This is the most boring convoluted mess I've seen in a long time. It starts off interesting, but just keeps getting dumber and dumber as the minutes drag on and on. The little action there is, it's all in the trailer. All the rest is long and dragged out scenes riddled with plot and technical issues, that keep crossing paths that lead to nowhere, ultimately hitting a brick wall by the film's end.

Producer, writer and director Billy Hanson drags out multiple narratives for a slow-paced and bloated 109 minutes, keeps crossing genres, and still couldn't make up his mind what he wants the viewers to believe by the end of the third act with his cringeworthy and eyeroll-inducing nonsense; is it a psychological thriller about PTSD, or a story about a mythological creature that roams the Ukrainian forest? Legend has it, Hanson still doesn't have that answer.

If it's about PTSD, then this film is an insult to the vets who actually have PTSD, and he clearly didn't do his homework on what that disease is and how it affects people. If it is about a mythical creature, then it's an insult to the creature, for being so lame and boring - and unable to decide on which costume to wear.

The combination of horror and action may have worked if Hanson had found a way to blend the disparate elements of each genre, but instead he switches back and forth between the two without integrating them into each other, and leave trails of each theme broken and unresolved. The result gives this film an identity crisis brought on from lazy and undecisive writing, and amateur-hour directing.

I get that this is a low budget B film, but there's no excuse for letting viewers invest their time, stringing them along, then letting them down with a sloppy convoluted nonsense ending that will only frustrate and annoy them. It costs nothing to finish a script that leaves viewers satisfied, instead of underwhelmed and annoyed. A fifth grade drama class could've come up with a better film. It's a generous 4/10 from me, only for the decent cinematography and mostly adequate performances.

After a disastrous mission gone awry, an elite sniper team tasked with taking out the leader of a Ukrainian terrorist squad on the Russian border are haunted by a strange creature that may or may not be stalking them through the wilderness and must try to figure out its existence to leave alive.

Overall, this was an enjoyable if somewhat troublesome genre effort. When this one works the best is the fantastic mixture of high-end action scenes mixed with thrilling creature action. The military-based setup here featuring the team running through the wilderness going through their missions which require tons of tactical weaponry alongside the full-on firefights that take place not just for the successful mission that opens the film but also the botched one that sets the main story in motion that pits them against not just an enemy sniper but the other ground forces in the middle of their mission. This type of interplay is mixed together throughout the rest of the adventure back to their base when the creature starts getting more involved and bringing about a fantastic idea of whether or not he's a figment of the tortured psyche within. This comes across rather nicely and manages to generate a lot of really likable features here challenging whether his interactions with the team and those they come across are really happening with others bearing witness to it as well but the initial encounters cast doubt over this leading to an intriguing enough concept that gets utilized quite well here. There are some minor drawbacks that do emerge here to bring it down. The main feature is the surprisingly confusing layout of the film as it seems to shift constantly between this psychological mindset for the creature or a genuine article. There's evidence for both interpretations, with the first sighting occurring just after the botched mission that's a clear metaphor for the repressed guilt hovering over him with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. However, since there are also implications that those around him are also aware of its existence the use of both plausible explanations without committing to one is a weird take to go here. The other factor that goes along with the film not being able to commit to a specific style rests on its overlong and plodding pacing. The film runs a good ten-to-fifteen minutes too long with several implications that aren't really necessary, including the constant echoes of his grief eating at him which just ends up creating a highly repetitive feeling here with the cutbacks to his interactions with his family trying to get over what happened that are repeated in the field with his friend. This becomes quite tedious being utilized as such here dragging the running time out for no reason, which is enough to keep this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

This film is just really tight. It's a simple film, but it never feels like a little film. The performances are top notch. The lead actor carries the film, but there are certainly no slouches around him. Everyone delivers. And some of the small characters are exceptionally good.

The tension, which is what we are here for, is extremely well-played. The film is very economical with all the set-up before we get into the two-man team mission. A lot of films would have a group of five to eight people going on some mission, but you don't need here. The rapport between the two soldiers was great... and I was on the edge of my seat.

This is an indie that never feels like an indie. Deftly shot like a big budget action/suspense/thriller ride, it's worth your time.