There are so many things that baffled me in this movie. Normal people wouldn't make the same choices the characters did. Three friends (Chris, Bree, & Sam) plan a birthday trip to Hawaii for their mutual friend, Lex. She believed in ghosts and all things afterlife, so they arranged for an exploration of a haunted resort. It was closed and deserted after numerous supernatural occurrences. Things start off slow and boring, as they take in the scenery. Then one by one, the ghost (half face girl) of the island starts killing them off. Once each friend in dead, they return to help kill the remaining friends. Apparently, the ghost controls them after death. The ending confused me for a minute until I realized that the final living friend (Lex) actually died. We are made to believe she was rescued, but it was the ghost playing tricks on her.

Here are the things that baffled me.

1) Lex was the only one of the group who was apprehensive about not staying on the resort path and detouring to do other things. She was hesitant to explore. But then all of a sudden, when it's time to meet the boat to leave the island, Lex is the one holding the group up. She wants to stay longer and take pictures for her next book. She even makes everyone go back inside the resort because she left her bag. What? How and why did she go from cautious to stupid?

2) After they see the ghost, the group runs to the resort gate. They see a security truck and start yelling for help. Chris stops them because he doesn't want to get in trouble for being at the off limits resort. Okay... so he'd rather take on the ghost than risk being fined? Crazy. Then they hear the security guy screaming bloody murder inside the resort. They all run to the truck to leave. Sam and Bree hop in, but once again Chris takes the keys because he doesn't want to steal a truck and get into trouble. Life or death, I think I'd risk it. Although, Bree does die in the truck, so maybe Chris inadvertently gave the rest more time.

3) At one point, the ghost takes over Sam, causing him to attack Chris. Lex has a heavy flashlight in her hand, but instead of hitting Sam with that, she stabs him with scissors...in the jugular. Who would do that? Did she really have to kill him?

4) Sam is walking towards Lex, calling her name. Ya know, after she stabbed him. Oh and after the ghost ripped off his face skin. Anyway, Lex and Chris just stand there. Sam approaches and kills Chris. Then Lex is able to get away in an elevator that literally didn't work one minute before.

5) Finally, Bree starts singing happy birthday to Lex, while creepily lighting a match. Even though Bree is obviously dead, Lex just stands there asking Are you okay, Bree? Ha

Was there anything good?

There were a few minor jump scares and decent gore for a B horror flick. The ghost was adequately scary and reminded me slightly of The Grudge.

Plot

Four friends head to Hawaii to investigate reports of a haunting at an abandoned resort in hopes of finding the infamous Half-Faced Girl. When they arrive, they soon learn you should be careful what you wish for.

Cast

Unfamiliar with anybody involved.

Verdict

Obnoxious 20 somethings celebrate a birthday by going somewhere they shouldn't, why is this such a remarkably common plot? Anyway standing at just 75 minutes it's a swift tale, full of talking, and travelling and then when the action kicks off it's over before you can say "Has it started yet?".

But even then I didn't hate it, parts had been competent as had the character development but what ruins it are the closing moments which unfortunately involve a twist I'd called within the first quarter of the film.

The final moment is so bad and so cliched It flatlined any hope The Resort had of being memorable, entertaining or standing out from the crowd.

Rants

Why do they keep doing that "Twist" I mean I'm not going to spoil it here but I'm so very very tired of it. It makes up an alarmingly high percentage of horror films, you'll see it coming and I've off the top of my head not known a single instance where it actually works! It's one of those twists that horror filmmakers seem to tack on because they can't think of a decent ending. Enough already, you know what I'm talking about just stop it.

Breakdown

Decent character development Has it's moments Slow burn to very little Awful "Action" sequences Dreadful predictable finale.

Oh Dear the YouTube generation have started making movies...this is some horrible iPhone movie that shouldn't have been made. It's like they've thought "We can make a movie!" Well you can't...flat lighting, soft focus, chromatic aberration, frame rate problems, distorted over level audio, retrospect script, no ambiance....like a movie your friends would make for a laugh. It should have stayed as a drunken idea written on the back of a beermat. There's more to movie making that an iPhone. Please do not waste your time.