Prank

PRANK is a found-footage film which records the attempts of a geek and a nerd, both high school students, to exact revenge on the former's bully and tormentor by means of a prank, which leads to unforeseen consequences. I like found-footage movies, and the prank angle was, at least to me, a fresh take on the genre, not too mention that bullying in schools is a real-life topical issue. Indeed, while the acting was mostly stilted and the whole set-up seemed a tad too theatrical, the movie did manage to bring enough credibility to the table to at least draw me in. What a disappointment then the plot twist in the third act was! Given the backgrounds of the two protagonists, it was simply not believable what one of them would end up doing. After the twist, it felt like events were simply happening in the service of a highly contrived plot, and I could easily predict the ending. I guess there is an art to creating good plot twists: on the one hand, they cannot be too obvious, and on the other, they can't be so implausible or illogical that they cause the whole story to fall apart. There might have been a way to execute this twist in a believable manner, but it would have required the character in question to be drawn in a different way and a change in some earlier scenes which are not consistent with it. Ironically, the plot twist makes absolutely no difference to what seems to be the central lesson of the movie "be careful for what you wish to happen to your bully". A better plot twist would have actually had a point.

source: Prank

When Pranks go bad - or are they going bad? What was the plan again? Now the main theme of the movie is really an interesting one and it may be the basis why the ratings are all over the place for this. Almost everyone has experienced bullying, either as a victim or as a perpetrator. Most have been the former of course and may feel for the main characters here. Still liking the theme/story does not make it a better movie than it is. The found footage aspect I guess is supposed to draw some people in (and making it more "personal"), but it also is quite annoying. Like it or not, it is pretty straighforward and you will be able to determine if you want to continue to watch or not ...

Prank is the story of two bullied geeks and their sometime friend, a chubby girl with the unlikely name of "Chunk", who decide to pull a prank on their two tormentors. This is all filmed with a semi-broken camcorder that one of them is always using to film the action. A few pranks are planned but nothing really pans out. Here is where my criticism of the movie begins. Most of the dialogue seems forced. Chunk's dialogue in particular is so stupid that it takes you out of the movie. Every other sentence she utters concludes with the word "man." All of the characters are portrayed as stereotypes, from the black man to the geek to the bully etc. This becomes grating after a while. Nothing interesting happens for long periods of time, and then one of the characters has a total personality change and at least some things start to happen. What does happen, though, isn't really that interesting, as we don't really care for any of these unsympathetic people or their actions. There are a couple of things that do happen in the last 15 minutes or so that save this from being a total waste. I would have voted a 1 had it not been for a couple of semi-interesting twists.

I haven't actually seen the movie but Its just a comment. You people make it impossible for me to trust any reviews when half of you say its a 10 and half say its horrible. It can't be both, lets be real. A ten is The Shining, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, the Exorcist and I very much doubt this movie I am about to watch even comes close to that unless you are planting a review. So I beg you please think about what you are doing before you give every movie a 10, 9 or 8. thanks people!! I have to give this movie something so I will guess at a 5 and I bet it will be worse....Just this hope this helps for future raters! Okay now I have see this movie and now I will rate it. It was not a 5 like I first guessed. It was definitely a 4.

Lemme clarify the title of this summary. special as in special ed. Anywho, 3 teens, actually only 2, plot revenge on a bully that bullies 1 guy, who wholeheartedly deserves it. Things go awry, blah, blah, it's not important. Now on to this gem of a waste of time. Right away, the lead guy that's planned the prank is just the most irritating c*nt on the planet and he definitely should have been bullied a helluva lot more. Well, push comes to shove and the bullied abducts the bully. In the basement, or garage, wherever they held the abducted, it just became predictable. I'm not gonna say anymore, but if you watch the part when the initial nerd of all nerds comes into the... wherever the * they are, after the jewfro kid *shoots* the bully and can't see what's coming, then you are too dumb to exist and should quit immediately. Overall, except for the one hot chick Eve, there is nothing worth seeing in this movie. Previous reviewers, what f*cking movie were you watching?

For what it was... not a badly done movie. It suffers not from style/story/effects, but rather the way it was filmed. It is filmed entirely from the point of view of a camera held by the characters in the movie. A big problem with these types of movies is that you end up having characters talking into the camera to replace the dialogue to further the story. This ALWAYS ends up feeling like they're breaking the fourth wall and it takes you out of the situation. This style really needs to be done minimally in my eyes. I didn't really feel for any of the characters since they are all either horrible or irritating as people go. This diminishes the effectiveness of the ending a bit for me. If you're looking for a low budget movie to watch its definitely better than a lot, but nothing all that unique here. I felt the murder scenes were all done quite well and looked pretty good. For the most part the acting was adequate also.

