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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: 1/2 *
There are some films which are so inconsistent in every department that it
becomes a masterpiece of an example to show aspiring filmmakers exactly what not
to do. "The Man in the Maze" is a film which reaches excellence in
that department.
Three friends camping in the woods are assaulted by a stranger wearing bandages
on his face. The fourth friend escapes and manages to sneak up on the masked man
and save his friends. They beat up and tie the man and try to find their way out
of the woods but it seems someone is trailing them.
There are so many things wrong with the film that it will perhaps take a book to
recount them all. But let`s state a few.
The major problem is the story. It is inspired by the French time-travel film
"Timecrimes" with elements of mysticism added to it.
However, while "Timecrimes" was a perfectly logical film that ties all
loose ends and explains all doubts, this one does such a shoddy job, relying on
disgracefully shot scenes of Red Indians (played by its Indian director Mitesh
Kumar Patel) that you squirm in your seat with disgust.
Secondly, the writers have a misconception about them being good dialogue
writers. The four characters thus go on and on for a majority of the film
without either the horror or the suspense ever unfolding.
Finally when it does, the treatment is so bad, that it seems to have been not
only done by someone who has never wielded a camera but someone who has the
brains of a junior school kid.
The camera work is inconsistent, acting is nowhere to be seen, music is all over
the place, the conceptualisation of scenes and flow is so bad that you have to
literally tear your head.
For example, after almost being killed by a masked man, and in a jungle that is
far from civilisation, the four friends go through the jungle as if they are
taking a walk in the park. No one seems scared or in any hurry.