Live Animals (2008) User Reviews (17)

Maybe with a better story and talent involved, this would have been good.

[knifeintheeye · 3/10 · 9 October 2009]

The premise had promise (human capture and slavery in middle America) unfortunately the execution was off. Stilted characters that reeked of horror movie clichés and an overly long tedious opening that almost made me turn the movie off in boredom did not help the film (and continuity issues with blood covered ripped up shirts don't help either).

Buckets of blood do not make a good movie, no matter how many teenagers tell you it does. Perhaps given better actors, editors, writer and director, this would have been a decent film, but in this case, it was poorly executed by the cast and crew that were in over their heads from the very start. And the goofy twists in the last fifteen minutes are simply that…goofy.

And as a note to the writer: if you are going to make a point of the main protagonist saying that he can break a human in a mere three days...please follow through with it. Nothing happened to even remotely break anyone.

Annoying, Derivative Film... Avoid at All Costs

[gavin6942 · 3/10 · 4 October 2010]

A group of college kids must decide what price they will pay to gain their freedom after being kidnapped by a ruthless White Slave trader.

This film is described on the DVD case as "gutsy", but that's just about the last word I would use to describe it. The film quality is low, seemingly on purpose to give it a gritty look, and this only adds to the frustration of trying to watch it. Aside from the film quality itself, the movie is just plain bad.

If you like watching people being tortured, there are a few scenes you may enjoy. I, for one, have grown bored with it. I wasn't a big fan in the first place, and if you want to cover up a weak plot with torture, that's just a poor idea and you shouldn't have made the film in the first place. "Saw" and "Hostel" said it all.

There's a plot twist here or there that is kind of interesting, but hardly worth getting excited about. Personally, I think it would be in your best interest to just keep walking and forget this film was ever made. I know I will soon forget.

uninspired

[happytanker · 2/10 · 19 August 2009]

I personally found this film to be rather unimaginative and quite boring. Rather another poor attempt at a "shock" movie along the same vein as hostel and it's brethren that promises something and does not deliver! The actual gore effects are few and far between as well as being somewhat unrealistic i thought, most just being splattered blood thrown around haphazardly with the actual parts that could be considered cringe-worthy either rushed through or missed out entirely. As for the plot, well..... i think you might find thicker in a sheet of toilet paper and you may have a more unpredictable ending too! My recommendation would be to give this one a miss and save yourself the disappointment.

awful

[gobstoppers9 · 1/10 · 11 September 2009]

This was by far one of the worst attempts at psychological horror i have seen that actually tried to be serious. The sound and dialog was extremely sub-par, even for a lower budget film. No character development leave you not caring for any of the major characters, and the numerous plot holes leaves you guessing half the movie. Avoid at all costs. As for anyone that says to see it for the fun factor or anything like that, I would definitely look elsewhere, as the visual effects and gore are horrible and sometimes non-existent. The obvious seems to escape the characters at many times and make them seem extremely one dimensional and forced.

Epic Failure

[jazz2122 · 1/10 · 28 October 2009]

Just got this from Blockbuster Online(free trial). Thank God for free because this movie wouldn't be worth the money used to make it. Subpar acting, horrific lighting/sound, insanely disappointing with the gore, unable to deliver, plot holes, etc. I could continue on, but I'd run out of words. This movie would have been remotely decent had it been done by someone with real talent. The idea behind the film was intriguing, but this poor excuse at horror ruined any opportunity to make it worthwhile. The characters are so one dimensional and annoyingly stupid that you can't wait for them to die. The ending might have even been good if they'd shown the actual gore instead of a few fake blood spatters. I was highly disappointed with this and would not recommend it to even the biggest low budget horror fan.

For the people saying this movie isn't out.....

[roborlow2003 · 1/10 · 17 September 2009]

For the ignorant people in here saying this movie hasn't been released & questioning how they managed to watch it before they saw it at some "special screening in Washington" garbage..... This movie was a straight to DVD release & has been sitting on Blockbuster Video shelves since at least July, 2009, if not earlier.

As for the movie itself - don't bother. It's a horrible rip-off of other movies in the same vein & not done nearly as well. As others have mentioned - plot holes big enough that you could drive a bus through, incoherent storyline, below par acting at best & overall terrible quality movie. This one is destined for the $2 bargain bin and even that would be over charging, to be honest.

Like watching kids being treated like livestock...MOOOve on!

[lojitsu · 4/10 · 1 June 2017]

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Live Animals" (NR - 2008 - US)

Sub-Genre: Gore/Torture

My Score: 4.4

Cast=3 Acting=2 Plot=6 Ending=4 Story=3 Scare=6 Jump=3 F/X=4 Gore=7 Torture=6

A group of college kids must decide what price they will pay to gain their freedom after being kidnapped by a ruthless White Slave trader.

This movie was low budget, horribly acted, and written on the premise that you will be drunk when you watch it. It's basically a bunch of scenes of the bad guys treating these kids like livestock...like watching those PSA's where they want $19 a month to help abused animals. There were some disturbing torture scenes and it was gory enough, but there was no substance to it.  I can't recommend this one, unless you just want gore for being gore.

Amazing...

[carlesmiquel · 1/10 · 28 January 2013]

how someone can pull such a bunch of crap and believe there was "writing" involved. Take all the clichés avoided by even the most amateurish wannabe, cram them into a night-shot film with one of the most dreadful lighting for night I've ever witnessed, throw in some sloppy characters without soul or possible empathy-connections, spend a large sum of money in film, lighting and post, and you have -mileage may vary- this "film". I feel sorry for the poor actors that may have thought this was a opportunity to do a nice job.