This film is so incredibly timely given all the happenings in recent years around school violence and bullying. It also has a number of strikes against it. Director and writer are one in the same, indie low budget film, no-name actors, and a hand cam "home video" style film...its usually a recipe for a disaster. This was anything but. This film proved that there are still brilliant newcomers out there that can make a solid low budget film with a great story. The film is not a horror movie per se though it certainly has moments of genuine gore and pure terror but its also a drama/thriller revolving around two young men who have been bullied for years by the school jock. The pacing of the film was only a little off. I thought it dragged a little especially in the beginning but I understand they were trying to really establish these characters and I can't fault them for that. I have seen so many hand-cam horror flicks lately and I am sick of them. I didn't think I could possibly enjoy a film done in that style again, it has been so overdone. Well for Prank it absolutely works. My biggest issue with hand-cam films is that it is almost always ridiculous that a camera would be running all this time. However, with Prank nearly every shot makes sense. You could reasonable understand why a camera would be on for the most part. It still is a stretch in some parts but less than most films of this type. Our two lead actors are destined to be in bigger things if people see this. They were both excellent, plain and simple. They both have incredibly complex and well written characters and an incredible character arc to both of them. In the beginning I thought Nick Renaud was really stealing the show. He had this intensity and strength and stereotypical geek character that was trying to get his vengeance. Renaud was great and in the end when he shows his emotional breakdown, it is just terrific. Henry Monfries starts out as the distant, aloof sarcastic teenager and arcs into a near monster when his breakdown happens. He has easily some of the most visually brilliant scenes in the film. The blood stained "Kiss The Cook" apron is something you will not forget from this movie. The two of them together have great chemistry and a bizarre relationship that works. The supporting cast are all good and fit their roles well enough. None of them particularly stand out though Alastair Ferrie as the object of the vengeance, the bully Dax is particularly good. Gemmenne de la Peña seems like she is going to be really good but gets pulled from the film in the beginning and doesn't show up again hardly at all. Director and writer Yiuwing Lam goes immediately to my "one to watch" list. He crafts this brilliantly and the cinematography is so well done for a low budget film and a hand-cam. The film has its faults of course but considering what it could be, they are easily overlook-able. Nonetheless I did have some issues. The main characters are incredibly stereotypical, cookie cutter "nerds." The multiple Star Trek references, the tape on the nose, just the entire existence of these two boys is lifted right from every nerd stereotype. Neither one of them are very likable at any given time but you certainly feel pity for them. The only other major plot hole that really bothered me was there are no adults in this film. No parents, no teachers, no adults of any kind. At one point we see a sister but other than that...nothing. They do try to explain away on of their fathers but it still isn't enough to make you forget about it. The ending was a little more complex than I would have liked. I appreciate a good twist and it made sense but somehow it made the film seem less impactful. Still it managed to turn it around and really get under your skin. Those of you that appreciate indie film making, this is one to check out. It is entertaining and disturbing and certainly worth a watch. 7/10

I am seriously starting to think that there are agencies been paid to write positive reviews on movies. I refuse to accept any of the 8 or 10 stars above are real. This is an utterly disgusting ... don't even sure if we call it a movie. Yes it is disturbing, but in the sense that you feel the urge to stand up and leave the place when you watch it. Ridiculous The most horrible movie is the attempt to be "smart" in a way that only results in a caricature- like description of bullied teens, as strong as to make you feel compelled to really bully these guys. And the acting , unmentionable to say the least. I cannot find anything to save in this thing, nothing at all

This has got to be, without a doubt, one of the worst movies I've seen in the past decade. And I've watched some Mystery Science style D-List dreck. This movie is one big outdated stereotype after another. From the geek that watches Star Trek, to the term "flaming" to describe gays, to the thug talking black guy who's going to give you his "8 inches of Black Thunder". The characters in this movie are all stereotypes taken to the extreme. From the nerd that talks as though he's trapped in a Shakespeare play and threatens the bullies with his dancing mincing Kara-Tey deadly weapons of hands. Then we move on to the token fat girl (who isn't even that big compared to most girls these days) nick-named "Chunk". The motivations of these people are beyond comprehension, there is no explanation for the lack of involvement by authorities other than one sentence of "I told them someone would call, and it would be a prank". As if any police, school, or child services isn't going to investigate the threat of multiple murders. ::Spoilers ahead:: The nerd decides to take revenge on the bully for dunking his head in a toilet filled with poop…by toilet papering his yard….yeah that's soooo extreme. The person revealed to be the mastermind behind the prank wasn't given nearly enough back story or exposition to explain their motivations. The best friend's behavior is just beyond explanation. And have I mentioned the Star Trek hatred? It's only the focus of 90 percent of this film. You would think that the writer of this drek had been molested or raped by a Star Trek fan or cast member to explain such endless rage against a TV show. There's a scene in the move where the geek and his friend dress up in the Star Trek costumes, only you can tell these are fake. Obviously the movie couldn't get the license for the real thing. Can you blame them? You've spent the entire movie driving home the point of: Anybody that watches Star Trek is a sexless geek that wears big glasses, talks like Shakespeare, and is such a sub-human monster that their very existence needs to be purged from the Earth. If the movie had kept going, it wouldn't surprise me if the townsfolk had burned the geek at the stake for crimes against humanity for watching a TV show. Never mind the fact that Star Trek will far outlive your crap fest of a movie, it brings in billions of dollars a year, and is currently being portrayed by some of Hollywood's most popular actors. But here's a simple fact. It's just a TV show! Is there really all this need to spend your entire movie spewing such trash about it? Some people like Star Trek, some people like the Jason Bourne movies. Shall I spend almost two hours talking about how they should all be rounded up and shot at dawn by firing squad? What's really sad is, the big payoff reveal scene actually had potential ::Spoilers:: when the trash bags came to life and started moving about, that could have actually been a cool scene, but by the time you got there, you couldn't care less anymore. Plus, the big reveal scene was a fake out. This is the effect of "it was all a dream" after you fake us out, we can't invest in the movie any longer, because we can't trust that the real ending was any less fake. But to sum this all up. Save your money, save your time, save your downloads, pick another movie to watch, any other movie, this one will give you an aneurysm.