190: Stay Alive (2006)

SPEAKER_00 0:04

A good Lane party back in the day was very fun.

SPEAKER_05 0:07

I prefer DD.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

I prefer getting all the boys together to smash.

SPEAKER_05 0:10

Classic. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. You know, it's like a seance. A strong enough spirit can be brought back with a proper text. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Totally killer pun intended.

SPEAKER_05 0:37

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the super fly space guy Mac.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Hola, muchachos.

SPEAKER_05 0:53

The gore lover Alexis. Bitch, that's cheating. I'm not even dead yet. And the Scream Queen Paris.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

This thing is gay.

SPEAKER_05 0:59

The people have spoken, the votes have been tallied, and our patrons have decided which movie we're covering this week. Before we give up the goods, though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

You want to talk about a vote? We recently reviewed the Slumber Party Massacre from 2021. A reimagining of a classic horror franchise. And I actually was not on this episode, but I have to throw it out there. I did watch the movie on a plane, and I actually am gonna ha no, wait, not hack. I'm actually gonna slash it because it was just over the top and stupid enough, intentionally so, that I was like, you know what, I am entertained. The whole first part, I was like, hack this. But then when the twist came and you're like, oh, I was like, okay, so this is stupid and fun. Uh so I'm actually gonna slash this.

SPEAKER_05 1:41

Absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

But that does not count because I was not on this episode. What does count, however, is what our listeners thought. And the results are in. 43% of them gave it a hack, and 57% gave it a slash.

SPEAKER_05 1:54

That's still a majority slashing it. I'm happy with that.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

We have a couple comments from our listeners. Joey on Twitter had this to say. Um, excuse me, they remade this. How did this fly under my whole radar?

SPEAKER_05 2:04

I feel the same way. Yeah, it was a surprise because I didn't find out about it until like a couple days before it came out.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

I just love that Joey has a whore radar.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

I know. The combination of those two words seems like it should work, but I don't know that it does, Joey. I will, however, be using it in the future.

SPEAKER_05 2:19

I think it works in the written form, but not the oral form.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

There's a missing R. It should be horror dar. Horror. Get out of my face.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

We have another comment from BT Bam310 on Instagram who said, I love the twist when they said pillow fight and pulled out their weapons, but then there were too many tonal shifts, and the twist of the guy's behavior and reversed roles felt way too forced. And the Rust Thorn was too much of a caricature of the original. But overall, I liked it for what it was.

SPEAKER_04 2:45

I agree. I didn't have expectations for it, but I do agree it was a slightly more funnier version than the original.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yeah, this movie was a heightened caricature of a movie that was already a heightened caricature of something else. So I love a hat on top of another hat. And that's why I like this. Finally, we have one last comment from one of our patrons, Taylor, who said this. I don't know what to think about this movie. I love a good horror comedy, but at the end of the day, I thought they were doing too much. I'm not usually one to complain about Camp, but it was over the top. I didn't like Russ in this film. His stare was distracting, and I was a little disappointed that all of his lines were the same when they tried so hard to be different from the original. Still, overall, I found this movie effective at what it was trying to do, and I genuinely had a good time watching it. I have to give it a soft slash. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_05 3:33

Well, on to a different vote. This month's voting featured four films ranging from 2006 to 2018, and the votes were incredibly divided. Now, first and second place in the voting were separated by a mere three votes, so yes, every vote matters. But ultimately, our winner with 35% of the overall vote is a film that follows a group of friends solving mysterious deaths related to an underground game. A game in which if you die, you actually die in real life. This week we're talking about the 2006 film Stay Alive.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Now, this movie was nominated by Alex Poet, who wrote, Stay Alive is a great underrated film that I feel is unique. Can't think of other films off the top of my head that share a similar plot. If you're an RPG horror gamer, you'll enjoy this flick. Been a fave of mine for years. I always wish this game was real. What? To be able to make a character that looks like me and mow down ghouls with my friends would be amazing. While Alex nominated though, he wasn't alone in his love for the movie. We have several comments that were posted as part of the voting. One from Greg, stay alive. Please do stay alive. Love this movie. Greg guess what I guess we listened. So uh keep giving us commands because we'll just do whatever you say. Next up, Alex B wrote, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on Stay Alive. I recently rewatched this movie and found it still enjoyable. I know the computer graphics in the video game aren't very good compared to today's standards. Regardless, I found the idea behind the movie interesting and seeing Malcolm no longer stuck in the middle was funny. Also, did anyone else catch that? Because it did, I still like thought about it every time that he spoke a line.

SPEAKER_04 5:04

Totally.

SPEAKER_05 5:05

I never really watched Malcolm in the Middle. Like, I understand that that's who he is in my mind, because I don't know that I've seen him in much else, but I actually didn't mind experiencing him here. You might know him as Agent Cody Banks, though. No, absolutely not. I don't. I just know him as Frankie Muniz, the guy who was Malcolm in the Middle.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

We have another comment from Matt who said, I'm going to vote for Stay Alive because that's a really fun slasher, and I wouldn't mind revisiting the DVD I have with you guys. I haven't seen it since like 2009. And finally, Balzora Hollow 3 said, Stay alive, unrated director's cut for the goddamn win. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Apparently you see someone's bare ass in that cut. Interesting. I wonder if there was more gore in that one.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

I'm just sad. There was no bare ass in this one.

SPEAKER_05 5:46

Oh no, it was the guy with the pig mask. You wouldn't have missed it.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Never mind. I think I actually did watch the unrated cut because I saw that but.

SPEAKER_05 5:52

Well, Paris, I'm not sure if this was your first time watching that bare ass, but for all of us here, who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Believe it or not, I actually have seen this before.

SPEAKER_05 6:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Pretty sure I saw it in theaters. Um, being what was I when this movie came out? Fifteen? Yeah, I was fifteen when this movie came out. And I was into video games and I was into horror movies. So you better believe I went to see this in theaters.

SPEAKER_05 6:16

Is this how you celebrated your quintenera becoming a woman?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 6:20

Very interesting because I figure everyone would say they hadn't seen this movie, just like me. I've never heard of this in my entire life. I had to look it up, and I got even more confused when I saw Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle. I didn't realize he was in any horror movies.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Okay, so I was really confused and I watched the trailer after reading the synopsis because I I read it and I was like, I have seen this before. And then I watched the trailer and I was like, God, I think I've seen this before. And I think the only thing I had seen was the trailer for the movie. I think I watched the trailer way back in the day and was like, nah, I'm good, and just passed by it. Um, so no, I I thought I had, but then upon watching it, I guess I hadn't, but it also kind of felt like I had. It just seems familiar, but it's also a similar plot to like a ton of different like sci-fi shows. So uh I don't know. But apparently I didn't remember anything about it, so I don't think I've actually ever seen it until now.

