The man who ticked (me off) (Another 24 Hours To Die (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Another 24 Hours To Die (DVD)
Date:	22/02/09 (237 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The lead actor is good looking

Disadvantages: The story, special effects, set, everything really is rubbish

Bill Taylor wakes up to face what he thinks is an ordinary day. After the third call by someone saying 'tick tock tick tock' in a distorted voice, he begins to realise that there is nothing ordinary about it. Soon, the caller tells him that Bill has a bomb inside him, and that if he doesn't do as the caller demands, the bomb will kill him. To reassure Bill that he is serious, he gives him a series of electric shocks which have Bill doubled up in pain. The game begins, with Bill being forced to rob a bank within a certain time frame. But who is behind the bomb? And what has Bill ever done to deserve such a plight?

Known in the US as The Ticking Man, this film is obviously made on a budget - the fact that none of the actors are well-known made me realise that before I started watching. However, budget films aren't necessarily bad, and I actually thought that the plot sounded a bit silly, but certainly interesting. Oh, how wrong I was.

As far as I am aware, the 'Another' of the British title does not mean that this is a sequel, although it sounds like it should be. And in case anyone was wondering how it is possible to insert a bomb into someone without them knowing, in Bill's case, he was rendered unconscious with gas while he was sleeping, and the scar from a recent operation was cut open, the bomb was inserted, and then the scare was restitched. Yes, this is classy stuff.

Probably the best thing about the film is that the lead actor, John Tague, who plays Bill, is quite easy on the eye. If I'm being honest, he doesn't give a terrible performance either. Certainly his attempts at looking totally bewildered as he tries to work out what he must do are convincing enough. His portrayal of agonising pain is also pretty good. Had he been given better material to work with, he might have been a lot more impressive. As it is, the best I can say is that he didn't totally suck, and at least I had some eye candy to keep me occupied.

The rest of the actors are generally awful. To a certain extent, it is not their fault - they don't have much to work with. However, most actors would at least be able to sound vaguely convincing; none of these do. The man with the distorted voice, when he is eventually discovered, is truly terrible and makes the most laughable psycho ever.

I think the worst thing about this film is the awful dialogue, made even worse by the fact that it is spoken by amateur actors. It honestly sounds as though it could have been written by a ten year old. Some of the office banter right at the beginning of the film is really puerile and comes across as being completely forced and fake. The screenplay was written by Joseph Friel, who also directed the film - he also produced, edited and acted in it. Clearly, he is not very good at any of these tasks, which is why he hasn't done anything in the film line since. At least there is something to occupy the viewer when there is dialogue though - much of the time, there is no talking, just Bill running around.

The set is very basic, as expected, mainly made up of street scenes, in which Bill runs from phone to phone in order to fulfill his duties. This does make it visually very dull to look at, although Friel tried to make it a little bit arty by showing Bill running down a railway track. Unfortunately, whoever was holding the camera (probably Friel again?) didn't have a steady hand, so any attempt at a visual masterpiece is immediately smashed to pieces. The background music doesn't do much to improve matters either - much of the time it is dischordant, and at times, drowns out the conversation.

I still haven't finished with the negatives. There is a fair amount of blood as the unseen enemy blows up people who presumably also have bombs inside them. Blood should be quite easy to fake - tomato ketchup would do at a push, surely? Here, the blood looks more like pomegranate juice; thin and slightly pinky. Then there are problems with continuity. Bill leaves a bank after having stolen $30,000 at gunpoint, yet is seen carrying a bag which obviously contains no more than a couple of notes. I don't generally mind continuity glitches, but here they were too glaring. There is a truly horrible point towards the end, for those who are squeamish, which would seem to be a physical impossibility, but by that point, I was expecting anything.

There is just one special feature with the film - a trailer for the film, which is a waste of time. The fact that there are no other features is not a disadvantage; I would not have wanted to watch any documentaries about the making of this film.

This is a truly dreadful film. I have a very low threshold of pain for rubbish films, usually finding something in them to enjoy. In this case, the only real positive I can think of is that I did actually sit through the whole thing - fortunately it is only 82 minutes long. I strongly advise staying well clear of this film, it truly is not worth wasting any time on it. Not recommended.

If you don't believe me and want to try it out, it is available from play.com for £9.99! At your peril! Thank goodness I didn't actually buy a copy myself.

Classification: 15

Running time: 82 minutes

Summary: A truly rubbish film