Wow, how some movies get a green-light and a budget is beyond me. Awful sums this one up. The story revolves around a group of special ops mercs that are hired to rescue a wealthy women's son that supposedly is being held at a shut down, secret government facility. So the team assembles (not going to waste your time with actor names) and head off to find him. You have your usual cookie cutter characters here each with their specialty (acting not being one of them). Of course, they get to the base to find that they are conducting experiments to create super soldiers out of kids with epilepsy. This also leads to a sub plot of a grandfather who has his child abducted and taken away for this experiment, don't worry though, this is not very engaging either. The action scenes are terrible and I wouldn't be helping you any if I didn't point out the special effects are absolutely horrible. When the "monster" gets shot, repeatedly, which does nothing, the blood spatter is the biggest joke I have ever seen. How they thought anyone wouldn't just laugh at the effects that appear like someone did it with Microsoft paint to appear like blood is beyond me. Well, I have to say "snipe" as a character is the best one, not because the women could act or was believable, but because she was the only character that I didn't loathe throughout the movie. I will give them points for a plot twist that a 4 year old would've seen coming in the first 5 minutes of the movie but pays off at the end, so expect a lot of boredom for the 93 other minutes of this indie pile of rubbish. Please, even if free or on netflix, don't harm your brain with this one. Curse yourself later after watching but don't come back here and say I didn't warn you. 1.6/10 IMDb 3.5 from 356 votes(movie came out in 2010 and that few votes???). In other words, the cast giving high ratings skewered the numbers from people that watched it, not worked for the crew.

Mr. Dickerson follows an aging grandfathers emotional search for his missing grandson and a team of skilled mercenaries are tested to their limits when hired to conduct a search an rescue for a missing teenager. i was fortunate to view this film at the Horrorhound Horror convention in Cincinnati in November 2011. Mr. Dickerson received a huge round of applause and it was well deserved. a bigger budget would mean bigger effects, but the story stands for itself and is entertaining as well as engaging. the grandfathers performance is especially exceptional an the team of hired mercenaries move the story along at a quick pace. it is a great choice for movie night.

As one who reviews indie film for HorrorHound Magazine, I watch A LOT of indie films. Most filmmakers put a lot of passion, blood, sweat, tears, money, love, and time into their projects. Unfortunately, most of them are not good filmmakers. I know that seems like an obvious statement to make; yet, it makes a lot of people very upset. Not everyone who wants to be a great musician can be ... not everyone who wants to be a great artist can be. However, Darrin Dickerson IS a great filmmaker, a great storyteller, and a pretty damn good actor. D4 is by far the best first- feature I have ever seen from a filmmaker. The production value is high and story is rich and complete. I don't want to give any of this film away ... it needs to be seen. For those who may be new to indie films ... open your mind and your eyes. This is no different (in many cases) than going to see a band in a bar versus an arena. You may not get all of the glitz you are used to seeing; but, what you WILL get is the essence of the craft. To me, indie films are the "unplugged" version of movies. They are raw, gritty, and often poetic. D4 has a flow and arc that may Hollywood films don't achieve. And, the poetry lies in the reality behind D4 (watch the special features). Well done Darrin ... cannot wait for the next effort!

Let's talk about D4.If you're not a fan of movies, you'll want to skip this one. It's not chock full of flash, bang, and big budget, but rather story, character, and most of all, heart. So, my advice for all you Michael Bay supporters out there is to just stay away.Now, for the rest of us, what we have here is a movie—and it's been awhile since I've seen a movie. This is a motion picture that takes you to a different place and it makes you think; it makes you care about the kids, the old man, even the soldiers. Why? Because they bleed and not just fake blood, but emotions that you can believe and invest in.The conspiracy story arcs interweave nicely and for once, the soldiers don't have to kill fifteen hundred people just to get into the building where there's fifteen hundred more waiting. They get where they're going and get inside and all the while, director Darrin Dickerson is building the tension to the boiling point and then he lets you simmer in it, cooking until you're raw and you can't wait anymore. And at that point, he ratchets it up again. Not by blowing things up or throwing body parts at the screen, but adding even more mystery and intrigue to the mix via character interaction and dialog. His soldiers aren't super and act accordingly.No, the special effects are the greatest I've ever seen, but there are two things about that I want to mention about that. First, they're not necessary to the story and therefore don't detract from it at all. Second, they're really not that bad when you examine them in the context of the budget. I've seen worse in movies with budges five times bigger. The director used what he had to instead of going for the FX overkill like most people and, for that, he gets kudos.The bottom line is that D4 is a well written, well directed sci-fi/horror movie for fans of movies. As I stated earlier, if this is your kind of movie, then pick it up. If not, well, Michael Bay released Transformers 3 and you can go watch him blow things up. Again.