

• Top Notch- Can't wait to see more of the directors work – the author has only one review in IMDb on 24 September 2004;

• Incredibly shot, amazingly intense – the author has only one review in IMDb on 12 August 2004;

• Not your typical blood and gore, in fact better. 7/10 – the author has only one review in IMDb on 13 February 2005;

• As intense as Asian horror!! - the author has only one review in IMDb on 14 November 2004.

Coincidence? Or are they the parents, relatives, friends or people hired by the production to promote this crap? My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "11.11 – A Nova Profecia" ("11.11 – The New Prophecy")

stylized posturing

[zimbo_the_donkey_boy · 3/10 · 10 March 2007]

Was a college acting class exercise filmed and released as a movie? The formulaic posturing and stylized drivel of a "horror" soap opera for people who don't like horror films but wish to be able to tell that friends that, yes, they did see a horror movie. It even features soap opera music.

Do books falling off library shelves scare you? Do doors shutting terrify you? Then this flick is for you. Have you ever been kidnapped? Yeah, most of us have. When you were raped, was it simply ignored, because the rapist was the cool kid? What's scary is not this movie but this filmmaker's view of the world.

And then the little twists aren't even original. This is a film for people who've never seen a horror film before, who don't want to see one now, and who want to see another flick about everyone conspiring against the weird kid.

11:11 Hell's Disappointment

[brownie-war · 1/10 · 12 December 2005]

i hired this movie out from my local movie shop, not really expecting anything to flash or fancy. Since it was a "B" grade movie, made on a very tight budget. The opening scenes of the film were rather original and so was the plot and thats what made me hire the movie out. However the film becomes very boring and frustrating at points. The story had plenty of holes in it and the acting had its fair share of disappointments as well By the end of the film i was praying that a higher power was going to strike me down where i laid as i was extremely bored but more importantly frustrated with how the story turned out. i still don't understand what actually happened and i don't particularly care. in conclusion the devil would cry in disgust to know that Hell (his domain ) was used as a basis for such a crappy film.

Pathetic...

[no_queen_blues · 1/10 · 12 November 2005]

What can be said about such a pathetic movie ?

• Very bad acting ! The main actress seems to know only one facial expression : fear mixed with weakness. Like a poor beaten dog... The other actress (the one who plays the evil) looks like the female double of Ozzy Osbourne, with an awful red wig. The other actors are so pitiful that they don't even worth being described.

• There's absolutely no plot. The story begins with possibilities but goes nowhere : we don't know anything about the meaning of "11:11", nor who Rayden really is, excepted the simple "she's evil" or "she's a child of Apocalypse"... which is not an explanation. We don't know why the parents have been killed, what kind of danger is growing and why Sara was chosen. As the film goes on, we just watch pseudo-scary scenes, with a bad music. Moreover, the end doesn't tell anything : we just see two possibilities as if one of them was a bonus scene or the director's cut... There's no plot, so no possible interpretation.

• "11:11" is just full of clichés ! It is so obvious that i couldn't help laughing. For example : the deserted library or the bathroom scenes, ghost silhouettes walking with a blast of wind, ... there's even the fashionable "little scary girl" as in "Dark Water" or "The Ring". Of course, the main character is bullied at school and looks like a stereotyped Gothic girl (dark hair, red lips, skinny, black clothes). Is it an obligation to make her credible ? I don't think so. The psychology of Sara is so few developed and so typical that it doesn't make her credible, nor endearing.

• Terrible direction : as i said, nothing original, everything has already been seen a thousand times and is used here without any real purpose.

• There are some funny incoherences. For example, i don't know if "ghost science", "paranormal course" or whatever is taught in American universities... In Europe it is really not the case : teachers talking about negative energies or using "unmaterial" creatures sensors... ridiculous. Also : how can you watch a movie shot in the sixties with a Super-8 camera on a computer screen without spending hours of your time for a digitalization (in the movie they watch it immediately on the computer screen) AND how can you, on this old film, isolate a tiny detail then zoom in and see a perfectly identifiable face ? I wonder if the director has ever tried to digitize an old analogical film...

Eventually, "11:11" just worths being watched if you like to laugh at silly movies, or maybe if you want to fall asleep on your couch... But it's an expensive way to fall asleep !

Dust-bin Dwellers: Bad D.V.D. rental night.

