Nothing too great about this movie but it uses its low budget creatively and besides is a well made and good looking movie.

It's absolutely, most definitely, a far more professional looking movie than the average low budget genre attempt. The directing, the editing, the cinematography, it's simply all good, making this a perfectly watchable genre flick.

The movie does a good job at handling its mystery and tension. It's being a real effective movie in that regard and the movie constantly keeps throwing you off. Is it being a horror flick, is it all taking place inside the head of main character? The movie implies lots of different things throughout, making you feel unsure what is exactly going on with the story. It really keeps things interesting and helps to keep things going, even when there really isn't an awful lot happening.

This movie often just implies things, without ever truly showing you anything. This is what being creative with a low budget is all about, as opposed for instance other genre movies with a low budget, that show far too much or try to do too much with its restrained budget, with as a result things just look plain bad and work out more often ridicules or laughable. I really do believe that is the main reason why the movie in fact works out.

You could complain that the movie is too dark looking, which is true but again, I also see this in this case as using its low budget creatively. It besides does help to establish a certain type of atmosphere for the movie, which is the right type of atmosphere required for an horror.

It's also certainly true that the movie does sort of fall apart toward it's end but really, it's not any worse than often is being the case with any other random genre attempt. Let me just say that it didn't ruined the experience for me, which perhaps was also because I could see the end coming from miles away, as should any other horror lover. So it's not surprising but still the movie does a good job at handling things and simply does what it does well enough.

Nothing too brilliant obviously but the movie as it is remains a perfectly watchable one.

6/10

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A father's quiet retreat to the woods with his two children turns into a fight for survival.

Director Andrew Currie studied under Norman Jewison and wowed horror fans with his film "Fido", which mixed George Romero and Jacques Tourneur, with a dash of humor. This time around he does not quite reach that same level. Although he has some modest star power (Eric McCormack of "Will and Grace") leading the way, it may not matter.

While there is obviously decent production value and nice use of color (the tints and shadows make the cold just a little bit colder), something seems off and caused this one to go under the radar and be quickly forgotten. What does this mean for Currie? A 50-50 batting average means his next one has to be great. Bring it on, Currie.

The movie opens with a scene between Eric McCormack and his "one blue dress" wife (Jody Thompson) then quickly jumps to one year later. Eric is taking his two kids Cynthia (Conner Dwelly) and Jake (Ryan Grantham) to an isolated cabin in the woods, the childhood getaway home of his now deceased wife, a cabin in the wintry woods where every horror film dwells. We are revealed details of her demise as a flashback, something they could have done better.

I honestly didn't know where this was going, i.e. slasher, ghost etc. The events build slow and the next thing you know things are going on and you have no ideal what is real and what is not although the film does give clues. It turns out to be a decent mystery/horror film. I thought the title was clever as "Barricade" has a duo meaning as Eric has "barricaded" himself emotionally from his his children.

When I first saw the WWE previews I did a double take as I thought I had purchased a film about a cage match.

Parental Guide: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity. "S" word. Might work for a sleepover. Rated PG-13, but more of a PG-11.