The Deaths Of Ian Stone Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Deaths tells the story of an all-American guy who is murdered each day by horrifying pursuers, only to wake up in slightly different lives to experience the terror of being murdered again.
| Mike Vogel | Ian Stone |
| James Bartle | |
| Andrew Buchan | Ryan |
| Michael Dixon | Brad Kopple |
| Jason Durran | |
| Michael Feast | Gray |
| Bill Nash | Elevator Man |
| Jeff Peterson | Harvester |
| Marnix Van Den Broeke | Head Harvester |
| Christina Cole | Jenny |
| Jaime Murray | Medea |
| Dario Piana |
6.90 out of 10 (191 votes)
Visitor Reviews
oh no, I did not just sit through this...
posted on 25 Jul 2009In the beginning I really thought the idea behind the film was a really something different in its whole plot..,. Unfortunately, that and some of the special effects where the only good things about it. Lets put it like this: the matrix meets the predator meets Alien meets T-1000 meets your average everyday love movie meets hostel meets the saw meets lots of crap.. i don't know why I watched the whole movie, it started off quite interesting but turned pretty boring after about ten minutes which didn't change anymore throughout the movie. I like horror movies, I also like the senseless ones and the gory ones but this one just tries way to hard to be serious or special that it becomes wack... don't waste your time on this, its really not worth it at all.. Gave it 3 stars for the rather "uncommon" idea and some of the effects, as I wrote before...
Overall okay film but at times it just felt, plain
posted on 15 Jul 2009The Deaths Of Ian Stone is overall a good movie, it was really cool and it had a good since of originality to it.I was surprised because from the very start my hopes were falling for this but then it picked up and began to get more into the story(were it didn't make you feel to annoyed when you didn't know what was going on).It was cool at times and was nevertheless entertaining but it did feel a little plain and/or confusing.Its the type of film where if you don't get you don't like it as much, and it makes you feel confused and makes your head hurt a little, buts it good.The acting for a film of its kind is equally okay it feels a little plain though(mainly because of the film itself)Overall its an okay film its nothing thats god-awful but its really nothing great either.It is however worth at least one viewing from anyone.5.6 out of 10 stars
Semi-Original, Not bad, but sorta falls apart
posted on 09 Jul 2009Went into this expecting a bunch of gore, but instead go an interesting story and premise. The idea is a merging of quite a few ideas you may recognize, but was done very well. Up until a certain point.The last 25 minutes or so seemed that they ran out of ideas on how to tie up a thought out start with a decent ending, so they just went for a typical and somewhat predictable end.By no means is it a horrible movie, and there are some good performances in it. Just don't expect to walk away stunned at the end.Oh...while not overloaded with CGI - what they do use is amazing looking.
Engaging Characters and Good Pace
posted on 05 Jul 2009The problem with reviewing a film that is meant to be mysterious from the outset is exactly that. However I've seen enough films that concentrate so much on the mysterious that they are never explained and the advantage of "Deaths" is that once it has spent 45 minutes playing with your mind it sets about explaining itself quite clearly and concisely allowing the direction of the film to change.In fact just before the "reveal" I had started to guess towards the outcome and felt some satisfaction that I was right.I didn't find the reveal disappointing either. Nice and simple keeping the plot consistent and allowing the film to ensure it does not outstay its welcome.The leads all seem to be having fun as well which allows for relationships to have some form of meaning.Budget is used well and locations, although nothing new, are used to great effect. Camera angles and music are standard horror fare but there's no complaints there (lets face it it is a horror film).Possibly the let down is that these scenes have been done in previous horror movies. We have the Underground, Hospital, Dank Alleyways and Creeped out at home and whilst they do nothing wrong the viewer may have the feeling that he has seen this before.Still this is mild criticism of a film that "keeps on ticking" and didn't cause me to check my watch (even to see if it had stopped!)
