ATM (2012)

ATM is actually released in theaters on April 6th, but it was available for a pre-release rental on iTunes, and I had a bus ride with nothing to do, so I decided to watch it. Just keep that in mind that most of my reviews are months or years after the DVD has been released, so this should balance it out a little bit.

Directed by newcomer David Brooks, ATM stars Alice Eve, Brian Geraghty, and Josh Peck (yeah, the other guy from Drake and Josh is in a horror movie now) as three friends who, at about 12 o’clock at night, is forced by Corey (Peck) stop at an ATM to get money for food, much to the chagrin of David (Geraghty), who is trying to have his last chance with Emily (Eve) before she leaves the city. While in the ATM (which in New York is apparently in a phone-booth-like box in the middle of a parking lot), a man in a parka appears outside, standing there ominously. They stay in the booth, just waiting out the creepy guy, but suddenly the entire situation turns fatal when the man kills a passer-by walking his dog. After that, it seems to be standard knowledge that they stay inside of the dang box. The rest of the movie is them conflicting with each other, trying to find ways of getting out alive, and the man trying to flush them out of the booth. Despite the obvious fact that this feels like a very thin premise, and it is, but it is still played out in such a way to where even though it isn’t really that scary, the movie sure as heck is entertaining. I enjoyed watching the dynamics of these people disintegrate, and watching them fight against a guy in a parka with a knife.

Even though the film does have its flaws (thankfully the characters only make one really stupid decision, but they still make it), and the acting can be a little better at times, ATM is a nice little thriller that will surprise you, but it by no means a great terrifying masterpiece, even though it does have a twist ending that would make even the masters like Hitchcock nod in approval.
8/10