I watched this with genuine expectation given that I've nurtured a crush on Christian slater for the last 17 years of my life. And here I was not disappointed, though there were flaws. Firstly, the story itself was predictable. It was clear what was happening and why throughout most of it. And there were huge inconsistencies. Maybe I just don't get it, but I find it horrendously unbelievable when I Watch a film where a cop does something so dreadfully stupid that if he got caught he would go to jail where the horrors that await him would be worse than the horrors of whatever he's living through in the horror flick. I had a hard time getting past that. In fact, that's the reason for the average rating. Because, in large part, if it hadn't been for that plot issue, the rest of the movie would have fallen apart. But I suppose we viewers are supposed to think that reality is just as odd and unreasonable. In terms of scares, this one hits as average with some blood and shots that make you jump and such. Nothing overly special, but it IS engaging overall. Mostly because the premise was not one I am accustomed to (which says something from a person who watches as much horror as I do). Overall, this film is entertaining and worth a try. After I watched it, I still left it in my Netflix queue so don't forget to watch it again.

In the intro, some guy beats up a girl, we see a woman in a bathroom with her throat slashed, the girl screams about her baby, he kills her and grabs the baby. Now he's doing all this while filming it. When the cops arrive, they shoot him--the camera right next to the baby. Years later some high school kids work on a film project for class recreating the killings. There's the main kid Julian, his gorgeous girlfriend, another couple that are friends, and some other girl. Lending them some equipment is a creepy kid Quinn with a creepy van who works at a TV station. He has some deal with a corrupt cop and provides him with peeping tom videos of high school girls. One day Julian asks Quinn to find him some of the real life footage of the murders from the intro. Quinn with the help of the cop finds some and looks at them. Something happens to him while he watches. He develops some power to affect others by touching the TV screen that is focused on them. In that fashion, he manages to turn two girls into killers, as well as killing them afterward. His face also starts to rot.Another issue is relevant. The first guy to have taken a picture and movie footage was thought to be demonic. Both Julian and Quinn see the footage. We also discover that the killer from the intro is a descendant of the early filmmaker. Julian's mom is a cop and starts snooping into what Julian is doing, when he discovers a secret. Of course Quinn will flip out and attack Julian and his girl.Playback goes beyond most movies of its kind. It could easily have focused on the serial killer and family issue or on the evil film pioneer, instead it combined both, but doesn't make these relevant enough. There is also an interesting twist in terms of the identities of some of our main characters, but it too could have been filmed in a way that the revelation is more powerful. Acting is alright for a B movie. Slater gets a short and not very relevant role. Ambyr Childers is gorgeous. The problem is though that the writer/director is a better writer than he is a director. Playback is enjoyable but clearly there was more potential in the story.

Promising beginning with intense acting, mixed in with that found footage vibe, looks good. Oh, Damn...and queue the cliché, teenage friends which will inevitably meet their demise.No, but all in all not a bad film. A bit tired of the dodgy camera that always seems to have some issues recording though. I get that it's supposed to be a hand-held, character used, video recorder without the glitch here an there to let me know it. Also, if it needs to be done, then just leave the actual film camera (the one that isn't supposed to be in the film) alone.That all said, they had me at the shower scene. Then some more partying happens, teenage shenanigans ensue, and 'oh hey, it looks like Christian Slater…oh wait, it is!' he sleazes it up, bring in some blood, insert antagonist's history s*** goes down and bobs your uncle.And just one spoiler for the end: Don't read if not wanting some things spoiled! You've been warned! So, why oh why, does teenage possessing baddie need to set up a room with a T.V., while the "just searching for answers" good guy sits tied up in another room, when he could have just videoed him with his handy cam, which he does later anyway? Oh, because the battery might die! Silly me! Then use you're cell phone…there ya go. Next time just use the phone.

This is one boring movie. Maybe it's just me, but thirty minutes in, I feel as if I'm still waiting for the movie to start. Let me see if I can understand it (and this is debatable): A Satanist in the 1900s made a film that allowed him to steal the souls of his actors in the footage, and after a brutal murder scene in the Late 90s, he now jumps from film footage into other the bodies of others, sometimes more than one person at once. In recent years, he possesses a young filmmaker and tries to recapture his power with modern video equipment. There are some murders, some pointless sexuality and Christian Slater completely wasted in a role as a porn-addicted cop buying covert footage from inside the girls locker school from the pre-possessed filmmaker. Did I get it right? What do I win? Filmed partially in a pseudo-documentary style, the script has uneven amounts of sex, gore and suspense, but it never gets scary nor does it ever really clarify itself. I can see the story that that the writer is trying to make, but there's too many layers and exposition to get there. The only other recognizable name is Alessandra Torresani ("An American Horror Movie"), but she's barely given anything to do before her character is killed off. Over all, the idea is there, but it's lost under a lot of details and in the execution.