We were having a "best of" and "worst of" New Zealand movie month in our flat. Saw a lot of interesting films but "Event 16" is one that stood out to me. Lumped in with the "bad" NZ films it really didn't belong there with stinkers like "Snakeskin" and "Maiden Voyage." Sure the acting was patchy and the script lost me a few times but I found myself enjoying the ride. It reminded me of the kid/adult made for TV movies of my youth. Like "The Tomorrow People" but with time travel. Hammy acting and mad effects. What did surprise me was to read here that it was a no budget film as it looked quite good on our TV. So maybe not a brilliant film but not as bad as the rating here implies.

I've never given such a low rating for a movie before as I always try to be positive in my reviews, but having just watched 'Event 16' on DVD I'm astonished that anything as bad as this was ever released at all. The plot summary sounded promising- a time travelling serial killer (echoes of Nicholas Meyer's excellent 'Time After Time' which the plot steals from) .The FX are quite reasonable for an obviously low-budget movie, but that's as far as the plus points go. The acting is completely one dimensional and the bad guys behave like second rate pantomime villains just waiting for an audience of children to boo them.The dialogue is cringingly dire and even the actors look embarrassed at some of the truly awful dialogue they are asked to speak.Product placement was the most obvious of any movie I've ever seen. You didn't need to read the credits to know that Misubishi was the main sponsor. The camera zoomed in on the company logo in almost the first frame and all the vehicles driven by the the main characters were of course all Mitsubishi!This was the first time I had had seen a movie made and produced in New Zealand. I hope there's better to come!

I didn't want to go to Event 16. My partner dragged me along. I've had my fill of no budget garbage that you need to make allowances for because some sad fan boys made it for nothing. Oh boy was I wrong. Event 16 is incredible. The plot turns and twists and surprises right at the end but latter thinking about it, it didn't ever cheat, all the clues are there as to why things happened. I liked the awkwardness between the lead actors, my partner thought they were a bit wooden but I thought they got it just right. That pre-breakup she's over him but he's not over her felt real. The FX are mostly very good. Every now and then something jars but on the whole I was able to keep suspending my belief. What really sets Event 16 apart from the normal no budget stuff it the flawless camera-work. It rocks. It rolls. It glides. It chases… it looks like it was shot by the entire King Kong first unit with cranes, jibs, dollies and steadicam. How did they do it with no money? I had to go back and watch again and if anything I'm even more blown away by the camera-work. Event 16 sets a new high for no budget films and I can't wait for the DVD with some EPK extras to tell us how they did some of the stuff they did.

As a person who likes a linear narrative, with clear signals as to who the characters are, I struggled to follow this film. We jump back and forth in time (that was fairly clear, though not enough was done with makeup to age the characters who went in the usual direction at the usual speed), and most of the characters take over each other's bodies at some point or another.At the second Wellington screening (which I saw yesterday) the director said it was aimed at the Playstation generation, who are used to characters with multiple incarnations. I hope someone who is good at that will explain the narrative to me.I found the characters fairly engaging, though the two (three?) who seemed to be officials in charge of preventing temporal paradoxes or some such were never quite explained, and even a psychopathic killer needs *some* motivation. The central relationship (geek and girlfriend) was entertainingly unstable.This movie will look OK on TV. On the big screen you could sometimes see the pixels. The sound was adequate, except that sometimes the synching was enough off that I wondered if it was deliberate, to create a "not really him speaking" effect.As a Wellingtonian, I enjoyed the images of Wellington in 1893, the present, and the 2020s, and the surreal treatment of most cityscapes.I'd call this a "Bad Taste" for the 200Xs. It's got the same clunky New Zealand makeshiftness (number 8 wire, we call it), the same homespun characters moving in a world beyond their control.I predict people will rent this movie more than once or buy it (on DVD in October) to try to figure it out, and go on to watch it cultishly, like "Bad Taste".Pearson said this movie was effects-driven (as was BT) and his next movie will be more character- and story-driven. I look forward to that, and then to someone giving him some money to make his LOTR, King Kong, etc.