Not all that, my dears.
posted on 13 Jun 2009I wanted this movie to blow my socks off, but the truth of the matter is that apart from borrowing certain ideas from a multitude of movies it was pretty much crap.For one thing, the plot was weak. The effects looked pretty good, but at the end of the day, more than a couple of cool ghostly effects are needed to make a movie a good one. There was practically no character development, legend, or suspense really. It had no climax, and came off as a glorified love story at the end of the day.This movie is, in my opinion, nothing more than background noise if there's nothing better on TV, or if everything else in the video store has been rented. If you're looking for a good story that this movie has borrowed from, check out Dark City instead. It's a hell of a lot better.
Promising and Intriguing Beginning, Weak and Very Disappointing Explanation
posted on 07 Jun 2009In England, Ian Stone (Mike Vogel) finds himself trapped in a weird situation: everyday, he meets the same persons in the most different situation, including Medea (Jaimie Murray) and Jenny (Christina Cole); around 5 PM, the watches stop and Ian is haunted by creepy beings with claws and has a painful death, waking again in another life. When an old man meets him and tells that he must protect Jenny to resurrect again, Ian begins to unravel a great mystery."The Deaths of Ian Stone" has a promising and intriguing beginning that recalls "Groundhog Day", "12:01" and "The Matrix", with the lead character awaking every day in a different reality after dying. Unfortunately the explanation of the Harvesters is weak and very disappointing. There are many points that deserve better clarification, like why the existence of parallel lives? Or how can the realities change and how could Ian return to the initial life if he died? With a better development of the story, resolving the flaws in the screenplay, this movie could be excellent. But it entertains and is original and my vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Prisioneiro da Morte" ("Prisoner of the Death")
Time stops in Ian Stone! For real! That's how TEDIOUS it is!
posted on 30 May 2009Too bad Ian Stone is so terrible, because on paper the plot is interesting - a man is being pursued by creatures that look like the Death Eaters from Harry Potter, they apparently feed off pain and fear. They have the power to appear and disappear at will, yet they really like ripping apart doors and elevator ceilings with their hand/claw hybrids when they're chasing Ian. You wonder if they can pretty much go where ever they want why they have to chase him, and why waste time ripping apart the door, just appear on the other side of it, but logic's not really present in this incredibly boring and insultingly stupid ''horror" film.A good example of how tragically stupid this movie is - Ian doesn't understand what's happening to him. Weird things keep occurring, he's disoriented and confused. A stranger approaches him and basically says "IAN - weird things are happening to you, you're in danger, I can help you.." Ian's response? "You're crazy, get away from me." Oh, for real? Someone KNOWS YOUR NAME, KNOWS YOU'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING WEIRD STUFF...and you tell him to go away? The acting isn't bad with the HUGE exception of Jaime Murray. I was so surprised to see she's acted in a lot of things, because she was so atrocious. Her acting technique seems to reflect study of cartoon baddies, or a fourth grader in a school play, every line was said with a cliché "I'm a sexy villain" purr, with a simpering smile on her face the whole time. She was so incredibly annoying, I've seen more believable acting in telemundo soaps. The ''harvester" who tries to help Ian is actually quite good, every time he was on screen the movie improved, only to sink again lower and lower each time as it progressed.I've seen this movie compared to Jacob's Ladder, which is a joke, the only similarity is names in the title. Jacob's Ladder is moving, smart, and incredibly intense, while Ian Stone is dull, not scary, and a huge time waster. Its ironic that time stopping is a major part of the story, because within the first 15 minutes I was looking at my watch and thinking, this has been on only less than half an hour? It felt like 3 days. Terrible, terrible film.
You know how it is, a day where everything's going wrong?
posted on 22 May 2009This was an interesting film that reminded me a little of Groundhog Day, The Matrix, and Harry Potter. Doesn't sound like a horror film, does it? Mike Vogel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) is Ian, a man who wakes every day in a different occupation. He will continue to do so until he gets it right. Get what right? Easy, he just has to forget his past and he will be OK.Every time he wakes in that new job, he is with Jenny, played by Christina Cole (Casino Royale). Jenny is the key, he just doesn't know it yet.The first half of the movie contains little horror except for the fact that he dies every day. It picks up in the second half with graphic deaths at the hand of those dementor-looking creatures.A very hot Jaime Murray ("Dexter") first appears to be his girlfriend, but her real role is soon known.Who Ian is and what they want is the crux of the film and it has a Matrix-type answer.Fascinating to the end.
