ATM (2012)

While at the company Christmas party, David mentions to his friend Corey that regrets never asking Emily out. It's her last day of work so he'll never see her again.  His friend Corey convinces him to talk to her, and she accepts David's offer of a ride home.  The problem is David is also Corey's ride home and Corey is an ass.

David begs with Corey to catch a cab. But Corey has no money and neither does David.  So the three of them jump into David's car and Corey proves to an even bigger dick than we previously presumed when he pressures David to take him to an ATM because he wants a pizza.  No one shall ask why David parks  40 parking spaces away from the ATM rather than pulling up directly in front of it.  Niether shall you ask why David doesn't drive up to the ATM for his own convenience when going to check on why Corey is taking forever.

The parking situation turns out to be unfortunate when a mystery figure in a hooded parka appears outside the ATM vestibule.  Although these young professional live in a big city, they didn't consider that making withdrawals from an ATM in the middle of the night could be a safety issue.   Especially when it turns out the man doesn't want to rob them, he wants to kill them.

The plot contrivances are far too many and unrealistic.  They park across the parking lot rather than next to the ATM.  It's winter but they're not wearing coats. Two of the three leave their cell phones in the car, and one person who has theirs has a dead battery.  Although there are three of them and one attacker, they never mount an attack.  They also don't try a distraction such as having one guy run for the car. Either he'll be able to drive off to get help, or he'll be a distraction that lets the other two slip away. Argh, movie you are so annoying.

Tourist Trap (1979)

Our story begins when a couple gets a flat tire, and the guy sets off to see in search of a gas station.  A few hours later when their friends drive by, the girl hops and off they go to find her boyfriend.

The first place they see is a sign for an old tourist attraction.  While driving down the road, their jeep dies so they start walking. When they see a lake nearby, they decide to go skinny dipping, which is fun until the proprietor shows up.

He turns out to be friendly and invites them back to his house and offers to help get their jeep started.  The owner warns them not to stay away from the house across the field.  But the phones don't work so one of the girls sets off to see if they have a phone.

Things go down hill from there and everyone wishes they'd been smarter than visiting a closed tourist attraction filled with creepy mannikins.

I've seen this movie a couple of times and it still freaks me out. It's the mannikins with their mouths flapping open while singing, "ahhhhhh" and the large man wearing the mannikin face while talking in a strange sort of Harvey Fierstein voice. It's not so much scary, as unnerving.

The Returned (2013)

Kate and Alex have jobs they like, a fancy high rise apartment and are crazy about each other.  What they haven't told anyone is that Alex is one of the Returned, aka people bitten by zombies who keep from turning into the walking dead by taking daily injections of an experimental serum.

Kate is a doctor who works in a unit that treats the Returned. This  gives her access the serum, as well as the most up to date testing and treatment methods. The serum is made from fluids from the infected and the more people that return, the less serum is available.  Currently the unit is working on a synthetic serum that they hope to have before the need arises.

But when there is a serum shortage, the Anti-Return League employs fear mongering to generate public panic.  The names and addresses of the returned are stolen from a government database, and someone starts killing the returned on the list. Kate and Alex fear that someone will show up at their door looking for Alex, and due to the limited supply of serum, she doesn't know if she can get more before their supply runs out.

Alex is kind of a twit. The guy gets bitten when he goes into a store. It appeared no one was there, and then he found the owner at the bottom of the basement stairs.  So later in the film, when he goes into a gas station, and it appears no one is there, you'll want to punch him when he goes to investigate. Did he learn nothing from this first experience?  And what happens if they returned are bitten again? Does it matter?