SPEAKER_05 7:16

Well, the real plot twist is that Ryan has watched this movie, and so has Paris, and that feels hateful because I haven't. I've never seen this movie before, I've never heard of this movie before. In fact, when I read the concept of a movie in which you're playing a game, and if you die in the game, you die IRL. I was just thinking about the final nightmare. It's like a nightmare on Elm Street movie, where there's a character who dies in a video game, and that's all that I had to go off of. So upon doing a little bit of initial research, saw that this is Disney's only slasher film. Now, obviously, they own other properties, but I guess it was owned by Disney when it was made. And that led me to believe that this would be something that kind of creates the illusion that it's gonna be gory, but I didn't expect it to actually deliver on the intensity I think the poster tries to create in your mind. I felt like this was gonna be all bark and no-bite.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

Interesting. So I thought it was gonna have really great visuals. It's coming out during a time where we had all this awesome. I put that in quotes. I'm not sure. So all of us have different opinions.

SPEAKER_05 8:23

Uh props are early 2000s, high contrast, green hues. You thought the show was gonna be awesome?

SPEAKER_04 8:28

I mean, you know, I that's my vibe. So I was expecting really good visuals. Not so strong of a cast and maybe not a cohesive, you know, storyline, but essentially entertaining for what it was. But sorry, Paris, I know I am a slash until proven hack, but it this might be hack until proven slash.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

That seems fair, Alexis. Um I did not remember that I had seen this movie until I was about like 10 minutes in, and I was like, oh, I remember this movie a little bit. Um, but the fact that I didn't remember very much at all had me left with some pretty low expectations for this watch.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Oh, any movie that features any kind of video games is almost always going to have horrible expectations in my book. Like anytime they're gonna show video games on screen, they almost always do it wrong. And then if the whole movie is about video games and describes these characters as hardcore gamers, um, I'm just expecting it to be laughable.

SPEAKER_05 9:27

Aaron Powell Being laughable is not an unfair expectation, especially since I think gaming culture as a whole was never quite as uh disgusting as it is it's painted in this film. But even looking at the way that really things have boomed since then in terms of like Twitch, I mean I feel like this movie could actually be really well positioned to have a remake. I feel like that'd be really, really interesting. Now, when watching this movie, I found myself feeling cautiously optimistic about the premise, knowing that it was going to be dated, right? So early 2000s, from the years 2000 to uh 2008, maybe 2009, I really don't care for the way that horror films looked. Uh, the only exception would be like The Strangers and then the 2009 reboot of uh Friday the 13th. With that being said, I I found myself trying to like put the visuals outside of my mind knowing that I'd already be disappointed, but I still managed to feel underwhelmed with the really lackluster performances we got. I felt like the idea felt promising, but I saw our boy Hutch, who's like the main character, and he's painted with like a generic Jim Halpert brush, and it was just uninspired.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Uninspired, I think, is the perfect word. That's I think that sums up how I felt while watching it because it has some some you know intriguing ideas, I guess, shown on screen and everything while you're watching it. And you know, some of the characters have ridiculous lines, like not just, you know, oh, that's kind of silly or those are bad or something, but utterly ridiculous on purpose. Like they they try to give one of the characters crazy things to say in response to anything that anyone else says. Like it's never just like a yep, it's always got to be something that's like a really wild retort that no other human being on earth would say. And I don't know if it's to make them seem like edgy or something, like, oh, look how cool they are. They have like a cool edgy retort to everything.

SPEAKER_05 11:32

It was weird, but yeah, edgy retorts. Okay, also edgy one-liners. Can I tell you that I was today years old when I discovered what butter this muffin means?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Really?

SPEAKER_05 11:42

Disgusting.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

What about mean girls?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Oh, I still don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

It's very like teenage boy culture, which is something I felt throughout watching this movie. Like gamer culture has always been like riddled with toxic masculinity. It's very much like a place where like straight boys can go and like say the N-word and say the F-word and just be real garbage and like let all of that out of themselves. Um, and that's changed somewhat. Like, at least it's something that we're now aware of exists. Whereas before it was like, our parents don't know that this whole world exists right under their noses and in their houses where we fling slurs at strangers over voice chat. Um, so I got very much that vibe while watching this movie. And needless to say, it wasn't pleasant.

SPEAKER_05 12:23

It really isn't pleasant at all. And I think that's something that really turned me off of the idea of online gaming for a very long time. I truly only play video games online with Paris, and it's Dead by Daylight.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Otherwise, voice chat has to be disabled because the moment they hear I'm gay, it's a whole thing.

SPEAKER_05 12:41

Yeah, he wears a little rainbow charm, a little pride flag charm on his character. And you could you imagine we're already getting killed.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

True. The things that the killers might be saying.

SPEAKER_04 12:50

So this movie, I'm not sure for you guys, the sound was so messed up in this. I don't know if it was my TV, which I doubt it was, but I was like, why do I keep putting this up, down? Sometimes it sounded like they were in the studio, some like voicing over it, and then sometimes the actors felt far away from the source that was gathering their voices, but I I don't know, it was just odd to me. The most odd thing, and it was very surprising, is that opening scene it got my attention. I was like, please don't let this be in this sort of animated version this entire time because it literally reminded me of this computer game I used to play back in the day, not even sure how old, might have been 14, 15, I'm not sure, but it's Dracula Resurrection. And I just remember going through these places, I'm like, this it looks exactly like it, exactly like it. No one's played this.

SPEAKER_05 13:51

I never played that, but thinking about games that I played around the same time, I actually wasn't mad at the graphics in this movie only because it felt nostalgic. You know what I mean? I never played that one in particular, but I'm thinking about like Resident Evil 2, I'm thinking about Devil May Cry, I think about like early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s games, and I found like that was a little bit more charming. And honestly, if we had more that took place inside the game, I think I would have been a little bit happier.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

I'm gonna say I'm disappointed by the fact that more didn't take place inside the game. Because I'm I'm I'm with you, Chris. Like it does speak to a certain generation of video games, you know, that very early, like PS1, PS2, maybe early PS3 games, where you know everything didn't have to look like real life, but that was still good enough for you. And I think we could have seen some kills that tied in better to the actual game itself because there was like a there's like a delay between it. And I think they they kind of show it in you know the the trailer, they kind of talk about it as if it's going to be like really closely linked. Like I'm I'm imagining somebody in VR dying and then like just not ever coming out of VR. That's not really how it works in the film at all. And shortening that gap, I I think would have improved the quality of the kills.