If you love professional wrestling you'll love this stinker
posted on 08 May 2009In professional wrestling matches, at least in the good old days, there would come a moment when the "good" wrestler, the "clean" guy who would never engage in "illegal" moves, after having been put through 10 minutes of excruciating pain by his "bad" wrestler opponent who has no such scruples, far from being permanently disabled as you would expect, finally gets fed up and decides not to take it anymore. With one swift but satisfying drop-kick, he turns the tables and proceeds to deliver a humiliating trouncing to the bad guy as the fans scream approval.That, in a nutshell is the plot of this movie. Only instead of 10 minutes it lasts for -- I don't know, it felt like 3 or 4 hours but I guess it was only about 90 minutes. The acting is nonexistent, the plot is stupid, the special effects are laughable, and the whole thing is so badly lit you get a headache squinting at it. The only use I can think of for this movie is as a safe and effective alternative to sleeping pills. Some of the talkier sections are that boring.
didn't work for me at all.
posted on 31 Mar 2009this was a promising idea but ended up having no decent basis to back it up. half baked, half full, half cooked, it was actually less than half a movie and I wish I'd skipped through it cos there were long bits that contributed nothing to the story and just slowed the whole thing down.The screen looked good, obviously a reasonable budget and they must have had some $$$ for those liverpool street locations but why waste all that if you haven't got your story together, if you've got major plot holes and a yarn that the actors can't deliver convincingly (I'm avoiding saying the actors were bad, but they were)Anyway I wish I hadn't wasted my time watching this, and my advice to you is don't do likewise. Ultimately not worth it.
Horrid, Dreadful, Ugh.
posted on 09 Mar 2009I usually don't write user comments on IMDb, but this is one movie that I just had to steer people away from. It's dreadfully boring, unimaginative, absolutely one-dimensional and utterly devastating to your movie morning/afternoon/night/dawn (pick your choice). I kept on praying that the film roll get cut off or something so that I could demand my money back and get out of the theater.I won't make any spoilers, since there may well be those of you who wish to see before making judgements (although I don't recommend it). To make a comparison, to me it felt like a sordid mixture of Buffy inside Dark City kicking it out with Matrix wannabes. (No offence intended to either Dark City or Matrix, the former of which I consider a cult classic in its own right and the latter which I hold as entertainable.) The central characters are hardly given any development, cliché themes pop out of nowhere, and the villains wearing shiny shiny plastic clothes and makeup that gives them the "spacemen" suit image and "I'm a scrunched-up scary monster"...there are B-movies that are fun to enjoy, and there are B-movies that simply seem dying to brand themselves with the "F" grade. Needless to say, this one belongs to the latter.Don't watch this movie unless you're drunk alone at home and bored to death....I want my money back.
Dying is Easy, Scriptwriting is Hard.
posted on 01 Mar 2009Ian Stone (Mike Vogel) keeps dying. Stalked by Stan Winston demon-thingy creations, he is killed at the same time every day, and then keeps waking in different lives with different professions.THE DEATHS OF IAN STONE is an original premise, the first act, dynamite, as Vogel gets his Ewan McGregor on and tries to keep from being killed in creative ways. Because we cannot clearly see his demons, we presume there may be more than meets the metaphysical eye here and we are the heart in Ian Stone's throat as he is pursued relentlessly.No matter every new life of his, Jenny (Christina Cole) is always around, as Ian's co-worker or girlfriend or neighbor, unaware she is living through multiple lives with him.Unfortunately, the breakneck pace of this horror thriller cannot be sustained without some plodding exposition. Some old guy gives Ian the lowdown: the demons are Harvesters and they feed off people's fear. They keep killing him because... well, this is where the illogic starts bleeding through the fabric of the writer's nice blood-red cardigan.At first, we hope there is redemption in the mythical allusions - a dominatrix-demon named Medea (Jaime Murray) - before we realize writer Brendan Hood probably just named the villainess after his cat. Then DEATHS OF IAN STONE quickly degenerates into standard "monster" fare with latex facemasks, grumbling gore and supernatural "rules" spewed at us at lightning speed to reconcile all the physics laws being broken to serve the asinine plot.Inexperienced director Dario Piana held a smacking hot property, but failed to follow through. Whereas the first act sang like a slayer's scream, the third act quickly starts looking and feeling like a TV movie starring Eric Roberts. For example, the Harvesters in the first act were chilling; by the time Ian Stone turns into a Harvester himself, he looks like Eric Stoltz in MASK. Ironically, Ian Stone looks like the one with the mask on.Even with all these rules shoved into our skulls at the last minute, no one explains why all the other Harvesters, when they change from people to monsters, lose their clothes, yet Ian Stone retains his edgy Runway Model shirt. (Well, so we can identify him from the others, of course - the edgy modelwear for the ladies who like bad boys.) Turns out the Harvesters are after Ian's girl! For reasons as equally inane and illogical as his being a Harvester. And after all the stalking and attempts on her life, when the Harvesters eventually acquire her, they don't kill her immediately; they wait for Ian Stone aka Eric Stoltz to arrive and beat the special effects out of them.After all, dying is easy. Comedy is hard.
