Portal (2019) Review
Portal (2019) Review
Steven (Ryan Merriman), the ambitious founder of an amateur ghost hunting team, is tired of chasing down the same old “haunts” as every other wanna-be team out there, coming up empty handed each and every time. He dreams of being like the famous teams on TV.
On paper PORTAL hardly sounds enticing, just another in a recent roll call of genre flicks to take on the guise of a TV program of paranormal activity hunters venturing somewhere that they really shouldn’t. I had seen far too many of these to get excited about watching yet another. They are generally done on the (very) cheap, with little or no real thought behind its conception except for being an easy sell on the film market. Generally they make for a pretty depressing viewing experience with a limited cast of bad actors and production values that almost make the TV programs they are aping seem like works of art by comparison.
Director Dean Alioto (LIZZIE BORDEN HAD AN AXE) and his co-writer Peter Dukes (ESCAPE ROOM) deliver something that is truly unique for the ‘ghost hunter’ sub-genre, PORTAL is a lot of fun, well cast, well paced and well, for this jaded film critic, a breath of fresh air. They also manage to make good use of their stunt casting (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET’s Heather Langenkamp), something that other filmmakers have failed to do recently – Candyman’s Tony Todd’s gravitas was wasted in the recent CANDY CORN movie, and the same applies to both Bill Moseley and Bill Oberst Jr in another recent flick DEVIL’S JUNCTION: HANDY DANDY’S REVENGE.
On a personal level it also helped that both Ryan Merriman (Final DESTINATION 3, THE JURASSIC GAMES) and Myk Watford proved rather pleasing on the eye – yes I know, eye candy is hardly a reason to truly engage with a film, but hey, such a triviality, on this occasion, hooked me in. And at just an hour and fifteen minutes running time PORTAL never outstay its welcome. It gripped from the get go and proved itself be a thoroughly entertaining experience that keeps you gripped throughout. Recommended.