[Captain_Couth · 1/10 · 16 August 2005]

11:11 a.k.a. Hell's Gate (2004) is another bad horror movie that tries too hard to be something it's not. A young girl has an imaginary play mate. One day whilst out in the fields playing with her friends, a couple of fugitives visit her parents and whack them off for no apparent reason. The young girl runs off and hides from the bad men. Years later, the girl grows up into a woman with problems. Losers at her school (looking like repressed homosexuals) flaunt their manhood in front of her when she rejected one of them. The girls hate her and life in general is miserable for her. A secret from her past returns to visit her. Who or what is it? Why does everyone hate her? What's her Guardian's problem with her? To find out you'll have to watch Hell's Gate.

The new title makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don't know why people are given money to make such bad movies. This film is not even good enough to make fun of. It's a head ache inducing mess that'l confuse anyone who tries to make some sense out of it. Not worth your time.

Not recommended.

Terrible...

[pgroen · 1/10 · 13 August 2005]

Well This was a complete waste of celluloid. The preview was promising but after watching the movie, it looked like the preview *was* the whole movie. No plot, no clear storyline, just some misplaced suspense. It looks like the director tried very hard to create an atmosphere of mystique and fear, but still there are gaps to be filled. Why the drugs? Why the number 11.11? (Btw. As Sarah enteres the library, the clock says 11.14) What's the connection to the murder on the parents? What's the role of this Rayden woman? Is she one of the children or not? Who are those children anyway. There is a lot of material lying around to create the ultimate cult movie like "the Omen" but the director just leaves them lying on the floor without digging into the story. Even "the Blairwitch project" was more scary than this one. All the gaps you hope to be filled like in "The Butterfly effect" stay open as the credits start rolling.. OK. Off to the next movie...

To call this movie awful is to do disservice to the definition of awful

[skasturi · 1/10 · 17 February 2006]

Wow, what a bad film. Not frightening in the least, and barely comprehensible. The plot doesn't hang together at all, and the acting is absolutely appalling. What's that line from a famous critic? "She runs the emotional gamut from A to B." Yup. That about sums it up. Not even good for camp value! I wasn't expecting Oscar material, but this? And gosh, her friend's a ghost? You'd have to have the IQ of particularly stupid mollusk not to see that one coming.

This film (and I use that word loosely) is an insult to the movie-going public. If only someone involved with it knew how to string together narrative! This gets a 1 out of 10, simply because there's nothing lower. On the bright side--at least it's not a full two hours long.

Not worth it!

[HeshNZ · 1/10 · 30 July 2006]

Good lord! This movie needs to have a new classification on its cover "watch only if you have absolutely nothing else to do!". I am disappointed. I was looking forward to a good horror movie over the weekend...needed an adrenalin rush and that awesome tingling sensation going down my spine. But this movie didn't do it. A reasonably good story but pretty awful acting, dialogue, and filming. It was disjointed and sometimes outright silly. We had actors looking at the wrong direction of the camera, people talking out loud (by themselves) and narrating what they feel and what is going to happen, shadows of equipment in some shots, silly clichés like "I just need you to hold me" in the totally wrong places and situations. Thank you for allowing me to offload and sorry if I'd offended anybody but it was a waste of time and money.

This is singly the most boring film I have ever seen

[jim-966 · 1/10 · 1 September 2004]

Bad plot, bad acting, bad direction.

It had possibilities but just didn't achieve anything.

This film looks like someone started with an idea, googled a bit of info and then tried to flesh an hour and a half with lots of night shots and bad suspense music.

Others had to stop watching because they were scared 2/3 of the way through - I had to take a break purely because I just didn't care anymore.

Reminded me of an episode of Days of our Lives with marginally more suspense.

Just bad.

As intense as Asian horror !!

[jbrmvandenderen · 14 November 2004]

There has always been a big difference between American horror and Asian horror. American horror is mostly very bloody (slice & dice) or about scary monsters, insects etc. and a bunch of shocking effects that will let you jump out of your chair. But what scares me the most of Asian horror is the intensity of it. It grabs you by the throat and makes you sleep very bad... They start very slow and builds op the fear, which keeps you very alert because you are prepared for a shocking effect. The cinematic quality doesn't meet the standards of the American movies (which mostly have a very large budget...), but it is not the ultimate special effects, or the great performance of actors the makes a movie really worth seeing. I've seen low budget movies that are much much better than blockbusters which have costed millions of dollars. OK very bad acting and a lot of movie mistakes or a really unrealistic script can kill a movie. But if a movie is so intense that you can think of nothing else while watching and it stays in your head the hours or even days after seeing it, I think it is a real good movie, despite of some mistakes or bad cinematic quality... Now about this movie, the reason why I started with this introduction is that I think this movie is really intense. It has some horror effects I recognise in the assign horror movies I've seen (the eye, dark water, Ju-On etc). The cinematic quality is not so good, but the intensity makes up for that. For instance the scene at the library was superb !! If you have seen it you know what I am talking about comparing it to Asian horror...

