Stupid Games (2024)
a review by Evan Landon
The proverb states: “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” - by y'know, whoever said that.
I will admit that it is very hard not to be overly critical of this flick, but I always give my honest opinion whenever I am asked for it, so let's try and not focus too much on what does not work in this film. Shall we?
The premise goes something like this: after a one night stand, a woman asks her friends over to play a board game with the fella and two of his close friends. Welp, much to their dismay, this magical, mythological board game has some dire consequences to hand out to each participant. Pretty standard horror movie tropes right off the bat, so it is not treading any new ground here. An often used plotline like this does not constitute a bad movie; in fact, sometimes sticking to singular, oft told stories such as this allows for room not usually allowed in more complicated ones.
The issues with such aspiring films like this one are usually some of the more common ones you would think of, such as poor production value, horrendous editing, and horrific sound design. Believe it or not, that is NOT the case here because the camera work, editing, sound, and overall quality are very apparent with how well it was done in this low-budget indie film. This movie looks like a $10 million film even tho it was shot on $10k, which is probably the most impressive part about it, by far. The problems with Stupid Games is everything that happens in front of the camera.
The wooden acting can easily be forgiven because it is painfully obvious to the viewer that these are all newcomers to the format, no matter how hard they may profess that they are veterans. Grant Terzakis is by far the standout in this ensemble with his portrayal of the maintenance man who unluckily accepts an empty slot when one of the characters pulls a no show whose performance reminds me of a young Jeffrey Combs. Unfortunately, they do not do a whole lot with any of it, which is not any of the fault of the actors.
The dialogue in such a simple concept of a horror movie demands it be more colorful than simple “getting to know each other” engagements in conversations that leave the characters with nothing to really build off of. The story could have used a little more meat to it too, but again, there is only so much room with a movie that literally takes place in one room. It becomes more and more apparent as this linear story progresses that nothing incredibly revolutionary or startling is bound to happen, so the viewer is left waiting for a jump scare or even a decent death scene which does not happen. Again, given the budget, gory death scene was probably out of consideration, but with the talent of the ones behind the scenes a couple of good jump scares would definitely give it some gravitas. The problem is that there is absolutely no tension to cash in on.
Where Stupid Games falters has nothing to do with the value of it's production because it is fantastic with such a small budget, even down to it's close-ups and camera pans. For such an ambitious picture, the biggest issue could be easily fixed with more work on it's script, from the dialogue to the characters. That is something that comes with practice, however, and that is a lot more for it than against it.
2 Out Of 5