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Some things I liked some I did not.

Boring

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The Ideal (2011)must be as close to an outright copy of The Shining as it could be without getting sued for making it.It also appears to have had a production budget of $1, or perhaps "around three fiddy."I almost stopped watching it six times during the first 20 minutes, but something kept pulling me deeper into the film. It's utterly without pretension. For example, the pretty, but dressed down, heroine has very attractive and very large breasts. Wisely, the filmmakers portray them in a naturalistic manner; they don't keep shoving them in your face. Not that there's anything wrong with that. All of the characters have a goofy kind of charm, and this ingenuous production may sneak up on you too, if you give it a chance. I'm glad I did.The film does introduce a central theme distinct from that of The Shining, involving an esoteric "interpretation" of time seen through the lens of Nazi Germany, Nietszche, and Kafka. I found this aspect to be quite interesting. I wish I had been given the chance to watch this film in Philosophy 104 instead of having to wade through desultory and truncated text books that were probably also published on a budget of $1.This movie is definitely not for those in a hurry. It takes time to get into this, but if you do keep watching the atmosphere becomes more and more creepy. The plot arc is just different enough from The Shining that I wondered how it was going to end. IMDb users give it a gaudy 3.8, but I give it a 6.5 and a thumbs up.

This is bad. Very, very bad. The story plays out as if written by children, with endlessly long and pointless scenes filled with wandering dialog and incredibly wooden acting. There is no atmosphere whatsoever, and no sense of plot, suspense, story arc, or any of the other most basic elements required of a film script. Yet as bad as the acting and story are, the lighting, camera work, direction, set design, and basically every other aspect of the production are worse. The lighting in particular is just awful. Every scene is difficult to look at.The reviews giving 8, 9, 10 stars are all written by people related to the film. Dead giveaway: every one of the fake reviews recites a list of credits. No real review would carefully note the names of some of the worst actors who will never grace the silver screen again.I challenge you to make it to the end of the film. I don't think it can be done. Truly terrible.

"The Ideal" is Wes Ciesla's cinematic masterpiece of horror from the opening of innocence to the horrifying climax that leaves you questioning your personal acuity. While it is based on the story written by the high school student, Ciesla's cinematography certainly brings it to the level of mainstream classics. When Julia and Alexander take the summer job at the vast and empty high school building to work for Mr. Zenidro, the mood takes viewers back to their own high school days. First scenes invite them for more comfortable chair position (I watched the film on the big screen at Anthology Film Archives in New York), but not for long. The high school building has a secret with a sinister life of its own which gradually invades main characters as well as viewers minds. Use of music specially composed for this film; along with sound effects meticulously enhance the horror. Most scenes were screened at night. Ciesla directing is brilliant; from camera angles and lightning to artistic and dramatic aspects of the film. The cast delivers performances that are uniformly outstanding. I'd definitely recommend seeing it on the big screen.

"The Ideal" is a film whose atmosphere grabs you from the beginning. Wes Ciesla's use of the actual school he taught in with its Tudor details and secret nooks and crannies is the key to the movie. The high school itself becomes the main character as two teenagers, Julia and Alexander, explore its corners one summer, find strange people from the Custodian to a German teacher, and a pair of students who seem to be transformed into zombie like students. They find their history teacher, Mr. Z, has become obsessed with writing a history that frightens the students..As the summer goes on, the mystery deepens to its dramatic conclusion.