Review By Jon Donnis
A simple premise, 5 people wake up from cryosleep, but can't remember anything about themselves including who they are or how long they have been asleep. Before you know it they are being hunted by an unknown assailant.
A pretty simple concept that on paper should lead to a claustrophobic type of horror thriller. Usually this kind of story has people waking up on a spaceship, but this time we are definitely underground on Earth.
So, let's delve a little deeper.
We start of in some kind of underground facility, five scientists wake up, and find themselves released from some kind of cryo chamber, as they wake up, they quickly realise that none of them has much memory about anything. They understand that they were part of some kind of experiment and slowly remember what their roles were, but that's about it, they don't even know their names, just a number on their clothes. There is no one there to welcome them, to check their health, no one at all, despite their chambers having to be opened from the outside.
We have a Psychologist 002 (Jyllian Petrie), Doctor 005 (Emily Marie Palmer), Soldier 004 (Mason D. Davis), Engineer 001 (Curt Doussett) and Biochemist 003 (Morgan Gunter). The Inventor 000 (Michael Flynn), is nowhere to be found.
The facility has them locked underground with airlocks, which tells them that what is outside could kill them or it could be the key to their survival.
From the beginning you will realise this is a low budget film, and as such it becomes apparent early on that the low budget is going to seriously hamper what should be an exciting horror thriller. Because of that the film has to rely on the characters and their experiences, which include hallucinations, illness, mistrust, and aggression.
The film tries hard with what it has, and has to rely on dialog heavy scenes, but it suffers from that lack of a budget, and a ridiculously long near 2-hour runtime. I have no idea why the film is so long, at best this should be an 80-minute film, especially with such a low budget.
Of course, the film has a twist, and you find out everything you need to by the end, and to be fair the twist is a decent one, and by far the best part of the film.
The Good
The concept is good, and I liked the ending.
The Bad
Way too long, and really dragged down by a low budget a poor character development.
Overall
The film has something there, it just fails to completely unlock it in a way that is worthy for the viewer.
Uninspiring characters and a long run time spoil it. The ending was the best part, and that should have been expanded.
I score Cryo a 6/10.
Out now on Digital and On Demand.