For me this is what horror is about, not a lot of blood and scary monsters (most of these movies are funny instead of scary) , but so intense that you can feel the fear of the character(s) and let you sympathize with them thinking what you would do in that situation.

Not your typical blood and gore, in fact better. 7/10

[sabatini1965 · 8/10 · 13 February 2005]

There is no question that the movie has all the signs of a low budget film. Taking that in consideration, I consider it very well made. The characters of Sara and Raden were excellent, but the rest of are nothing to brag about. For some reason the movie plot reminds me of Donnie Darko. I am not comparing the movies; Donnie Darko is one of the best of this genre I've seen. What I am referring is that both plots share some prophecy of impending doom that approaches, accompanied by strange deaths along the way. Where this movie shines is on the intense portrayal of fear and lurking terror at all times. Most people who like this movie describe it with one word: intense. The movie somewhat falls apart in the ending, that even though is dark and creepy, is not clear about the final faith of the main character. Despite of that, I found myself more immersed in this movie that the American made Grudge.

It's not the worst you'll see...

[Hmj_22 · 7/10 · 10 December 2011]

As I've said in the summary, it's not the worst you'll see. There is many little moments when this film shows spark and a chance to really show everyone how good they are at writing, but unfortunately they just don't do it. The acting isn't the best and they movement of the story in the majority is quite slow. It did however grip me to know what on earth was going on but it was a shame for me when the film was coming to and end that after spending time to watch this film, I;m not any closer to understanding what 11:11 REALLY had to do with the overall story. I would say that if you want a bit of a scare without much gore, then watch this! It's not as bad as some people are saying...but I wouldn't want to see it again!

One of the Worst I've Ever Seen

[RandomFlux · 1/10 · 4 June 2007]

If you see this film in the TV listings just ignore it. If you're looking for something scary you'll be better off watching reruns of the X-Files.

Previous comments referencing the incredibly poor acting by the female lead are dead on. She is almost unwatchable. The sum total of her range includes 'whiny and scared' and 'whiny and not scared'.

I am the kind of movie buff who enjoys a good 'bad' movie. But this is ridiculous. There is no direction. The plot is as simplistic as the set of numbers they keep throwing at you and much like that set of numbers, it ends up having no meaning in the end.

Your time will be better spent if you turn off the TV and give your dog a bath.

GACK! What A Stench Fest...

[goodbear40 · 1/10 · 27 April 2005]

Newly released on DVD in the US; just stay far away from it.

I usually give plenty of room for stupidity in horror films; I'll settle for nearly anything remotely suspenseful, supernatural, spooky, or even just a vaguely interesting concept. This one simply stank. I knew there was trouble when Sara's "best friend" in college, who had considerable screen time, wasn't even listed in the credits on IMDb! I wasn't surprised not recognizing any actors, but that character ("Daysha" or "Day-Glo" or whatever her name was) apparently didn't even exist!

I'm so embarrassed that I actually paid a rental fee for this garbage; deeply, deeply ashamed...

A confusing mess of a film.

[poolandrews · 2/10 · 31 May 2010]

11:11 starts as a young girl named Sara (Ingrid Libera) witnesses the murder of her parents at the hands of two escaped convicts who she then manages to shoot herself. Jump forward several years later & Sara (Laura Mennell) is a university student, she arrives home to find her aunt Lydia (Jane Sowerby) in bed with the guy who tried to rape her. Obviously upset Sara feels betrayed, whoever that night Lydia drowns in a bathtub & not long after the guy is found burned alive in his crashed car. Is this merely a coincidence? Is Sara a killer? Does Sara's creepy friend Raden (Christie Will) have anything to do with it & why does Sara keep seeing the numbers 11 11?

