By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
"Escape the Field" is a great movie title, but it's a shame that such a fantastic premise is wasted in this new horror film from director/co-screenwriter
Emerson Moore ("It Lives Below").
The actors are up to the task and are what kept me watching and hoping that things would pick up and surprise me. They didn't.
"Escape the Field" is about six strangers who one by one mysteriously are plopped into a corn field. I mean, they have no idea how they got there or why. Did Aliens capture them and then drop them in the field? Were they drugged and used as some sort of secret government experiment? Well, we don't know. For the first hour or so of "Escape the Field," you play along and try to figure out what is happening as the movie seems to build toward something really intense.
The first person to land in the cornfield is Sam (Jordan Claire Robbins, TV's "Supernatural"). When she wakes up all dazed and confused, she is confronted by a strange looking man named Tyler (Theo Rossi, "The Devil you Know" and TV's "Luke Cage").
Both of them are freaking out and are afraid of each other and for good reason. They soon realize they have to work together and find a way out of this place.
As they make their way through the rows of corn, they come across four other people. There is a cocky ex-soldier named Ryan (Shane West, TV's "Gotham"), Ethan (Julian Feder, "The Doorman"), Denise (Elena Juatco, TV's "Jann") and Cameron (Tahirah Sharif, TV's "The Tower").
The only thing they have in common is that each of them have one item that was apparently given to them when they were dropped off. There is a gun with one bullet, a lantern, a knife, a flask of water, a compass, and some matches. All the items may be clues to lead them out of the field.
First, they have to stop bickering and work as a team which is hard to do since they don't trust each other.
Once they agree to band together and use their items to try and escape, they are hampered by a bunch of dangerous traps. There's even a giant creepy looking scarecrow statue that seems to watch them at every turn.
What in the world is happening?
From this moment on, not a whole lot and that's the major problem with "Escape the Field." The filmmakers don’t build on the early suspense enough and the film kind of drags on and on and becomes rather tedious. And the ending leaves a lot to be desired.
With a bit more creative spark and perhaps a veteran director at the helm, "Escape the Field" could have been something special. Instead, it's just another average and disposable horror film.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Watch This Trailer For
"ESCAPE THE FIELD"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