Actually not that bad, i was surprised!
posted on 01 Mar 2009This film interested me as it was a new concept, a man dying and keep coming back each day in a new life. I cant be bothered to write the ins and outs of the film but overall it was an interesting but non scary story. It was well shot and overall well done.Bad points - the brown haired lady started off well along with the first 40 minutes of the film, but towards the end i think the strength of the film was lost through some of the acting, and costume designs an almost matrix wanna-be with that one, you'll see what i mean if you watch it. So you really have to take with a pinch of salt and go with the flow of it.Overall it is a good film, at times can be a bit corny but for a fairly unknown film in the UK even though it was made here, was a gripping and engaging film however not consistent throughout sadly.Never the less if you come across it watch its entertaining and different 7/10
Average but original
posted on 27 Feb 2009There was someone who said this movie is not even worth a watch but I completely disagree. The idea for this movie is pretty unique and it does not look like a carbon copy much like most other movies are these days. The first half hour is pretty interesting, the rest of the movie is average, but I still love the uniqueness this movie brings. I believe it is completely worth watching. Although I do agree with the previous comments about the costumes toward the end shiny plastic/leather suits did take me a bit out of the movie, if it wasn't for that Id have nothing bad to say at all about the movie.
Surprisingly good!
posted on 25 Feb 2009No big star cast, neither a big budget movie. Surprisingly, the movie has actually the right required factor. The story is quite different. Ian discovers that he is being murdered in different ways, every single day. What is the mystery behind it? Once the mystery was revealed, you won't be very much surprised, but truly, the story is well managed. Movie seemed to lose its momentum for a while in the middle of the movie, but again the next moment it did came into the same flow. No amazing performances required for the movie. Mike Vogel(Ian Stone) does a fine job & others were okay. In the end the movie turns out to be a different stuff, when compared with the beginning of the story(still,its pretty good story). The movie was surprisingly well & entertaining with some horror & super-heroic stuff(yep, it ends with super-heroism). A time pass movie with a different concept.
A Great Film.
posted on 17 Feb 2009This movie is one of the "8 Films To Die For." Now while some of the 8 have sucked beyond the telling of it ( "Mulberry Street" ) this film is the best of the bunch. The movie begins with young Ian Stone ( Mike Vogel ) spotting someone laying in the road. He gets out of his car to investigate and see if the person needs help. Only Ian learns too late that he is the one who needs help. The person laying in the road is actually a creature called a "Harvestor" and it attacks Ian killing him. Only Ian doesn't die. He wakes up to find himself in a new life with no memory of what just happened. I was hooked. The story kept me entertained. I loved the creature effects. Mike Vogel does a great job as the title character. Vogel really needs more starring roles. He'd make a good "Captain America". I say that it is worth your time and money to run out and pick up a copy of this movie. ( Stay away from "Mulberry Street" if you value your soul. ) Also gotta say great work from the late and legendary Stan Winston.