Known as Hell's Gate 11:11 in the US this Canadian production was co-written & directed by Michael Bafaro & for me 11:11 is a complete mess of a film that I suspect tried to be a supernatural psychological thriller but just comes across as a confusing mess that is actually very frustrating to watch. The script tries to juggle lots of ideas but gets it horribly wrong, there's some nonsense about the numbers 11:11 which are supposed to hold some supernatural significance, there's a few death's, some rubbish about ESP, there's some evil entity who disguises itself as a hot chick & most of all it's about not taking your medication which I don't think the makers of 11:11 did. At over 90 minutes 11:11 feels like it it goes on forever & is so disjointed & confusing it's hard to watch, while I just about kept up with it until the end in the hope that it would all becomes clear & the film would explain itself it never does or at least to any satisfactory degree. All the character's seem to talk in very vague terms about 'this' or 'that' or 'it' without ever going into specifics which doesn't help matters either. The ending is a mess where we learn Sara's good looking friend is some evil demon & then there's a shot of two young girls running down a road before the adult Sara then wakes up & we get a close up of Raden's eyes before the credits roll. So was it all a dream? What was with the flashback? Who really killed Lydia & that guy? What was the significance of the medication Sara stopped taking? Sara had great ESP levels but so what? What's all that rubbish about fate? What's with the random out of body experience at the end when that guy sees his own dead body? Also what's that bizarre ending in which Sara doesn't shoot Seth & walks away before magically going back in time & shooting him? What gate's are opening & how can 11:11 come? What is 11:11 for God's sake? Does anything make sense in 11:11? I just didn't get it, maybe I wasn't concentrating enough but I personally think you shouldn't need a PHD to work out what happens in a low budget supernatural horror film, should you?

You know I can relate to Sara because I also have been regularly experiencing the numbers 11:11, spookily it happens twice a day usually just after 11:10 for a minute or so until 11:12 & it's freaking me out. What can it mean? Does anyone have any explanations? Nope, it's a total mystery just like this film. The usual haunted house supernatural horror scares are here with doors opening & closing on their own & loud noise suddenly happening during quiet bits as people walk around in the dark, you know that sort of thing I am talking about. Forget about any gore as there isn't any.

Filmed in Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada this looks alright & has reasonable production values I suppose but nothing amazing. The acting isn't anything special, Laura Mennell looks like she wants to be a goth & Chrsitie Will is quite cute while I can't say I recognised anyone from the cast.

11:11 is a film that tries to make you think & be original but it just ends up being an absolute mess that is becomes very frustrating to watch. No scares, no blood or gore & a confusing plot sinks 11:11 without trace.

here's another 1 (my score)

[movieman_kev · 1/10 · 28 November 2008]

Years ago, Sara, a young girl witnessed her parents being murdered, now as an adult she suffers from various mental ailments (did I mention she has an imaginary friend?) This film lulls the viewer, not into a sense of tension, mind you, but rather a sense of sleepiness. Deathly boring, I found it hard to sit through as I could feel my eyelids growing heavier and heavier with each endless minute of mindless prattle and supposed 'mystery'. Is Sara going crazy? or is it the paranormal? A better question would be, Who cares? And the answer to that, no one. No one at all. Skip this film, save yourself some time better suited to do other more worthwhile tasks.

My Grade: D-

Incredibly shot, amazingly intense

[clarkent1984 · 12 August 2004]

I'm 2/3 of the way through this movie and I had to take a break. The intensity of each shot coupled with the surreality of the plot line makes me wish it weren't getting dark outside. I am not a fan of slash-em-up horror movies, but this one intrigued me. It reminds me of the terror Exorcist instilled in me while watching. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an intense movie, just don't watch it alone. The lead actress does an incredible job at conveying multiple levels of consciousness, which makes the plot and every scene that much more believable. I'll leave it at that and finish once the movie's finished.

The interweaving of prophesy, the supernatural, and incredible direction here is mind- boggling. While the supporting actors, especially the short lived ones, leave a little to be desired in terms of ability, it can be overlooked in the scope of this film. My only wish is that it had gone on longer.

Lead actress the only creepy thing in this movie.

[innocuous · 2/10 · 27 February 2008]

I know a couple people who look just like the lead actress in this film (or, at least, like the character she portrays.) They all give me the creeps and I would be the last person to ever lend one of them a gun or even a sharp knife. She has one mean and ugly-looking expression. If you can conjure up a bit of sympathy for her, let me know.

Of course, I might have the same expressions of concern and fear if I had an imaginary friend who had been killing off my real friends and acquaintances for the last 15 years.

And for our European friends on the IMDb, I'm saddened to say that, yes, some colleges and universities in the US teach courses on paranormal phenomena, relying on the pathetic defense that it represents "academic freedom" and open inquiry.

