Toxin (2014) Directed by Tom Raycove

This movie really isn't THAT bad, all things considering.

Don't worry, I won't call this movie a great one but I at least was entertained by it.

These low budget type of genre movies can go both ways; they either work out as something genuinely bad or they are so bad and poorly done that they actually become fun and entertaining to watch. I definitely believe that this latter is the case for this movie as well.

The movie seems to be very self-aware and it absolutely knows what it is and more importantly; knows what it isn't. It isn't ever pretending to be a great movie and it isn't afraid to poke fun of things and exaggerate a bit at times, all for the sake of entertainment. It besides makes countless of references to other movies, which makes it all the more obvious to me that this movie isn't ever trying to be a serious one, so why should you take it serious as well? I sure didn't and therefor had a fun time with it, though of course I would never call this movie a great one as well.

It luckily is barely over an hour short, which also means that it doesn't have any slow moments in it and it pretty much throws you right into the action, without wasting any time on some character- and story development, that you just won't ever be able to care about, since things are being handled so poorly by the movie.

So yes, the story is kind of poor and simplistic but it at least doesn't attempt to over-complicate things and add in some unconvincing and pointless twists, that only turns the movie into an even worse and more nonsensical one, as often is the case with these type of movies. I kind of liked the fact that the story was so simple and straightforward for this movie and that it wasn't all that concerned about trying to make sense of things. Again, it's simply deciding to have some fun with things instead, which definitely was a good choice in this case.

And what's so fun about it? A Clint Eastwood wannabe for the main character of the movie, a Hitler lookalike as the villain, random deaths, zombie attacks. Sounds more like a comedy perhaps but it's no more a comedy than any other random and exaggerated action/horror movie really. It's just silly and fun and most people should be able to enjoy this movie for what it is.

It very obviously still is a low-budget movie though. It doesn't necessarily shows in the way how the movie looks but more how it feels like, with its editing style, camera-work, dialog and acting. Thing that was especially notable was the lack of sound effects at some parts of the movie. They probably ran out of time or money (most likely both), so they didn't had the time or money to put in some sound effects when for instance a person gets punched or a knife gets thrown. Funny stuff!

Not a great movie by any means but it at least still is a fun experience!

5/10

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