SPEAKER_05 15:08

Yeah, I think I'm disappointed that it didn't work like that in the game. And I think that's one of the things that surprised me, looking at how much time takes place and how quickly they catch on to exactly what's happening and then the different places they go. This movie felt bigger in terms of its runtime and in terms of the way the plot moves than I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be kind of like Final Destination where everything happens kind of quickly. And this one managed to drag itself out a little bit more than I think I cared for it to. I think the one thing that really, really disappointed me even more though, was how much this movie didn't even live up to its own potential that you see later on in the movie. There's a point where they play with mixing the realities of the game and the movie, and at that point it's so far into it that you're like, well, this is just confusing now. What is the point of this? But again, I'm not super mad at it. I just wish this movie could be remade right now so they could get it right.

SPEAKER_04 16:07

Interesting you said that because I was surprised at how much that second half was entertaining for me. And I know it's probably because I don't have that much background playing video games, especially horror movie video games for that time, but it was still entertaining, and it wasn't like it was so grounded in some sort of language that I wouldn't have known. But for someone on the outside, I like that duality that it had.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

I think Chris, Alexis, Mac, you've all really touched on my disappointments with this movie, and that's the potential of what this idea could be. There's an episode of Black Mirror called Playtest.

SPEAKER_05 16:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

That takes a very similar premise and really does it in a way that's actually frightening at c at a couple points, um, and is really very like thought-provoking and interesting and dynamic and compelling. Um, and this was this was nothing of the sort.

SPEAKER_05 17:00

Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that episode until right now.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

It's one of my favorite episodes.

SPEAKER_05 17:05

And here's the thing well, I like that and then Sanju Deparo. I my problem is I was racking my brain earlier thinking, what is this like? And all I could think about was Nightmare on Elm Street, the final nightmare with that one video game, Death. That's the one thing I could think of. But you're right, that episode of Black Mirror does it really, really well. And I think that's because it bec it feels so much more tense. And I think about the types of experiences that we have now with modern technology, and I think about the one time I tried to play a horror game in VR. It was a fun time, but I think it was a little disappointing because it was so clear that it relied on a completely black screen with a small flashlight with sounds around you, and it relied more on jump scare tactics than I think like a frightening narrative. And I think even this movie has the potential when you think about you know Elizabeth Bathory and the backstory there. I think this had the potential to be frightening, but it loses itself with slapstick comedy characters and really bland performances along the way that it waters down any you know sense of tension that you have.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

I see where you're coming from, and I do agree it had the potential, especially with its backstory. But also I feel like the ending of this movie, and I don't mean to jump ahead a little bit, but the ending left me a little bit frightened, sort of, to see without giving away too much, what could be had they made a second one.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

I didn't find it scary at all, and that's just who I am. But I I think it's also kind of betrayed by the premise because video games in general aren't really that scary. I mean, maybe some people find them scary, but I just think that like you have a clear separation of of like the media and then reality already because you're playing a video game, you know that it's fake.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

I'm confused because I've seen people play Dead by Daylight and they jump and stuff like that, and they're terrified.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah, I don't get that at all. I think Dead by Daylight's fun, but I don't think it's scary.

SPEAKER_05 19:08

Okay, well, clearly you haven't had Michael Myers with no terror radius just pop out at you while you're working on a generator.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Yeah. And then it explodes in your face and you run and you get stabbed. Like, obviously it's not real, Mac, but it is still fun scary.

SPEAKER_05 19:22

Yeah, the stakes are high, and you honestly are some like dropped in this situation of not knowing what's coming. Those killers without a terror radius in Dead by Daylight, terrifying. The fucking pig? The pig?

unknown 19:34

Ugh.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

The sound of Ghostface's little robe billowing in the wind, and you realize he's two inches away from you. Spooked.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

See, just doesn't do it for me. I just like I never found horror games scary. Like Resident Evil, never I just mostly they bore me. Like I don't like walking around looking for things and then having things jump out at me. Or like zombie games, like I love zombie movies, but playing zombie games is just so boring to me. And and that's just maybe me as a gamer, because I enjoy like you know, fast-paced first-person shooter stuff. And so maybe it's maybe it's just because I'm boring.

SPEAKER_04 20:12

No, you're just married.

SPEAKER_03 20:13

Wow. Just kidding. I'm just kidding. Well, to be fair, Mac was the same before he was married.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Yeah, I was always boring. Don't be salty.

SPEAKER_04 20:21

I think his dating life obviously was more exciting. Obviously, all of ours.

SPEAKER_05 20:26

He started this podcast before he ever met his wife. So let's be clear here, he's always been a robot.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Ultimately, I feel like this for the time attempted to do some really original things. And that's fair to give it some points for.

SPEAKER_05 20:41

Yeah. Especially when Frankie Muniz talks about voice activation being next generation tech. Oh god.

SPEAKER_04 20:48

I feel like when you guys talk about technology, I I'm just blown away because I'm still using a computer that can't do two things at once.

SPEAKER_05 20:56

So I'm sorry. If I had if I if I get a game that requires Paris and I to chant a prayer or uh ancient seancey script before playing, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_04 21:09

Yeah, I feel like we've watched enough movies that you don't do that. I don't know, Paris. You said it was original. Maybe this doesn't feel original to me because I'm watching it, you know, in 2021. But I mean, I think the whole duality of you're in a video game, then it's real life. To me, that felt original. I feel like I don't see that that often, but I don't know, maybe I'm just not watching a lot of video game movies.

SPEAKER_05 21:35

I think you can for sure consider it that way, right? I think now, since this movie came out, we have that episode of Black Mirror. I think we have Ready Player One. I think the reality though is that this still carves itself an original space because it's also not an oversaturated market.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

And for good reason. Um, because it was oversaturated in the early 90s when the idea of VR was huge. That's when you had a ton of TV shows coming out. With the idea that like and movies, but oh, you're in VR, something happens to you, like your brain will tell your body to like do it. I was literally watching Lois and Clark, and that was an episode in which like Lois gets trapped in a VR game with some psycho, and he's like, Ah, you know, if something happens to you in the game, it's gonna happen in real life in the early 90s. And there were so many other examples of that. I mean, VR as a concept was massive in the in the 80s and in the 90s, because everyone thought it was gonna happen, and the metaverse still hasn't happened in 2021. So I I don't think as a concept it's it's wholly original. I think it to me seems kind of like those other movies in early 2000s where it's like, oh, you have you find some kind of omen and then now you're marked by it, whether it's watching a videotape or getting a phone call or whatever it's gonna be. Um but the whole like video game concept where it happens in real life, totally saw it 20 different times 10 or 15 years before.