This film is not worth your while. You will have no sympathy for any of the characters (except for Aunt Lydia, who gets offed pretty early) and the plot makes no sense.

the lack of money tears it down

[trashgang · 4/10 · 14 June 2010]

Straight to DVD this one went, easy to watch, some good moments, some bad moments, in fact I don't really know what to think of it. The start, as with many movies, isn't really that bad at all but being a low budget you will have to do a lot of blah blah due money restrictions. Talking about the effects, well, there are no effects. Car crashes off screen. People being shot in the head, off screen. showing dead bodies, no blood and I can go on and on. In other reviews people are really tearing down the main actress, Laura Mennell. I admit, she isn't that good but here she plays in one of her first major rol. In 2010 she will be seen in the already acclaimed Hard Ride To Hell, a gory piece of exploitation. If they had money they could have made a great movie but it fails a bit, no scary parts, it's sad, but also in the editing there are some faults left in, for example, the shadow of the zooming camera on a wall, you can count on it that they mostly made one takers. Anyhow. One to watch before you get to business with the real stuff.

Hokier than a Canadian Horror Flick

[Alex-372 · 5/10 · 2 July 2005]

This Canadian supernatural thriller has some good ideas, but is pretty bad. Worse than May (with Angela Bettis), which at least was internally consistent as a story. Why "11:11"? Who knows? Who cares.

Writer/director Michael Bafaro is not David Lynch. For that matter, one David Lynch is quite enough. If I want to be baffled about what the story is all about, not because the subject matter is so difficult, but because the writer/director fails to tell a coherent story, then I get ticked off.

Laura Mennell is cute and looks like a younger Andie MacDowell. She is the only upside to this movie and I hope she goes a long way.

The red haired actress who plays the apparition is terrible though, and all she does is slowly walk down stairs in a menacing way.

Skip.

Not the worst, Not the best...

[nathan-loiselle · 5/10 · 6 April 2009]

Okay, so one person said that if you liked 11:11 then you've got to be a Goth. But I personally prefer being called Alternative.

Just like this film should be defined as alternative. It was an interesting film that while didn't really give some answers like who really was that Raden chick anyways? Or was it really all a dream? I feel like it could have been Dallas.

There are some really interesting things to note. The twenty major occurrences to happen before 2011. Some actually being the earth quake of San Francisco, 9/11, Mad cow disease, and the election of a black Pope and thus the madness of man. (Black pope's are Jesuits not actually African or something.) Also the methodology of paranormal researchers is pretty accurate compared to some other films.

Of course, it's not completely accurate. Someone else also said that they enjoyed this film because they like prophecies. They probably should have pointed out that the Mayan Armageddon came and went about 600 years ago.

Sure, the acting wasn't the best but it was better than most horror/end of days films you see including the 'End of Days'. Other films that were frankly not better, but had a better budget, could be considered to include The Omen, Constantine, and Signs. But of course we know that cash doesn't a good movie make. After all, we have 'Night of the Living Dead', 'Evil Dead II' (which is horrible acting, cinematography, and everything else but that story), 'Lost Souls', and 'The Prophecy'. And I would include this film among them.

Overall, it's a good story that doesn't go over the top or attempt to please us with a happy ending. There's no massive battles with a lack of cops, although the one that did happen also resulted in the Sheriff dying if anyone was paying attention. There's no flashy graphics or bobble headed morons to distract us. The only thing that hurt this film? Editing. It's obvious that it should have been much, much longer.

i thought it was very suspenseful,creepy and entertaining

[disdressed12 · 9/10 · 23 March 2007]

i thought this was a really good movie.it's a sort of ghost story/end of the world prophecy combination.it has some similarities to both "The Ring" and "The Grudge".i didn't really care for those 2 movies.i just didn't feel they worked for me.this 1 however,worked really well for me.there are many very suspenseful and eerie moments.the hair on my neck stood up a lot in this movie.i thought the acting was pretty good. i also liked that fact that they kept you guessing about things until the end.i did,anyway,and i wasn't sure how it would end.i like unpredictability in these kinds of movies.the ending is sort of open ended,so you can come to your own conclusions.i think this is 1 of the better movies of this genre,that i have seen.i'm sure there are lot's of plot holes and inconsistencies,if you really look for them.but i just wanted to be entertained and hopefully creeped out for a couple hours,and i was.besides,i/m sure every movie has flaws of some kind.it just depends what your reasons for watching are.if you did enjoy "The Grudge" and "The Ring",you may enjoy this movie as much or maybe more.for me,"11:11:Hell's Gate is a 9/10

It balances somewhere in between pure genius and foolish amateurism

[philip_vanderveken · 7/10 · 18 April 2005]

I have to admit that I've never heard of Michael Bafaro before, the director and writer of this movie, but I'm convinced that not many people have. In fact, I haven't ever heard of any of the actors in the movie either. So why did I watch it then? Well, only because it was announced as a horror movie. I'm not saying that I'm a great fan of the genre, because I hate all that gory zombie stuff, but I admit that I like the more suspenseful movies in the genre (often based on Asian movies).