An entertaining tale of redemption...
posted on 15 Feb 2009I must say that knowing nothing about this picture helped a lot! I had no expectations walking in and was duly impressed.The idea of things living among us that no one sees is NOT new or original. But the story of the Harvesters is a very interesting take on it.Not only are we able to share in Ian's misery and befuddlement, we also are able to share in his pain, sorrow at what is lost and his celebration at finding that his ultimate betrayal was for love.The lessons he learns and the strength that love gives him allow him to overcome his fears and take what is good and true to save it.I'm left wondering what happened after the movie ended?...All in all I was treated to a pleasurable evening diversion from the glut and suffocation of "regular" life. And after all isn't that what movies are all about? S~
Monsters Inc. meets Matrix meets Groundhog Day meets Butterfly Effect. And probably a few others.
posted on 07 Feb 2009The most interesting aspect about this movie is the wanton abandon with which it combines ideas and devices from a broad range of other movies. For that reason I would not call it a rip-off--more like a very creative collage of material, from an entirely unexpected mix of sources.In spite of that, however, it did not quite work for me. The acting isn't entirely bad, although it isn't exactly award-winning, either, and the technical work seems solid.Perhaps it's that some things don't translate well between genres. For instance, the ideas lifted from Monsters Inc. (you'll know what I mean) worked well in the tongue-in-cheek setting of an animated movie, but they translate poorly into a ¨serious¨ live-action film. Similarly, the Matrix-ish elements were already pretty thin in the original (in my opinion the major reason why that franchise wore out as soon as people got used to the special effects), but here it's close to being ridiculous. In the original Groundhog Day, the central plot point was the beginning of an interesting exploration of how the main character dealt with the situation, but its copy just rushes to a solution, before we even understand the problem it is already a thing of the past.I guess it might be best not to take this flick too seriously, and not to expect an actual horror/thriller kind of movie---even though that is what it seems to be trying to be. Instead, watch it for the crazy, eclectic plot, and some decent visuals.Okay for a rental.
Surreal and engaging premise...
posted on 24 Jan 2009From the few entries I've seen so far - the latest batch of Horrorfest's "8 Films to Die For" has very little to offer in terms of compelling horror. "The Deaths of Ian Stone" is much more original than any other horror movie I have seen this year. The surreal premise involves a college hockey player who is attacked by a strange creature one night that kills him. He immediately wakes up at his desk at work, finding himself in another, oddly familiar life - as if he had been dreaming. His recollection of the prior existence appears to be a non-existent delusion, until he is confronted by a stranger who informs him that he is in danger... A group of inhuman shape-shifters, called "Harvesters" are in a relentless pursuit for him and, again, kill him. This seemingly, never ending process of perpetual alternate-existences - leading to gruesome terminations - continue as he begins to wizen up to what is occurring and is determined to learn more and stop it. This movie reminded me of a long "Twilight Zone" episode which delves into a nightmarish and unpredictable premise that remains compelling throughout the duration of the movie. What was really entertaining was the various lives this guy would find himself in after each death he endured, which included a cab driver, an unemployed bum, a yuppie, and a heroine junkie... Come to think of it, this reminds me a lot of "The Butterfly Effect"! Check this one out!
Deja vu is deadly in this "Groundhog Day" of repeats...
posted on 22 Aug 2009Not a bad little thriller with an interesting concept that doesn't always work, but still manages to hold the interest throughout. MIKE VOGEL is, for some strange reason, caught in a time warp of the kind seen before in "Groundhog Day." But his time warp has him murdered--over and over again--in some very brutal style by some vengeful souls out to destroy him. Before midway we get some explanations--something about "harvesters" feeding on his energy to restore themselves, like vampires needing new blood.The story has him involved with two young women--JAIME MURRAY is Medea, a predatory female with a hidden agenda, and Christina COLE is his blonde girlfriend who turns up after each of his murders in a new setting, who gradually comes to realize the danger he's running from.There are plenty of loopholes in the confusing story but you won't have much time to think about them. There's plenty of action going on and enough plot twists to keep you guessing until the rather weak fade-out.Summing up: Better than average thriller filmed in Great Britain on the cheap. Vogel bears watching--he's a good actor and deserves better material than this.