This pop culture-laden fright-fest takes the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary and relocates it in the inherently creepy locale of New Orleans. The usual cast of motley and none-too-bright teenagers is assembled and attached to quirky names--smartass Phineas (Jimmi Simpson) and his Goth-girl sister, October (Sophia Bush), hunky protagonist Hutch (Jon Foster), and tech-head Swink (Frankie Muniz), to name a few--and they all have one thing in common: the love of gaming. When Hutch's best friend Loomis (Milo Ventimiglia) is a victim in a violent massacre, Hutch ends up with the game he was playing just before he died. Called "Stay Alive," the game is technically illegal and Hutch and his friends can't resist booting it up. The game resurrects the Countess, who centuries ago was walled up in her tower when her crimes were discovered (she is said to have brutally murdered 650 servant girls and bathed in their blood). Now, she is fulfilling her vow to return to reassume her reign of terror. This time, however, her victims are gamers who will die in the same way in life as they do in the game.
The video game itself becomes a character in the film, showing off excellent 3-D, cinematic effects, and creating an effectively spooky atmosphere with a memorable, if derivative, aesthetic. The gore never escalates past PG-13 levels but the scare tactics are adept, while the Countess herself, with pasty skin and high-necked red dress, is a movie monster worthy of canonization.
Theatrical Release: March 24, 2006
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Extended
Unrated
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary: Filmmaker Audio Commentary
Featurette: Visual Effects Reel - Key effects sequences from artists' drawings to final scenes, cut together music video style
Interactive Features:
Disc: BUILD YOUR CHARACTER AND SEE WHERE IT TAKES YOU
Distributor Notes: Stay Alive
Get ready for supernatural chills and terrifying challenges in STAY ALIVE, the mind-bending thriller about a killer video game. The real world and the game world gruesomely collide when a group of friends play STAY ALIVE, a mysterious underground videogame that kills the gamer whose character dies in play. Inspired by the shocking true story of the 17th century serial killer known as the Blood Countess, the videogame gives disturbing new meaning to the phrase "game over." In a death defying race against time, the survivors must solve the mystery of the game while desperately trying to stay alive.
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
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Review 1:
"Eschewing the current trend for gratuitous gore in horror cinema, STAY ALIVE insinuates rather than revels in its gruesome content."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.73 07/01/2006
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