Don't Blink Review (2014) Worth Watching?

It's about a group of friends who travel out to an ultra secluded hotel only to find the entire place void of life.

Don't Blink was directed by Travis Oates and stars Mena Suvari (from Apparation, Stuck), Robert Picardo (from Monsterwolf, 976-Evil) and Zack Ward (from Bethany, Restotation).

Life can be erased

Way back in October of 1959 the very first episode of The Twilight Zone premiered on TV. The episode was called "Where is Everybody?" and was about a guy who wanders into an isolated town only to find the place void of life. There's signs of life all over the place like warm coffee and burning cigarettes, just no actual people. The meat of the story was him walking around expecting to find someone, but ultimately realizing he was all alone.

Fast-forward to September of 2014 (a couple weeks shy of being 55 years to the day) and we have Don't Blink premiering in theaters. The concept was pulled directly from the very first Twilight Zone episode. A group of teens wander into an isolated hotel to find signs of life, but no actual life. There's breakfast on the table and running faucets, but no people. There's also no birds or insects or anything, the place is literally void of all life.

The difference between The Twilight Zone and Don't Blink is that Twilight Zone ended up being a military experiment while Don't Blink was Lovecraftian, meaning the threat is both everywhere and nowhere at the same time

So, with the background and concept out of the way, how was the movie? Not great. Not great at all.

The 1st red flag is that it's a horror movie that stars Brian Austin Green from Beverly Hills 90210. 2nd red flag is there's probably a dozen generic jump scares in the first ten minutes. 3rd red flag are all of the forced details used to unsuccessfully fabricate suspense. 4th red flag is the endless overacting. Everyone in this movie is super dramatic, opinionated and righteous. 5th red flag is it's not a great movie.

But, the movie does have one cool thing going for it, it's set in New Mexico.

I'm from New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, our oft forgotten 47th state. A lot of movies are filmed in New Mexico, but not many are actually set there. In Don't Blink, the hotel was set outside Preston, NM which is a real life ghost town. Get it, because the hotel in the movie is like a ghost town?

GO LOBOS.

Worth Watching?

I knock on Don't Blink, but you might like it if you're looking for a Lovecraftian horror and are willing to sit through a generic teen scream to get it. I honestly did enjoy the Lovecraftian aspects of this movie. The threat is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's all powerful, indestructible and threatening in a very unique way.

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