SPEAKER_05 22:58

Okay, well, if you want to do all that, we could technically go back to 1984 Nightmare on Elm Street. If you died in your dreams, you died in real life. Same, same but different.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Right. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 23:08

But a nightmare on Elm Street did have a way more satisfying ending than this fucking movie. Uh, it's it's something that I think, Alexis, you mentioned earlier, it would be interesting to see what a sequel could look like. Absolutely. I think it ends on a better note, but I think the resolution for the immediate characters is just so uh I we're expected to see some measure of growth from one of the characters that we don't really get. Uh honestly, Hutch isn't really a convincing leading man by any stretch of the imagination. Everything that we get with him and Abigail trying to really take things on there at the end on their own, it didn't feel convincing. It didn't feel like they were capable. And uh I I think the good thing about the ending was just that final moment of realizing the the game's reach, but beyond that it was lackluster.

SPEAKER_04 23:54

Yeah, I do like that part. Um and I thought it was original that last part, but I see where you're coming from with the characters. I think I forgot there were characters in here. I was just, you know, the visuals were stunning. So I know we'll talk about all this in the second half. But were they though? I mean, depends what you're talking about, but I don't know. I kept my attention.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

The epitome of movie visuals for Alexis is the original saw. That's as good as it gets for movies.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

So uh don't forget the collector. I really like that one too.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

I'll say the ending was was lackluster, just like the rest of the movie. We've kind of mentioned it, it did feel just it wasn't very satisfying because they they came to a conclusion and then very quickly undid that conclusion. So it's like, did anything truly matter with what you just did at the end of this movie? Like I and I hate when movies do that. If you if you're gonna have a sequel and you have it planned out and it's already like greenlit and everything, like I get it. But if you're just gonna be like, hey, they did all this work and now none of it matters, what's the point?

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Well, the point is, Mac, they told GameStop that they would advertise for them, so they had to slip that in there at the end. Otherwise, though, I think this movie kind of felt like it was made up as it went along and that is reflective in the ending.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

But they did give a shout-out to G4 Tech TV. And wow, how dated that felt. Oh my god, remember G4?

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Remember Olivia Munn's origin story?

SPEAKER_00 25:11

I do. I was watching back then before it was, you know, I was watching tech TV before it was G4 Tech TV, and then before it was G4 eventually, I guess. I don't know. It's it was a weird, it was a weird moment in time.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

And now you're drinking G-Fuel.

SPEAKER_05 25:25

What is G-Fuel?

SPEAKER_01 25:26

It's like a a gamer energy drink that all the Twitch streamers partner with. Is it Mountain Dew, Code Red?

SPEAKER_05 25:32

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Pretty much, but I'm pretty sure it's like just cocaine in different flavors.

SPEAKER_05 25:36

Well, let's see if we can fuel our way onto these ratings. Now, before we actually score in this movie, Alexis, how many people died? We had a total of seven people die in this movie. And what about the animal report? It is all good.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

I mean, if you're worried about wild pixels dying, maybe that's a concern.

SPEAKER_05 25:53

Uh, let's go ahead and get on to our ratings. Stay alive from 2006. Selected by our patrons, adored by our patrons. Is it hacker slash?

SPEAKER_04 26:02

I actually am figuring out how I'm gonna talk myself through my reading right now. I'm not sure if I watched this movie and at the end thought it was a waste of time. But this movie has a lot of things and it sets up rules which they don't follow by in this whole movie. But you know me, I suspend my disbelief on a lot of things, and I thought overall this movie was entertaining. Like I said, I didn't focus on the characters, I didn't I mean, I just thought it was a very surface level watch. Um, I I didn't dive deep into it. Also, I have no gaming experience, so I can't hack or slash it for that reason. But I thought it was entertaining, so I'm gonna give it a slash.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

It should come as no surprise. While I may adore our patrons, I did not adore this movie. This movie, to me, can really be exemplified by its opening scene, which starts off kind of promising. You're like, oh, interesting idea, video game, horror, die in the game, die in real life. Let's see what we do with that. And by the end of the opening scene, you get like this kill that is like um potentially main character dying in a way that's so like impotent and flaccid, because they like pull the audio out of it, and it could be this like big like boom, but really it's just like and you're like uh oh okay, that's that moving on. Um and I feel like flaccid is the best way to describe this movie. Like, yeah, it had potential, but like if you can't get it up, what good is that potential? It's useless to me as a viewer. The writing in this movie was so bad, there were times where I laughed out loud with how little it made sense. Like, I'm wondering how the actors justified the reasoning for some of the lines, because I'm like, do you realize how you just said this and now you're saying this, and that doesn't make any sense as any human person. Anyway, the characters were bad, the movie was bad, I could barely find anything nice to say about this. Patrons, I'm so sorry, but I still love you, and we will reunite on the next one. I have faith.

SPEAKER_05 28:07

Here we are to staggering 50% hack, 50% slash. Let's see where Mac goes.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Well, I'm I'm going team hack here, and I don't think it's surprising. I can't really speak highly of this movie in any way, and it's got things stacked against it. It's talking about computers in any form or fashion, it's talking about video games, and almost always when those things are mixed with a movie, they're just bad. Because when you try to make them into some kind of weird mainstream thing, you just they just make bad movies. I mean, like on TV, you get people like two people typing on one keyboard. That's what happens when Hollywood tries to make any kind of media that refers to like electronics. They just do it all wrong, and this is what the movie felt like to me. It just felt like somebody who didn't really care about the idea of video games making a movie centered around it. I think it would have worked much better if it were related to like books, like somebody's reading a book and then the things they read start happening in real life. I'm sure that's been made. It would have been a better fit, I think, for this kind of idea because you have a little bit more flexibility, and this one took too much flexibility. Like Alexa said, it didn't really follow the rules that it set to begin with. And so the premise seemed interesting enough in the beginning. We start to jump into it a little bit, and I'm like, okay, maybe this will be kind of entertaining. And then very quickly, they were like, remember when we paid somebody to give us some 3D graphics? We're not gonna do that for the rest of the movie. We're gonna show you like three seconds of those clips from now on. And then also the rules that we established don't really matter because we just we need to finish this movie somehow. So I didn't really find it that entertaining. It was very surface level, like Alexis mentioned. It is a very kind of shallow watch. I feel like this would have been a movie that played on G4 Tech TV at like two in the morning, and you're just like sick and you you're you can't fall asleep and you need something to watch, and this is what you put on, and then you would probably turn the TV off and fall asleep because you'd had enough of it. So it's not a it's not a horrible movie, it's not pure trash. I just feel like there was just too much stacked against it, and and it just didn't work for me. So it's a heck.

