Review of Escape from Tomorrow (2013) by Steve C — 31 Dec 2016

I don't think the marketing for this movie is very good. It somehow makes the movie look less than it actually is.

What it actually is it? A very unusual movie that takes off on a bold conception. Part of the movie was shot at Disney World without permission. In movie maker jargon they "stole the set". And they didn't steal Disney to do like a fan film, but to make a horror movie that is a bit of a takeoff on Disney's own beloved fantasy product. What goes on is that the father and ultimately the family has a fantasy, but a very dark surreal one.

We go through Disney World with a typical USA family, dad, mom, a boy and a girl. Things are a little off to begin with since the movie is in B&W. And isn't Disney A Wonderful World of Color? (That was the name of a Disney TV series in the 1960s) This could be to set visual to the theme of the picture and for more convincing process shots that are used occasionally throughout.

So we go on some rides with the family. They avoid copyright issues by replacing It's a Small World's horrible song with one equally silly and it's very funny. The boy wants to go on Buzz Lightyear and the girl something else so the family splits by gender. Things seem to drift from normal when the father eyes a couple of hot young foreign women and takes his son around the park following them. At some point he meets a mysterious woman with a hypnotic gem on her necklace and we are soon on a trip to dark fantasy land.

This is a dark and unusual film, a one of a kind with David Lynch type roots. It is a very good unique product.