Kolobos (1999) - Reality television satire meets mysterious horror slasher - 7/10 (09/12/21)

Kolobos is an independent horror slasher made on a shoestring budget that is nowadays sold for thirty bucks as an apparently visionary genre masterpiece. The latter statement is obviously exaggerated and a ridiculous attempt at making money in this day and age but it's true that Kolobos is indeed among the more decent horror movies from the United States of America throughout the nineties.

The story revolves around a group of five people who have to live in a house during winter for three months as their every moves are filmed for a reality television show. The protagonist is Kyra, a mentally unstable young artist who draws gruesome paintings and has attempted to commit suicide in the past. Her roommate is Tina, a quirky and naive young woman with stylish looks but little depth who works at a fast food restaurant. The third lady in the group is Erica who has been working as an actress in cheap horror movies and dreams of a breakthrough with better roles coming her way. Among the male participants, we have intellectual college student Tom who wants to organize some changes in his life. The last candidate is Gary, a controversial comedian with much self-esteem but little success. These five interesting characters arrive at a mansion with a vintage touch of the seventies and get to know their director and each other on the first day of shooting. Gary tries to impress Tina with his weird sense of humour while Tom tries to flatter Erica by praising her acting chops. Kyra is quickly considered the odd one out, especially when the other contestants see her weird drawings. Things however take a much more sinister turn when the first candidate is killed at night which sets off a gruesome killing spree. The surviving candidates have to understand what's going on to find a way out of their misery.

On the positive side, Kolobos features five diversified characters that complement one another very well. It would have been great if the movie had been a little bit longer to flesh out these characters and their relationships even further. The acting performances aren't spectacular but overall decent and especially lead actress Amy Weber transmits a mysterious aura that suits her character very well.

The locations have been nicely chosen for this movie. The mansion in the snow looks stylish. The basement with its pool table and disco lights, the first floor with its comfortable living room and big dining room, the second floor with its charming bedrooms and little bathrooms and even the creepy attic with its numerous mysterious items offer many details to discover.

The plot isn't half bad either. The idea to combine a reality television show with a mysterious slasher was relatively fresh back in the late nineties. The first death scene is easily the best as it comes as a surprise while the others are at times a little bit lacklustre. The movie's conclusion offers some room for interpretation. However, it isn't confusing or even nonsensical as some reviewers claim as it simply invites viewers to open up their minds and think about what they have just watched.

Kolobos however isn't without its flaws. The opening scene as well as the flash-forwards show right from the start which candidate is going to survive which considerably decreases the tension in this film. It also takes more than half of the running time for the first death scene to occur which is a little bit too long for such a short movie. The other death scenes however occur at a rather frantic pace and it would have been better to stretch the movie a little bit with some character development to let the different events sink in as the film's second half unfolds.

At the end of the day, Kolobos is a decent horror film that genre fans should appreciate. The plot is rather creative and the conclusion leaves some room for interpretation. The flash-forwards and mistimed placements of the death scenes are the film's most considerable flaws. The similar horror movie My Little Eye was released three years after this film but has an overall better execution, so if you appreciated Kolobos but haven't watched My Little Eye yet, you should certainly give it a try.