UHM - Review - Eden Log

This is a strange artsy sci-fi-thriller that I still have some mixed feelings about. On one hand it's interesting and original, but on the other, it's kind of annoying and somewhat confusing. Regardless, it's still a unique piece of cinema coming from France, a country that's really making a name for itself when it comes to genre flicks.

Assistant director Franck Vestiel makes his directorial debut with this flick, which tells the story of man who awakens in a dark cavern with no memory of how he got there. He crawls his way through the underground cave system and discovers a mysterious scientific facility and numerous corpses spread about. The man must put the pieces of the puzzle together in an attempt to determine who he is and what these facilities are used for. To add to his dilemma, he has to avoid the suited guards and strange mutated creatures that are also roaming around the area.

It's hard to fully explain the film's premise without giving away too much of the story, which we learn over time. What makes the movie interesting is the fact that we learn about the lead and the facility as he does. This is the type of movie that the viewer will have to devote their full attention to fully understand everything, which is sadly also one of the film's faults. The reason I say that is because there are a lot of scenes that are too dark to see and sometimes even hard to understand what someone is saying, which can be annoying when you have to listen or pay attention to every detail.

The film is mostly shot in a gray-ish color, making it even harder to see at times, but gives the movie a more unique artsy sci-fi feel to it. Although there are "mutants" in the movie, they surprisingly don't play a huge role in the film, and only really exist as a mere nuisance to our lead. We learn bits and pieces of the story behind the facility as time goes on until we finally reach the end. By then it's still a little confusing and you'll likely have to think about it for a bit, especially after the final scene (which I loved). The movie also boosts very little dialogue, especially early into the movie. I think it takes almost 20-minutes before the lead says a word.

Although I liked the movie, the pacing was rather slow and it's not until around 30-minutes in that we actually see some lit-up rooms, so a lot of the early footage is annoying and hard-to-see at times. Other than how some of the story is revealed and the annoyances in the beginning, it's a decent film and a fairly original sci-fi-thriller.

OVERALL

This is a decent and fairly original artsy sci-fi thriller that delivers an interesting premise, but fails in how some of the story is given to the viewer. This is the type of movie that requires a person’s full attention, making some of the hard-to-see-and-hear scenes somewhat annoying. Had the pacing been changed and the delivery been tweaked, it could have been a good flick. Otherwise, rent at your own risk.

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GonzoFi :

Posted 15 days ago

I watched the movie and the end was disappointing. Also the movie was bit slow for my taste. I was expecting more from this...

Daisu :

Posted 78 days ago

Its artsy, giving you interesting environment but slow pacing. Any scene with a dead scientist was awesome though.

Buck :

Posted 79 days ago

Just saw this. Drags on a bit, is a little cerebral, and is pretty OK. Very little action actually, does not pander to explanations (Darn you Pulse remake), and does have some good visuals. The ending has a little twist. It's a renter in my opinion.

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