SPEAKER_05 30:03

Okay, so there are a lot of strong feelings here, and I think it only makes sense that there would be, given the strong feelings that we had uh from our patrons when they were nominating and voting this. And when I think back to a lot of what was originally said, it's relatively unknown, it's underrated, and it's something that is a unique ride and is fun to watch. And I think for the most part, I would actually agree with that. I I can't speak to its the quality of it being like underrated or not, but I do think that this is a movie that you know makes a promise of you play a game, and if you die, you die in real life. And I think a lot of the things that we get in the beginning of the movie that set that stage and the way that we discover the similarities and parallels between these real people and their digital avatars, I think that's really, really interesting. I think one of the things that I struggle with is this movie does have so much potential. And I think, you know, this movie uh has something really strong going against it, which is the dialogue. And then I think of something that it has going in its favor, and that's just the entire fucking concept of this video game. And for me, that brings it at a nice like 50-50 break, so it can go in either direction. But then you get a lackluster performance from Hutch. You get a character who doesn't really grow by any means. It seems like you're supposed to root for him, but he gives you just really nothing to work with. There's a point where he starts washing red solo cups. Who washes red solo cups? I do.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Okay, that was funny though.

SPEAKER_05 31:36

As if it's actually dishware. You probably wash it if you're gonna like regularly have parties, but this was clearly the only kind of liquid vessel that existed in this apartment. Between that and Finn's dialogue, granted, I think the actor portraying him did a stellar job because I think he he painted him exactly the way he was written. You know what I mean? But I don't like the way he was written. I don't like a lot of the comments that come out of it, and ultimately it gets a hack. Now it's not a hack that I hate, and it's not a hack that I would never watch again. I totally get why our patrons love this movie, and I absolutely want to see a remake of it one day. I really do. And maybe, maybe I don't know that it could be swayed this much, but I would be willing to watch the unrated director's cut. But overall, this movie left me deflated, and that's a bit of a bummer. But with that, stay alive from 2006, has earned three hacks and one slash. Now you can find this movie available for rent or purchase online. Sounds like a lot of folks are fans of the unrated cut, so maybe you should check that out instead. Either way, join us in the second half so we can hit start together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

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SPEAKER_05 33:52

But before we get into the specifics of why we overwhelmingly hacked this movie, we have Matter of Gore to attend to. Alexis, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_04 34:00

Uh, it's fairly low, in my opinion. I think everyone can agree on that.

SPEAKER_05 34:04

Really, just a bucket of red stuff thrown at a wall and then horses running over a guy? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Weak.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

I mean, even the horses running over. I mean, this movie, every time there was a death, I wanted to see a little bit more. I know I'm a little crazy in general. I'm always asking for more blood, more of this, more of that, but it doesn't linger on any sort of kill. So obviously, this movie screams PG 13. And I really wish that they would have added a little bit more and made this a rated R movie because I feel like that would have been the best option, in my opinion. But I get it, you want people in the seats in the theater in 2006, so you make it PG 13. Well, it's that director's cut.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Can you imagine if this was remade today and it had like mangled kills like Susperia?

SPEAKER_04 34:55

Okay, we don't have to go that far. There's a you know, a nice middle ground.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

But think about it like if you can do anything inside of a video game, it's all just pixels and polygons and everything. If that were to then happen in real life, you could just totally destroy some corpses on screen. That would be nice.

SPEAKER_04 35:11

It would also have been nice to get, you know, these crime scene photos that we get. I I like that, but also wanted it to linger more. I'm sorry, just casually browsing the police database, no big deal. The more I talk about this, the more I'm like, maybe I should have hacked it. But uh maybe I should have read my notes for the second half. But I have to say, my favorite kill, so hopefully I don't take it from anyone, is gonna be October. I think because I was expecting the rules to be followed, and then she needed to play in the game, and then she didn't in order to be killed, and she had that kill. So I think it was because it was the one I didn't expect because all of them to me are a little lackluster.

SPEAKER_05 35:56

Well, the reality is don't hate the player, hit the game, because the game just kept playing itself, even when no one else was touching it. But I think my favorite death is actually a semi-underwhelming one. It's actually Loomis, but only because I really enjoyed the first realization of you see that his character is wearing the same thing that his game character was wearing, and you realize and you're connecting the dots along the way as you go. The only thing that I didn't like, and what didn't make sense was why he got out of bed with a lighter. Unnecessary. There's enough natural moonlight flawman in there.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

You solely didn't pick his death just because it was Loomis Crowley?

SPEAKER_05 36:35

Yeah, no, I I honestly picked his death because his name is Loomis, like Sam Sam Loomis. But really the the Zippo thing was the only thing that bothered me about it. I like the suddenness of his death. The oh wait, no, I'm sorry, I forgot there's one more goofy thing about his death where he throws milk at a ghost. Or he thinks it's a ghost, he thinks it's a shape, and he just like throws the glass dramatically. He doesn't like throw the glass as if it's an object that could hurt someone, he like splashes the milk at the person, it's just ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Like a real housewife with a glass of wine.

SPEAKER_05 37:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

I'm right there with you, Alexis. My favorite death was also October, because I think the scene leading up to her death was like the closest thing to like decent suspense that we got throughout the whole movie. And that was a time where I was like desperate to like buy into this in some capacity. Uh so I agree that that was my fave death. And also just saying, like, go fuck yourself, and then having her throat slit. I was like, you better work, bitch.

SPEAKER_05 37:29

See, that would have been so great. Except I was less than thrilled that she already knew what was going on and still walked into the house with a dead spooky specter in. You know what I mean? It's like, what are you doing, October?

SPEAKER_01 37:42

I thought the same thing, and my boyfriend and I commented on that, and then he was like, Oh wait, never mind. She has a vendetta against the ghost, which she did declare in a couple scenes prior prior.

SPEAKER_05 37:51

It was a feud, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

It was personal for October.

SPEAKER_05 37:55

Someone ran over her brother in a horse-drawn carriage. She's gonna find who it is and make them pay.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

I'll gonna pick a kill that is probably not one that most people would, and it's Detective King. Because if you're not going to show a kill, I think this is the way to not show it. They show the kill inside the game, and it looks like it's a really gruesome one or it's going to be a gruesome one, and then he gets into his car and you have a clear view of the car, and then you can hear like the sound of him being killed. And so I think it plays on your you know your mind's ability to create the picture just enough.

