STAY ALIVE

Young Hutch is shaken after learning of his friend Loomis' sudden death. During the funeral, Hutch will receive, from Loomis' sister, a briefcase containing all of his brother's belongings; among the various items is a strange video game titled "Stay Alive". Hutch, as soon as he discovers it and encouraged by another friend, decides to organize a get-together with friends and spend an evening playing the video game. But "Stay Alive" is not just a simple horror video game but something much more dangerous; in fact, the boys will begin to notice that those who die in the video game will die in the same way in real life. Nowadays, it has become fashionable to introduce various technologies into the horror cinema landscape, and thus "Stay Alive" decides to make terrifying what is the much-loved world of video games. William Brent Bell's (the film's director) is not the first example of a film that decides to make a connection between horror and the world of video games; indeed, we had already had the satisfying "Brainscan - The Game of Death" or, more recently, other examples of horror/games can be found in the disastrous "The Monster Beyond the Screen" and "Devour - The Game of Satan". From this, one can deduce that there are few cases in which this connection has been successfully made, and therefore it was hoped that at least "Stay Alive" could bring something good, resulting in an overall pleasant film. If the expectations are these, one is greatly mistaken because "Stay Alive" turns out to be a low-quality product that brings nothing new and good to our genre. The first and fundamental flaws are found in the basic plot, a plot decidedly unoriginal that tries to mix themes and elements taken from classic Japanese horrors with the usual and trite teen horrors that are so fashionable in the United States in recent years. As in Japanese horrors, here too we find the classic, and now worn-out, story of the curse that is transmitted through a technological support (when a videotape, when a cell phone now it's the turn of a video game) and just like in Asian horrors also in "Stay Alive" many of the malevolent figures are represented as young girls with long hair who groan on the floor (a bit more imagination would have certainly benefited the final product); while from the classic teen horrors that are so popular in America in recent times we have the entire narrative structure, the fact that the protagonists are nothing more than the usual group of dumb kids put there only to meet a bad end and the fact that more attention is given to the "jump from the chair" factor rather than caring about the contents of the whole story. Already from this, it is easy to guess that with "Stay Alive" we are dealing with a product whose originality is equal to zero, but the lack of originality would have been a minor problem if only the entire project had been realized with greater attention. Among the many problems found, the one that weighs most on the film is the disastrous screenplay adorned with several holes, rushed and unclear passages, and multiple solutions totally out of place that seem dictated by the haste to write the final screenplay. Nothing is done either to please the fans of the genre because, despite the film having had a 14-year ban, there is not a single drop of blood as the murders are left, most of the time, to an annoying off-screen. Then an excessive use of computer graphics is made, which, although at times may be one of the few positive aspects of the film (the scenes set in the video game are well made and innovative), proves in other aspects too abused and therefore harmful. The cast does not represent a strong point of the film either, as it is populated by little-known actors or, as in any good horror film that respects itself these days, by faces from TV series (to mention above all a young Frankie Muniz, the famous "Malcom" of TV, here in the role of one of the many kids dealing with "Stay Alive"). In conclusion, this "Stay Alive" is a horror of little importance that could have been destined for the home video market only. It can be watched without too many difficulties, but it is so unimpactful that it is forgotten even before leaving the room. It would deserve half a point more but remains an insufficient product.