This movie is about a young woman who has witnessed 18 years earlier her parents being killed by some escaped prisoners. Now she is confronted with her mothers ghost and supernatural events happening to her and other people in her surroundings. As she tries to understand what is actually happening, three people are killed ... all after she wished them dead.

I have to say that this isn't the worst movie in the genre that I've ever seen. As I already said, I like suspenseful movies and this one certainly offered enough of that. But it is far from a perfect movie. The acting is sometimes pretty awful and the story seems to balance somewhere in between pure genius and foolish amateurism. Some scenes in the movie are really hair raising, but these are then followed by scenes that even an amateur can do a lot better. In fact, the entire movie felt a bit like it was made by a student who had too much spare time, but not enough money to make a decent movie out of it. All in all this movie is certainly worth a watch for the people who love the genre, but it just isn't the best example you'll ever see. I give it a 6.5/10.

Starts Off Well...But Too Convoluted By The End.

[meddlecore · 4/10 · 18 October 2015]

11:11 is Canadian B-horror film, shot in BC. It starts off excellent, with an intriguing concept. But by the end of the film you can't help but feel lost and confused by the convoluted storyline. I don't think it's as bad as some other reviewers make it out to be...but it's not particularly good either. While shot well enough, the ending seemed to be rushed- relying upon an over-exploited twist that seem forced and rather unnecessary.

The film focuses on Sarah, a University student who is studying the paranormal in order to better grasp her own psychic abilities. She comes from a traumatic past- during which she witnessed her parents murdered- which still affects her to this day. And because of this, a group of local thugs like to pick on her, as they perceive her to be a freak.

Essentially, she is haunted by the ghost(? possibly a demon or angel?...hard to say based on the info provided) of a young girl who she has seen throughout her life- even before her parents were murdered. At points the director seems to lead you to believe there are actually two ghosts in the film- one of the young girl (who has aged in her ghostly form), and the spirit of the mother- but by the end there seems to be only one...and this was all a subtle attempt to ruse the viewer. However, the way in which it is compiled renders it all very confusing and hard to follow.

Anyways, whenever someone has intentions to wrong or harm Sarah...they find themselves meeting a terrifying and deadly fate. The local police suspect she must be involved but can't bring themselves around to arrest her without any evidence. The local thugs are sure she is to blame though- and seek to dole out their own brand of vigilante justice.

But every time someone tries, they wind up dead. And it is suggested the entity that has been haunting Sarah since birth is responsible.

To decipher what this entity is, one must pay close attention to the background details at the beginning of the film. A newscast running in the background of an early scene suggests that the film will be oriented around the poltergeist phenomenon. Poltergeists are not, in fact, ghosts. They are externalized manifestations of the psyche originating from psychically inclined individuals who have experienced instances of intense emotion or trauma in their lives. However, it could be argued that this is not reinforced in the conclusion of the film. Hence it being another source of confusion. I personally perceived this to be another subtle attempt to ruse the viewer and throw them off speculating where the conclusion might lead.

What actually seems to be going on, is that- on the day of her parents murder- the first of 11 gates opened in the realm of spirits, allowing both angels and demons to enter the earthly realm, in order to wage a war between each other, as means to bring about the apocalypse (whether that be the dawn of a new age, or end of the world as we know it).

Sarah is apparently a "Child of Absalom"- mythologically described as a group of humans that have been "chosen" to do the bidding of said angels and demons in the aforementioned apocalyptic battle.

With that being said, everyone who messes with her ends up dead...and this spiritual entity seems to be to blame.

All this forces Sarah to face an ultimatum, which culminates with an ending that is both bizarre and convoluted (complete with last second twist).

As far as Canadian horror films go, this certainly isn't the best (nor is it the worst). The concept is really quite intriguing; and it starts off great...only to lose you by the time the conclusion rolls around. In the end, it comes off like a student's attempt at making a psychological thriller for a university film course. The cinematography and acting are decent enough, but the storyline and plot structure really needed to be cleaned up. It seems to me, that this is another ghost film inspired by The Other- with a few additional elements added in. You probably won't love it, but you might not hate it either. It's one of those films.

4.5 out 10.