Shrooms (2007)

Director Paddy Breathnach brings us on a horrific "Trip" into the Irish wood, to experiment with magic mushrooms and terror. Well acted and executed "Shrooms" is an adventurous film with some profound humor and plenty of creepy backwoods moments throughout. However, being that the film revolves around hallucinations, one must constantly ask themselves if what is taking place is actually happening or just in the character's mind? That being said, I think the writing is strong enough to explore these complexities to great effect, although the story tends to appear a bit rushed towards the end. The characters are written to serve their individual purposes, which certainly helps to sell the drama and gives us a reason to care. The woodsmen are frighteningly realistic, and add to the terror factor of the unfolding story. The cinematography is top-notch and the special effects are admirable as we wander into places not normally visited with our sober psyche... About as much fun as you can imagine with low budget horror, "Shrooms" lives up to it's hype.

Fmovies: I watched this movie tonight with a friend and we both enjoyed it, but we weren't as frightened as we would like. I like the concept as it is easy to make some scares out in the woods, and while the characters are drugged by mushrooms its hard to know if its real or not. It was nicely done without any major flaws, but it just dint get that scary.

I cant understand how people can give it a 1 out of 10. in my reference 1 would be an amateur movie with bad acting, bad filming and bad quality, but shrooms is nothing of this. Shroom is actually nicely filmed and has good acting. I just cant put word on that little extra that would make it more scary, because everything seems correctly done.

I give it a 7 out f 10.

If you're already high on magic mushrooms and experiencing vivid hallucinogenic images, are the ghosts you keep seeing really there? This is the appealing premise around which Shrooms builds its story and it's a good one.

When a group of American students camping in a remote part of Ireland (a strange choice of location really - once the main characters reach their destination they could be anywhere) begin indulging in the pleasures of shrooms only to start perishing, is it the work of local ghosts... or are they just seeing things? Firstly, I'd like to say that although this movie has flaws - the acting (with the exception of lead actress Lindsey Haun) is only adequate, the characters could have been better defined (you get the jock, the "Jay from Jay And Silent Bob" style stoner, the two bitchy girls and the pretty virgin) and the ending is highly derivative of another, better horror movie - there is still a lot to love about Shrooms.

The main reason that this movie worked for me is down to the direction of Paddy Breathnach. There is a real sense of dread and gloom in some of the scenes, and the way in which the main antagonist is filmed is done very well; whether he's jerkily moving through trees or rising out of murky water. The location is, in itself, a character - a place of shadows, threatening trees and gloomy ponds. Breathnach also manages to convincingly capture the feeling of being out of your head as the camera flickers, or fades in and out of focus as the effects of the mushrooms are felt. In my opinion the later parts of Shrooms successfully come across like a bad trip. There's also a wonderful sequence involving a talking cow that adds humour to the movie and I would have loved to have seen a few more sequences like that. I would go so far as to say that Breathach's direction reminds me of Eli Roth (whether that's a good thing or not is up to you) and that comparison is easier to make due to the similarities between this and Roth's "Cabin Fever" movie.

Having read some of the comments here on IMDb, I'm not sure why so many people are responding so negatively about Shrooms. Yes, it seems to draw from movies such as The Blair Witch Project and Silent Hill for inspiration but, at the end of the day, it entertained me throughout its entire running time. I'd definitely watch it again and would certainly recommend it to other fans of the horror genre.

Shrooms fmovies. I saw this movie tonight. Never have left comment here but feel compelled to warn you all before wasting your money in cinema - AVOID! I'm Irish and this film was made by Irish people, but never have I been so insulted by such deedley-i-isms, or laughed so hard at the completely rubbish and regurgitated story that they peddle here. Absolute load of tosh - stolen sequences from at least 10 different films, not the slightest bit scary or ironic. They were too cheap to spend any money on gore so decided to go for the 'unseen horror' option. The film actually got booed in the cinema as the end credits rolled, by not just me, but half the audience. Breathnach should be ashamed of himself, never show this film in Ireland again, and stay well away from the horror genre. Shame on Bord Scannan na hEireann for giving him the money, but it just goes to show what an old boys club the 'Irish Film Industry' actually is. *response to 'Johnofgod'* I do not work anywhere near the entertainment industry, and have as such no grudge to carry against anyone therein. In fact I'm a science student, and have no desire to pick up a movie camera. I am however a fan of cinema and horror movies and take offense when a 'popular' director picks a 'popular' genre and makes a total pigs ear out of it, when I then in turn am expected to shell out premium prices for someone else's vanity and back-clapping. I am quite certain also that the good money thrown after bad towards salaries, production and marketing on this one, could have funded 5 superior new hopefuls with the aim of in fact igniting a revival in the 'Industry' and saving the rest of us from the embarrassing drivel we got. I saw the film as the surprise film at the Horrorthon in the IFI, and certainly did not choose to see it as such. Given the surprise film from previous years, this one certainly was a surprise, and I'll be hard pressed to attend again next year. I don't know if you were there but certainly the boos I heard were not phantomised. I am entitled however to express my opinion of the film on this opinion page for the film, and given the other comments I do not think I am alone in my musings. Your unashamed vitriol towards my comments only serves to make me think that I have possibly hit a nerve with your own misgivings towards an 'industry' within which you are vaguely 'un/employed'.

I cannot remember the last time a horror movie irritated me to this degree...SHROOMS is about a group of American friends (who actually don't appear to like each other much) who go to Ireland for vacation. They're obviously spoiled brats because the only thing on their mind when they're in freakin' IRELAND is getting their hands on some magic mushrooms ASAP. They meet up with some Irish friend (who is obviously British faking a bad Irish accent) that the lead girl (played by the creepy little girl from JC's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED--the rest of her face has now caught up with her forehead, thank goodness) is creaming over. They immediately go camping in the woods and searching for shrooms. VotD girl gnaws on a mushroom that the Irish-but-British guy specifically said not to eat because it's poisonous. Soon she starts flipping out and having flash-forwards about her friends dying. It's up to her to save her friends from the ominous backwoodsmen, the creepy black-hooded ghost that pops up between people legs and/or above their heads, and the obvious overused plot twists in the script.

It seems like every line of dialogue spoken by the obnoxious 20-somethings in this movie features the word "shrooms." And you thought JUNOisms were annoying! If you took a sip of your Irish coffee every time someone in this movie said "shrooms," you'd be dead before the first jump scare.

The only good thing about SHROOMS is the movie poster, which features a skull shaped out of SHROOMS in the moonlight. Cool!

I saw the advert for "shrooms" and instantly wanted to see it so i rented a copy. I think the real clincher that will get this film an audience is the fact that it brings the drug element into a horror. I was hoping for a very trippy film that was so messed up you don't know whether to scream or rewind and rethink.

Unfortunately "Shrooms" goes for the premonition approach. After taking a bad shroom, Tera the main girl starts "seeing things". I just thought from that point on i'd seen it all before. I was right. Most of this film is simply people walking around, looking for something with a scared look on their face. The whole back story seems to be a relatively regurgatated camp fire tale that is used in most films "a bad house, kids are abused, one messed up kid left"- come on this just isn't scary.

Admittedly the ending is clever, but again not the most original.

The potential this film had is wasted on what seems to be a boring storyline. Not much trippyness or edge of your seat tension, just another B-grade horror.