Review of Population 436 (2006) by Bill R — 20 Dec 2011

This one has an interesting concept, but anyone who has read ?the lottery? will immediately figure it out. Characters are seen demonstrating odd behaviour, without seeming ominous enough for the average person to realize how wrong things are.

A concern that I had with this movie, is that the census-taker acts like he?s an ex-cop or private investigator, overstepping the boundaries of his occupation.

Although the twist in the film is one that the audience should be expecting from the start, this movie has one of the most effective set-ups for it that I?ve seen in a while. The other major twist would be Limp Bizkit?s Fred Durst losing weight and actually doing a really decent job of playing a well-meaning deputy.

Another concern I had with the protagonist would be that he stays and tries to help, when he should be leaving and telling the outside world about this town. Also, he seems to go out of his way to seem like a threat to the townsfolk?s traditions, when he should be playing along until it?s safe. Of course, if he did that, we wouldn?t have a movie.

[size=4][b]***Spoilers***[/b][/size].

The town goes through all the trouble of maintaining equilibrium, because some crazy guy brought evil, and the town was good again once the population went down. Couldn?t it just be possible that the crazy person dying took all of the evil away, and not so much the numbers?

Of course, logic doesn?t have a whole lot of room in fanaticism.

Seriously though, the entire town gathering to watch a lynching while happily eating pie made by the sacrifice made the whole movie worth it if nothing else.

Concerning the ending, I?m pretty sure Mack trucks can?t sneak up on people. But, it does make the audience wonder whether the town consisted of crazy people, or if maybe there actually had been some divine intervention.