If you teach whatever you teach, you can use this thing to show your students haw not to do things in life.

Things worse than removing a tongue

[nogodnomasters · 2/10 · 8 May 2018]

College kids. Abducted. Farm. Torture. Sold off to European brothel. Fight back. Blood. F-word. Nudity. Bad dialogue. Bad acting. Available on a multi-pack.

Same as Saw

[billcr12 · 5/10 · 4 July 2012]

Live Animals is in the same category as Saw and Hostel; independent, torture films, which portray the lowest level of humanity; this feature is not for children or those easily offended. College students make the mistake of having a little party in the woods. They are abducted by a group of slave traders and held captive, chained, and in cages, as the title implies.

The holding place almost looks like a prison, with adjacent cells holding the human cattle, and they are tortured mercilessly by their overseers. I guess the point here is our nasty treatment of animals for our food supply. The acting is nothing special, and the story watchable for the short, eighty six minute running time. If you need to kill an hour and a half on a rainy afternoon, Live Animals is an entertaining diversion.

Loved It!

[jcromwell66762 · 8/10 · 24 May 2014]

I really enjoyed this movie. I am not a movie buff, I just watch ones that sound interesting, and this one did. Never heard of any of the actors, but it was well written, and well acted. It has such a deliciously twisted story line, and the characters are quite realistic. Wayne was my favorite person, so totally nonchalant and business like. It added so much depth, and Edgar was perfectly psycho enough!! If you want a decent, suspenseful, and entertaining movie, I do not think you can go wrong. It combines elements that are the most primal in all "live animals", the basic emotions that exist in all creatures. The director and actors did an awesome job, and I understand this was not a high budget film, it has became a standard in my favorites list and is destined to stay there for a long, long time!

This movie was a success

[mcouden · 1/10 · 27 October 2010]

By success I mean it succeeds at showing prospective future film producers and directors how not to make a movie.

It showcases some great ways to save $$$ on movies too:

1) Make a low budget movie by showing the same scenes over and over with different dialog played over them each time. This will serve to nauseate your viewers while also giving you what appears to be an hour and a half of movie.

2) Hire small time, unknown actors for the roles then film then for just 20 minutes each so you have the footage to replay multiple times.

3) Don't pay to see this movie, that's the best money-saving tip of them all!

Worst ever

[africe · 1/10 · 14 October 2021]

This has to be the worst piece of crap I've ever seen! Everything about it was terrible! Not sure of the mental instability of the writer but somebody should check to see if he has some out of the way property out there. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

It was decent until........

[cmg-56101 · 4/10 · 23 October 2021]

Hmmhad a decent plot. I feel like there should have maybe been a little bit more to it. However, right at the end, I'm all excited about how the plot turned into a new direction, even though the particular twist was foreseeable (both kinda were actually). They loterrat7u.

A little gem. A very good thriller / horror

[schanin1 · 9/10 · 25 April 2010]

I found this movie to be very entertaining. I got it through amazon delivered to oz. Picture and sound quality excellent. I nearly didn't buy it because of the reviews. I'm glad I didn't take notice. It was in tradition of the gritty chainsaw massacre genre. It has a place only shelf in my horror library. The scene where the first girl is placed into the box is done extremely well without speaking just with music showed their desperateness and despair. I did believe and care for the characters. I also sat on the edge of my seat. A very excellent entertaining horror movie. Granted the first five minutes had me worried. But it really does take off.

A pleasingly nasty horror thriller

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 1 February 2010]

A group of college students are kidnapped by ruthless white slave trader Wayne (superbly played with calmly sadistic glee by John Still). Will any of them escape from their capture? Director/co-writer Jeremy Benson doesn't pull any punches with this admirably stark and hard-hitting indie horror item: the tone is appropriately grim, harsh, and depressing, the moments of raw brutality are truly startling, there's no silly obtrusive humor to detract from the bleak severity of the gut-wrenching horror, a strong and palpable sense of sheer nihilistic hopelessness pervades throughout (this movie even has the bad guys kill a little girl and her parents who stumble across their backwoods operation!), and the climax is gruesome, suspenseful, and surprisingly downbeat. The solid acting from a capable no-name cast rates as another substantial asset, with especially stand-out work by Christian Walker as the resilient Nick, Jeanette Comans as the feisty Erin, Stacy Still as the unhinged Kathy, and Patrick Cox as hulking brute Edgar. Both Brock Manchester's rather fuzzy, but crisp widescreen cinematography and Ryan Parker's moody, rattling score are up to par as well. A good'n'grisly little sleeper.

Fun Horror Film

[mjvolzer-1 · 8/10 · 28 August 2009]

Live Animals is a fun gritty horror film reminiscent of the 70s style of dirty real life horror films as opposed to the unstoppable monster horror films of the 80s. The film looks really good and the production team did a great job of making the movie look gritty and grimy without making it difficult to see what's going on. Definitely worth a look. As for the review above. I'd love to know how he saw the film considering it hasn't been released yet in the US much less in the UK. I saw it at the sold out Washington DC Area Premiere and it looked great on the big screen. The only possible way you could have seen it would be from a low quality illegal download. So not only do you have the temerity to STEAL the movie, you give the film a low rating based off the low quality file that you stole. Classy.