‘It lurks… It prowls…’
It Waits is a 2005 American horror film about a female forest ranger in a national park who has to face off against a vicious demon.
Directed by Steven R. Monroe (The Exorcism of Molly Hartley; Grave Halloween; Mongolian Death Worm; I Spit on Your Grave (2010) and sequel) from a screenplay co-written by Richard Christian Matheson, Thomas Szollosi and Stephen J. Cannell,
The movie stars Cerina Vincent (Freaks of Nature; Tales of Halloween; Sasquatch Mountain; Seven Mummies), Dominic Zamprogna (Bloodsuckers), Greg Kean and Eric Schweig.
Reviews:
“The pacing is extremely slow and the characters are not engaging enough. Here we have the main character going through this life crisis and I didn’t care one bit. The monster is cool looking, though it – and the movie – reminded me of Jeepers Creepers too much.” Buried.com
“Though it’s not the worst DTV movie I’ve ever seen, and while it does have the occasional moment, it’s still rather weak. It Waits is a movie filled with okay’s. An insanely sexy actress gives a solid performance with an okay male lead involving an okay plot, an okay monster, and an okay final product.” Cinema Crazed
“The pace of it isn’t that great and the ending and everything leading up to it is just tired and so unexciting. I’m not even going to flinch at spoiling what the creature looks like or how Danielle defeats it in the last few moments because I don’t want you to watch this. You have better things to do with your life.” Cinema Slayer
“Monroe, whose tenure in television should guarantee at least a few medium shot sequences, more or less leaves his glass teat tendencies in the directorial dust bin. Instead, he plays with camera tricks and editing, overdosing on mannered montages (Danny loads her gun – MTV style) and adds that most miserable of Indie film facets – the Ani DiFranco-esque slop pop, loaded with lyrics about self-esteem and inner strength.” DVD Talk
“The opening scene and an exposition-spouting character suggest that this blood-thirsty creature has something to do with Native Americans, but these intimations fade into vagueries and are left behind as the movie fulfills its plot obligations. The design of the creature doesn’t help matters as it has a simplistic skeletal look and wings borrowed from the baddie in Jeepers Creepers.” Electric Shadows
“The creature, borrowing its fangs-and-wings look from the Creeper of Jeepers Creepers fame, is actually pretty cool. It’s a sadistic mo-fo and the combination of having a stuntman in latex, enhanced with CGI, works well […] It Waits is only recommended for die-hard devotees of creature features or/and carry carrying members of the Cerina Vincent Fan Club.” Horror.com
“A mid-2000’s Native American monster movie about an alcoholic park ranger with a talking bird. Yeah not what I was expecting from the kick-ass poster. But still brilliantly bad from the awkward acting, comically dramatic dialogue, and you can’t forget the songs.” Hunter Cooper
“It Waits is a monster movie that makes some odd choices (that drunk driving accident subplot sure isn’t ordinary) and it’s not as interesting or exciting as I would have liked, but it’s decent enough to be worth a viewing.” Life Between Frames
” …the movie is brutally slow… and not in a good way. Stephen R. Monroe decided that it’s oh-so important for us to get to know our friend Danny inside and out, though he ultimately forgets to make her interesting […] Things do start to pick up after the thirty-minute mark, and Monroe is actually capable of generating suspense from time-to-time, but the space between these moments can sometimes be frustrating to endure.” Live Journal
“Pretty familiar stuff, but with some slight differences. Giving us a female protagonist is a nice thing to do, but I still have issues. While she does have a whole arc and fight for herself, I don’t know if the character is on point. She’s mostly just sad for the first half of the movie- not that she shouldn’t be, I suppose. If they were trying to make her look strong and self-reliant throughout, they failed.” Mondo Bizarro
” …despite the film’s positive attributes, there’s just no getting past the fact that it generally moves at a snail’s pace – something that’s due in no small part to the emphasis on Danielle’s battle with her demons. Having said that, Vincent delivers a surprisingly adept performance and the action – when it finally does come – is much more effective than one might’ve imagined.” Reel Film Reviews
“Screenwriters Thomas Szollosi and Richard Christian Matheson (son of the legendary Richard Matheson) waste a lot of time developing Danny’s back story about the fatal car crash while director Steven R. Monroe piles on the gore; the result is repetitive, silly and more than a little gross.” TV Guide
Current release:
It Waits is available to stream for free on Amazon Prime.
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