Do Not Enter

Im a part of the generation that was young when internet was just about to break through worldwide. I must have been around 16 years old in 1993 when i first saw you could web search. That was a big thing, being able to search for different things on the web. I remember just one year later in 1994 the premiere for Aftonbladet, the biggest Swedish newspaper that went online as well. This was a huge success for Aftonbladet, because you could read newspaper articles online instead of buying a physical newspaper. They also started Aftonbladet Chat, i would sit there talking to people all over Sweden and that was so much fun. You could actually connect with other people in the entire country. Since the internet have grown all across the world through social media, we are able to talk to anyone across the planet. It is amazing how you can connect with someone no matter where you are located, on a boat, inside a car, even up on a mountain while you are climbing there. Social media users have also found a way to make a profit through platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, so called Influencers. I wouldn´t personally fit to be perfectly honest, you have to have a certain kind of charatcer to be a social media personality i believe. I could probably sell my farts to fetish people online inside a jar ( easy money i would say ), but that´s about it. Speaking of influencers, i did enjoy the found footage horror film Deadstream from director  Joseph Winters and Vanessa Winter. This is an interesting found footage horror film, because it is filmed like a vlogger video, of a vlogger influencer called Shawn Ruddy ( played by director Joseph Winters ) who is spending a night in a haunted house. Nothing original about this, but the film is well made and actually works surprisngly good as a horror comedy. I appreciated the practical make up effects, and the acting in general is alright. Deadstream is worth a watch on streaming or physical media. Speaking of social media and influencers, there have been a lot of horror films over the years that are inspired by influencers. One of the horror films that seemed to be inspired by influencers and actually looked interesting, is a horror film known as Do Not Enter. Ever since i watched the trailer i felt curious about this film, if it actually would be better than most people expected. I finally got a chance to sit down to watch Do Not Enter on VOD. Is this one of the horror films you have to watch this summer, or should you skip this one and watch Deadstream instead?

A group of influences known as The Creepers are trying to break out big on social media, making daring videos that are borth risky and dangerous. The numbers are not looking that good at all so they need to change their plans, find something that will definetely make their channel grow. One of the team members suggest they should visit a haunted hotel known as The Paragan, where it is said in the late 1970´s a lot of money was hidden, somewhere around 300 million U.S. dollars. The idea is to make videos about their journey inside the hotel. They are about to find out, some things are meant to be left alone for a good reason.

While Deadstream actually worked thanks to a good influencer idea, and managed to function as a found footage horror as well, Do Not Enter tries to be both a traditional jump scare horror film, while trying to touch the influencer surface as well. They so called YouTube channel that this film is supposed to be showing, i have to say that it looks really terrible. The so called videos that they make for the most part doesn´t really feel effective, or fun either. I mean if you are supposed to capture a young audience for social media, shouldn´t you make the videos look as cool as possible? Or make sure you have something entertaining to offer your viewers? I could be wrong i suppose, im just trying to view this film from a younger mind´s perspective looking at these influencers. There is an interesting story regarding this old abandoned hotel, and i really wished they could have given us more throwback memories of what relly happened here. We get a little bit of information, but very little interesting details that might have helped the plot become more fascinating. I don´t really have a problem that this is supposed to be a more modern take on horror films, i just feel that the influencer characters are not fully developed and feel very blend. I swear you will not remember any of these characters once you have seen Do Not Enter. I would probably say that between the characters i can probably accept the one known as Todd, played by actor Nicholas Hamilton ( perhaps known mostly from the 2017 horror film IT ). His character Todd reminded me a little bit of the character Evil Ed from the 1985 horror film Fright Night, a similar wacky character with a crazy laugh. At least Todd gives this film some charming scenes, which we definetely needed. What about the horror scenes? The best part is the strange thin mysterical creature, that´s lurking around the old hotel. I have seen better monster designs than this, but at least the creature does have an interesting look. Other than this i would say that the horror elements feel pretty weak in several scenes. Not much creativity in any scary scenes, or using the creature in a effective way. It´s almost as if they thought just showing the creature would be enough and don´t put much more effort into it. I am honestly disappointed in Do Not Enter, because i was actually looking forward to this film. With a stronger story developed surrounding this old hotel, and more effective horror scenes this could have been a recommendation. This film is just too dull to care about honestly, and director Marc Klasfeld should stay away from making boring influencer films such as this.

Rating: DD