Review: Stay Alive

Rated PG-13 | 85 mins

IMDB Info

The Internet Movie Database summarizes the plot of Stay Alive as such: “For a group of teens, the answer to the mysterious death of their old friend lies within the world of an online video game based on the true story of an ancient noblewoman known as the Blood Countess.” If casually browsing through movie listings on the webpage, one might be inclined to believe that the ridiculous description was written by a misinformed internet-hack. But that’s not the case: Stay Alive is, indeed, about a group of gamers whose characters in a video-game work like voo-doo dolls. “Game Over” means much more than the sacrifice of a player’s ability to frantically move a toggle-button; it also means the loss of their life. Sounds lame, eh? Well, as if the premise wasn’t dopey enough, adding insult to injury are the animated video-game sequences which stretch up to three or four minutes a piece. Not to mention: throughout the duration, the viewer couldn’t care less about the lives of the characters due to the cast’s nonchalant performances. In its entirety, Stay Alive is a piece of trash that raises a question that marks a new low in uninspired filmmaking: when is a movie no longer a cash-in byproduct of Hollywood and actually a means for a studio to steal the mass public’s hard-earned money?