SPEAKER_05 38:26

Okay, do I love the imagination? Absolutely, Mac. I think that's obviously a fantastic way to go. I take issue with that death because it felt very screamed to Randy's death.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Okay. More like Vandy's death.

SPEAKER_05 38:40

It's not bad overall, Mac. I I see why you picked it, but let me tell you the death that I wish happened. I wish Hutch would have just fucking burned in the fire.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

As a child, so that none of this ever would have happened?

SPEAKER_05 38:52

No, not at all. Because I think this this movie would have happened without Hutch because Loomis had the game. It probably would have just stopped right at Loomis and his friends. But the problem for me is that Hutch is supposed to be the central character that we follow. He has a fear of fire to the point where he can even be around a zippo letter, man. No, man, you can you can keep that. It's cool. Or someone lights up a cigarette near him. They make it seem like it's going to be this thing that he eventually overcomes, like the fire is set off in the room. But then he just crawls back in a corner again like a child and puts his arm around, and Frankie has to come back from the fucking dead to save him. That's what it took. That's what it took for him to not die. Honestly, I wish Frankie and Abigail would have just gotten out of there and left Hutch to sacrifice himself because honestly, he was very blind.

SPEAKER_04 39:44

I agree with you. I feel like they built that up a lot. And I was like, wow, this is a lot of foreshadowing going on right now multiple times. Like, I get it. He's going to conquer some sort of fire, but we, like you mentioned, kind of lackluster on the ending because of that. Wish he would have died in the torture room because I love that scene and visually favorite because it just reminds me of a very good mix between Saw and Hostel. Do y'all remember In Hostile?

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Wait.

SPEAKER_04 40:16

If you don't remember, it sounds like Paris is gonna fill you in.

SPEAKER_01 40:20

Alexis, are you talking about In Hostile 2?

SPEAKER_04 40:22

Yes, with the girl with the hanging upside down. Yes, and the other girl in the bathtub.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Mm-hmm. There was a bathtub right under her. Yes. She was ready to bleed that girl out and use her blood to make herself younger. And I said, okay, reference.

SPEAKER_04 40:36

Yeah, I know. I really love this room, and it's another point where I wish there was something done in this room other than October just, you know, wincing over some ghost.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

Yeah, Alexis, that was actually my favorite visual as well was Abigail hanging upside down over that bathtub because it reminded me of something that I love, which is that scene in Hostel 2. And also it like implied a deeper, richer backstory for this like countess witch villain that I don't think we really got enough of.

SPEAKER_05 41:08

Yeah, I'll drop a link in the show notes to the actual backstory behind this woman in history. But the potential of that moment for Abigail was it was compelling. I think what also kind of took me out of things was that she reminds me of someone who was Jennifer Tilly adjacent.

SPEAKER_01 41:24

Oh yeah, I get that.

SPEAKER_05 41:25

And I just watched the sea the season finale of the Chucky TV series, in which Jennifer Tilly's stars, of course. And that's all I have on my mind now. And it's impossible to just look at that face and not hear her voice come out.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

I don't have a plan in this movie that I loved to look at. I mean, it does have that very early to mid-2000s aesthetic that I'm also not a huge fan of. So there's not a lot to love for me, but I did kind of I did kind of chuckle when the group is all together, like playing the video game, like on the couch, and that just like felt like an old video games commercial. That's what like they tried to sell it as, right? This is what kids would do, or or even adults would do, and that was cool is you would slam some out and dew, sit on the couch with like five of your friends, and have a bunch of TV setups you could all see yourselves playing, I guess, but see everyone else play at the same time. I didn't really understand uh how this game works for multiplayer, but um, it just kind of cracked me up because it did feel super dated. I think if this was made in 2021, everyone would just be at home on their own, connected with the internet.

SPEAKER_05 42:33

Is that what a land party is?

SPEAKER_00 42:35

So a land a land party is is local, right? So you would get in a room. Usually you would set up tables, like somebody would have folding tables and you would have like a bunch of like surge protectors all hooked up and wires everywhere, but you would typically have multiple tables to be able to house everybody's crap.

SPEAKER_04 42:51

Sounds like a party I'm missing out on.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Oh, you're you're definitely missing out. A good land party back in the day was very fun.

SPEAKER_05 42:57

I prefer DD.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

I prefer getting all the boys together to smash.

SPEAKER_01 43:01

Classic.

SPEAKER_05 43:02

Actually, Mac, my favorite visual comes right after that, and it's the moment when we have uh Miller who's wrapping up for the evening, he's seeing some spooky things, and there's a point where he bends down to grab the controller, and we see this shadowy figure just kind of erecting in the background. And I loved that. I loved that moment of playing with depth, right? And looking at creating things and using the paranoia you may have had in the game. Not that we the audience did, but perhaps Miller, uh, seeing things in your periphery that you question whether or not they're there. I really loved that moment. And I felt like that was potentially wasted because they didn't do a whole lot on that the rest of the movie. Yeah, that moment and then leading up to Miller's ultimate death was absolutely my favorite scene. If only because it felt like this very clever way of p starting to pick off the friends one by one. And I really enjoyed the idea of it just being this douchey guy who. Who's obviously not core to the main group, just getting getting gotten an office building late at night.

SPEAKER_00 44:05

I I love the way they did that in the in the beginning of the movie because they didn't have to show too much, but it was way more effective than when you got to see the clearly CGI's ghost later on.

SPEAKER_03 44:16

So horrible.

SPEAKER_04 44:17

So horrible.

SPEAKER_05 44:18

Oh, what about the ghoul or the ghost rippling through after they say the prayer?

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Oh my god. You know, we can we can hate on it, but it did give me some vibes uh of a movie we just watched with a ghost like passing through people.

SPEAKER_03 44:32

Poltergeist?

SPEAKER_00 44:32

Oh yeah. It was definitely like 2006's version of poltergeist like rippling through the screen.

SPEAKER_05 44:38

Yeah, except none of them looked at each other and thought, it's her. Let's sm smell this. It smells just like her.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

So my favorite scene is definitely when they're going to the plantation because I think it sets up a scene where it's kind of jinxy, it's Scooby-Doo. It's like, let's look for some clues. And that's where you get that duality between the video game and what's going on in real life. And I just like that you know, Swink is navigating Hutch through the house, which I I just love. It just is simplistic, but I do like because you're getting some of the backstory, and then you go through this secret passageway and you're really diving into this house and seeing what all there is. I do wish it was extended a little bit more. You know, I like my backstory, so I wish there was more to that.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

I'm gonna say my favorite scene is a bad scene, but it was to the point where it was so bad that I started laughing a lot. It's the scene where Hutch is like really opening up about his theory. He's like, I think the video game is killing people because when you go into the like when you die in the game, you die in real life. To which October says, You know what? I think you might be right, and here's some evidence I have to support your theory. And he responds with, Oh my god, you sound crazy. What the fuck?

