Driftwood (2006) Reviews

• Surprised by this film.

  soulscour72007-01-07

  I saw Driftwood Saturday at the Fango Weekend of Horrors. At first I thought Ullman would just pull off some low-end Disney acting, but he was actually very good. You can see a smoldering in his eyes that I didn't expect him to be able to emote at all. Also, he gets to use his real name for the credits in this movie, Raviv. The poster still shows Ricky though. My expectations were low for Diamond Dallas Page, but he was good. Oddly, I thought the scenes in which Page didn't speak a lot were better than the ones in which he did. But if he can keep getting better than you never know. Driftwood is NOTHING like 2001 Maniacs. I tried not to think about Maniacs when I went in to see this movie. I didn't need to bother. I wouldn't think Driftwood was by the same director as Maniacs if I had gone in blind. The movies are vastly different in approach and feel. I have some fun facts for this movie I am afraid to put in here because they might mildly spoil the movie. I do suggest seeing Driftwood. A good ghost story with multi-layered social commentary. The acting is much better than I think most people expect from a B film so don't let that be a deterrent.

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• Very Good Low Budget Film

  Nightmare-Maker2007-11-17

  After just viewing the screener of DRIFTWOOD with a couple of mates, I was very impressed with this little known thriller. It had a pretty good storyline, a troubled teen, David, riddled over the guilt over his brothers death, he actually becomes obsessed with death. His misguided parents send him to DRIFTWOOD, an "Attitude adjustment camp for troubled youths" which is run by a sadistic Captain, played superbly by Diamond Dallas Page, and his brutal young henchmen. Once inside the camp he becomes haunted by a spirit named Jonathan, a former inmate who met a mysterious end, David has to unravel the mystery in order to free himself from the sadistic camp. Great acting from a bunch of relatively unknowns, and a great script make this one of the great finds of 2007, believe me if you like to sit and get stuck into a film, not expecting blood and guts, but a good suspense/mystery, this is a film you must watch. It reminded me a lot like STIR OF ECHOES. Strongly recommended 8/10

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• I Am Also Worthless

  claudio_carvalho2009-02-04

  After the death of his older rocker brother Dean of overdose, the rebel sixteen year-old David Forrester (Raviv Ullman) becomes bitter and obsessed with death, while grieving his brother. His parents decide to send him to Driftwood, a camp leaded by Captain Kennedy (Diamond Dallas Page) that promises to transform dysfunctional boys in men. David is lodged in the Level 1 and discovers that Captain uses brutality to control and modify the attitudes of the teenagers; further, that he uses the camp with the intention to make money in real state business. When David is haunted by the spirit of the Captain's nephew Jonathan (Connor Ross), who died in the swamp nearby Driftwood, he discovers a dark secret about his mates in Level 1 and the brutal Captain Kennedy. "Driftwood" has a promising beginning, and the reformatory seems to be a teen version of "Prison Break" with corruption, sadism and brutality. However the plot is so absurd and ridiculous that, associated to the terrible acting, makes this movie completely worthless. Some reviews that give high ratings seem to be fake comments and published only to promote this weak movie and lure the readers. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Driftwood, o Reformatório" ("Driftwood, The Reformatory")

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• "Where boys become men."

  Backlash0072008-04-27

  ~Spoiler~ Driftwood is Tim Sullivan's directorial follow-up to 2001 Maniacs; and the films couldn't be more different. Maniacs is a hoot of a horror film. Driftwood is a bit of a bore. It's not a terrible movie, it's just not exactly horror. The film takes place within the walls of Driftwood, a prison for troubled young men that masquerades as a reform school. The ghost of a dead "inmate" starts to visit David, the new arrival, and tries to get him to solve the mystery of his death. It favors drama a lot more than traditional scares. The ghost only pops up a few times to remind you what type of movie this is. If you took the ghost out, you might think you were watching an updated version of Sean Penn's Bad Boys. The "bad boys" of this film all do surprisingly well. The young actors were all cast well and the standout is the lead. He has that Gyllenhaal/Donnie Darko thing going on. Also of note, Diamond Dallas Page, while not the greatest actor, still has tremendous charisma as the "heel." He plays The Captain, the film's lead villain who runs Driftwood. I hope DDP continues to hone his craft as I'd like to see him in more things. All in all, Driftwood is a bit forgettable. On the other hand, it shows Tim Sullivan is trying to do different things within our genre.

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• Not much of a fan

  khilari2007-09-22

  The movie clearly hits home with some people, but for me I'm afraid it missed the mark. From the outset the acting appeared somewhat B-movie-like. Some characters overacted, the script felt unnatural and some of the lines spouted were just clichés from a phrase book. The lead guy was OK - his acting was clearly what the producers spent their money on. By no means an Oscar-winning performance, he did grab the spotlight but only really thanks to the quite terrible acting around him. The story is OK - that's all though, "ok". Not great, not inspiring. Nothing new. I only just made it to the end but constantly wished it could have been forwarded. Seeing as most people here seemed to enjoy it, I can hardly tell you to stay away but it is in no way shape or form a great movie.

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