SPEAKER_05 45:54

Yeah, this dumb fuck.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

I was like, What? Oh, she's literally validating your opinion with like facts and evidence, and you're saying she's crazy for following up on the crazy idea that you have. It was so stupid, and it was so evident that this movie was like written by white dudes and it was like so terribly written.

SPEAKER_05 46:12

It was, and I think that doesn't become any truer than when you look at the rest of the fucking characters in this movie. There isn't a single redeemable one. Even the one that, like, you know, you have Abigail, who is maybe one of the more interesting ones on paper, she's still pretty one-dimensional and lackluster. October, I think, had potential, and then she's just easily dispatched and is reduced to nothing as soon as her brother dies. This movie had ideas where I think if you could take these character concepts and put them down on paper and then say, cool, different group of people make this movie, they'd end up there'd end up being massive improvements along the way. But it was just overall such a such a disappointing turn for every single one of them. Even the cops sucked.

SPEAKER_04 47:00

Detective Thibodeau is in so many comedic roles that I was like, yep, I feel like I'm watching Chris Rock again in the book of Saw. But I agree, Chris. They really are super stereotypical, and not even in a good way, because obviously this movie isn't trying to make fun of those stereotypes. They are trying to fit these people in this mold, and it just did not work.

SPEAKER_01 47:22

I do not know what mold they were trying to fit that detective in, but they had him in these like 1970s zoot suits, and then like at one point he shows up in a Cadillac when everyone else is in like a squad car, and my boyfriend and I were just cracking up.

SPEAKER_05 47:35

Okay, but hold on, because one of the best songs in my Apple Music Library is a song called Zoot Suit Riot, and now you've made me much happier, and I like that detective much more. That's how the math works.

SPEAKER_00 47:48

It's kind of sad that I know that song very well. Doesn't everybody know that song? It's because everybody used to love Brian Setzer back in the day.

SPEAKER_04 47:55

Don't know who that is. But I did know every person in this cast, which is really interesting in very 2000s type where you load a movie with characters everyone knows, but you know, make them not have an arc, nothing important. But Jimmy Simpson as Finn, I love. I'll give him that credit because I love watching Rust World and I love him in it. So I enjoyed his performance even in it.

SPEAKER_00 48:22

Yeah, he like I think Chris mentioned earlier how well he nailed his character, and so while his character is horrible and his lines were trash, he did them so well that it almost was enjoyable.

SPEAKER_05 48:32

Yeah. The character still isn't enjoyable for me, but he is clearly a cut above the rest in terms of the quality of his performance. Absolutely. What kills me though is his dialogue, like it's like eating a beave. At first it's awesome and then it's just monotonous. It's like, what the fuck, dude?

SPEAKER_01 48:49

That's what he said? Oh, I didn't catch that. I was like, what is he even talking about? Beave? Oh, that word's not even in my vocabulary. It didn't register.

SPEAKER_05 48:58

It's that, and that's I think the other problem, right? That type of dialogue written with these characters is just enough to reduce any measure of relatability to the story for me. That it feels very much like outsider looking in and looking at like that's a party I don't really want to be at.

SPEAKER_00 49:15

Yeah, he seems kind of like back in the day how everyone thought it was cute that Rachel Ray said Delish. It's like when you hear Rachel Ray say Delish 4,000 times, that's everyone in his lines. It's like very deliberately uncool. I think the trouble with the characters in this movie is who exactly are you supposed to identify with? Who exactly are you supposed to like link up with, connect with, and root for? Because most of the characters are they're just so like mediocre, right? They are and flaccid that Paris mentioned earlier, it kind of works really, really well. Like nobody really stands up here, nobody really stands out from the rest of the group. And you know, I I know that you got a little like cookie cutter wannabe John Krasinski energy from from uh characters, Chris. But no, that that would have been really nice if somebody was actually like endearing and we cared about them. But for the most part, like they made them all seem like jerks, and that I think was a mistake because this whole like idea of a gamer counterculture was also a huge mistake when you realize that most gamers are just really nerds, you know, kind of just like all the rest of us these days. Like you don't have to have like a separate gamer class, right? And then the pro gamers are are many times jerks, but not in the way that they show them in this movie, they're just egotists in many cases, or they just don't care.

SPEAKER_05 50:35

Yeah, speaking of jerks, can we talk about how Abigail seems like this lovely human, but then when we're introduced to her, she's at a funeral where she knows no one and she's fucking taking pictures of people mourning as if J. Jonah Jameson has a dispatch to take pictures of Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

Okay, can I tell you my theory on this?

SPEAKER_04 50:51

I would love to know because it was very awkward for me too.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

My theory the entire time was that she's the one who made the game. Oh yeah, the blonde. I thought the same thing, Max.

SPEAKER_04 51:00

That would have been awesome.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

Doesn't it make sense though? Like she's like keeping track of how it's doing, and she seems kind of weirdly okay with what's going on, and even okay going into you know the scary place in the end. Um I mean, obviously she's scared, so it turned out that she wasn't involved. But I was like, but somebody made this game, and it's she's the outsider, she fits the mold.

SPEAKER_05 51:22

It would only make sense and she was also dumb enough to instead of using that rose for protection, instead sit there and say, He loves me, he loves me not. Destroying the rose that was meant to protect her.

SPEAKER_04 51:33

So I have to give a worst part, which I feel like I talked about the entire podcast. But it's definitely when you have this zombie girl. I don't know what she is, but she reminds me of like some sort of commercial or whatever comes before the movie that's the production team, and it's I don't know, it's just reminding of something that should not be in the movie, and especially when she's crawling, and then in the basement, especially, it's just very thrown in there, and I maybe that was probably the CGI, but it was horrible compared to the other things you got on screen.

SPEAKER_00 52:05

Okay, but that relates to the best part of the movie, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_04 52:08

Uh what?

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Yes. Okay, so when they first get into the game, just thinking it's a regular game that hasn't been released, and they're just playing, and there's like a ton of little ghost girls running around that they have to hunt, that actually looks like a pretty solid game.

SPEAKER_04 52:20

But not when it's put in real life all of a sudden, it's just interesting. And I like the duality, but I just something about those ghosts looked freaking horrible.

SPEAKER_05 52:31

Yeah, so for me, the best thing also has to do with the game, but it's when Frankie as Swink is just going boss mode, you know, navigating Hutch because Hutch is incapable of doing anything on his own through the world, the real world, and there's a moment where he even drops a crowbar on the stairs and all of a sudden it's there in real life. This moment makes no sense. This moment alone in this movie, just take it out. You've ruined the rest of the movie by showing, oh, this is something we could have done all along, but then you didn't, so fuck you guys. But that was a really cool moment, and I thought, yeah, that was the moment that it almost actually made me slash the movie because I was like, oh man, like how sick could the rest of this movie be if they keep doing stuff like this? And then they didn't really. That was a problem for me.

SPEAKER_01 53:20

Yeah, that crossbow would have been nice to have. I will say my favorite part of this movie, and I am absolutely reaching here. It's October as a general vibe. Like, first of all, being named October is very hot. She was very hot. She seemed to be like one of the few characters that was like close to competent and did things that made sense for the most part, except for when she went over that went after that ghost out of like revenge. She's like broke into that old house to do so and get killed. Um, her bangs were really good. She did have this sort of like elitist, like, I'm a gamer girl, and you're not a girl that plays games, so you're not as good as me. This is my place, where I was kind of like, uh, get out of here with that. Um, but I didn't expect too much from a character written by who wrote these characters.

SPEAKER_05 54:04

And back up best part of this movie goes to the actress who played Abigail actually being born on October 31st. Good for her.

SPEAKER_01 54:12

Okay, wait. Side note, Abigail's bangs jumped back and forth through multiple scenes. Did anyone else see it?

SPEAKER_04 54:18

Yes. If you're a true emo chick, you have to do that, or your part gets so bad and it doesn't cover your face, it'll just start s like not covering your eyes. So you actually have to flip your your bangs. Emo tips with the Lexus. Yes, I will give you all of them. I even studied my own belt.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

I love the authenticity of like the single bobby pin that she had for the bangs. I was like, that's real. That was true.

SPEAKER_04 54:41

Oh, also important when you need to do things that you need to have your hair back for.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

Okay, so speaking of bangs, this movie was not a bang for me, so I don't think I would want to watch it again. Again, it you know, it kind of seems like a movie that's on at two in the morning and you just like stumble across because you're tired and you have insomnia at the same time.

SPEAKER_04 54:58

But I would watch it then. I would say I it will probably be removed from my watching experience for a while. But if it's on TV, which is random because I don't even have television subscription, but if I did and it was on, it'd be like something I'd keep watching.

SPEAKER_05 55:15

I believe in the potential of this movie. I believe in seeing a remake of this movie. I will not watch the exact cut I did ever again, though.

SPEAKER_01 55:22

Yeah, interestingly enough, Chris has officially sold me on a remake of this movie. I think there's a lot of potential here. Um, I will never watch this again.

SPEAKER_05 55:30

Okay. Crazy idea. The year is 2023, and we have made a remake of this movie with Dead by Daylight.

SPEAKER_00 55:37

I'll take it. Wait, only if you have Frankie Munez show up.

SPEAKER_03 55:41

No. And he has to be in the golf cart with all of his brothers. We can get Ryan in a visor, and I think that'll be close enough.

SPEAKER_00 55:47

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:48

But speaking of close enough, let's see how close we compare to success in fact or fiction.

SPEAKER_00 55:54

Well, success is the right word because speaking of career success, we're gonna be talking about Frankie Munez tonight. And our boy Frankie, number one here. Frankie learned to play the drums from Zach Hansen.

SPEAKER_04 56:04

I'm sorry, but I'm here watching you do this, so I can tell when you're lying. Um, this is fiction.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Did he play the drums in this movie? Or is this just like general Frankie Muniz trillion? Just general. Okay, I'm gonna say sure, yes, this is fact.

SPEAKER_05 56:17

I'd also like to go on the record in saying that I'm still convinced that mmm Bob doesn't have any real lyrics.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

Well, I don't know whether or not that's fact or fiction, but I can tell you that the thing I said was indeed a fact.

SPEAKER_03 56:29

Huh. You're just uh throwing your bluffs out.

SPEAKER_00 56:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:31

Can't tell when he's lying at all, can you? He stuttered a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 56:34

Alexis, wait, you missed it, but last time it was just me doing fact and fiction, fact or fiction, and I got all of them right.

SPEAKER_00 56:41

That is true. That's a fact. So, speaking of fact or fiction, let's let's keep going here. Let's go to number two. Frankie not only learned to play the drums from a Hansen, but is best friends with the Hansons.

SPEAKER_04 56:54

I mean, they do look like they got slime together on Nickelodeon, so possibly a fact.

SPEAKER_01 56:59

No, I'm gonna say fiction because I think Mac is pushing this too far. I'm not pushing it too far because this is a fact.

SPEAKER_00 57:06

Damn, my streak is over. Ah, somebody had to lose eventually. Let's keep going. Number three here, Frankie owned the Volkswagen Jetta from Fast and the Furious.

SPEAKER_04 57:15

Frankie seems like the type of guy that would blow his money on some stupid stuff like that. So fact.

SPEAKER_01 57:21

I don't know what that means, so I'm gonna say fiction.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

This one, again, is a fact. So he did own it and uh he sold it, I think, somewhere around like 2016. Uh, and I don't know if anyone knows where it is now. Who knows? But uh anytime I get a chance to talk about Fast and the Furious, obviously I'm gonna bring it up. So uh number four, Ricky Minos can tap dance.

SPEAKER_04 57:43

You looked at me real hard on that one. Fiction.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

Fact. Also fact. And of course, number five, he is also an experienced juggler.

SPEAKER_04 57:53

Fuck it. Fact.

SPEAKER_00 57:54

Fiction. Anytime it's juggling, I feel like it's fiction. You are correct. Whether or not he can juggle, I don't know, but I did just make this up, so it is indeed a fiction. And that's been factory fiction.

SPEAKER_05 58:05

Well, we've certainly juggled a lot here, and maybe we juggled our patrons' hearts just a little bit more than that because Stay Alive from 2006, as picked by them, has earned three hacks and one slash. Now we've had a lot to talk about here, but it doesn't end here by any means. We want to know what you think. Keep in mind there are a number of ways you can reach out to us, starting with our website, hackerslash.live, and on our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SPEAKER_00 58:28

And if you're more of a multiplayer person, you can reach out to us on our Hacker Slash Hotline. You can leave us a voicemail at 757-606-0128, or visit hacker slash.

SPEAKER_01 58:45

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SPEAKER_05 58:53

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember whoever said size doesn't matter never played a third person shooter. Bye.