Obviously, as all of the bad reviews indicate, Loss of Life has some problems, but I rather enjoyed it for the most part. Of course, I'm a fan of low-budget found footage films in general, which makes me much more tolerant of mistakes and problems that the average moviegoer.

I can understand, though, why some viewers gave up on the film within the first half hour -- not only does nothing really happen, you're blasted with a cacophony of voices that make it impossible to hear all -- or even much -- of what is being said (I highly advise turning on closed captioning). What you have is six young high school guys getting together and acting like -- well, high school guys. They're all talking or yelling at the same time, doing stupid stuff for the camera, etc. They're all excited because it's Halloween night and there's a big party going down later on. First, though, they stop off in some alley to do some filming for a "project." That's when the movie finally kicks into gear.

Suddenly, this young lady -- beaten and bloody -- runs toward them asking for help, and the next thing you know two dudes in creepy masks are shooting at them. Rather than get in their SUV and drive away, they panic and run across the alley into a warehouse, thus beginning a deadly game of hide and seek that does feature some creepy moments along the way.

There's a problem, though -- these guys basically refuse to get away, even when they can do so rather easily, on numerous occasions. When you're hiding from psychos trying to kill you, there are just some things you don't do -- unless you're these guys. When trying to hide and stay hidden, you really shouldn't make all kinds of noise bickering amongst yourselves; you shouldn't just take some dude's word that there's no cellphone reception in the area (especially when you're obviously in a decent-sized city); when given the car keys and told to go get help, you shouldn't just sit in the car, argue for 10 minutes, and then follow the bad guys back inside when safety is literally only a few dozen feet away. Cowering inside the car with the bad guys just feet away, one of these guys actually turns on the camera light.

The camerawork is actually quite good for a film of this type, combining clear footage from cellphones, a video camera and security cameras. I have no problem with the acting, either -- the guys are certainly convincing as goofball teenagers, and they do convey plenty of fear once the bad guys show up. The gore, while not excessive, is convincing enough, as well.

Unfortunately, the movie just can't overcome the fact that these guys make incredibly stupid decisions -- or that the first half hour is seemingly designed to turn casual viewers away. Still, I managed to enjoy the movie overall. For me, there were some moments that were quite effective, and I did care about what happened to several of the characters. And even though the plot is pretty formulaic, the movie doesn't end quite the way you might expect it to.

If and only if you're a fan of found footage horror, Loss of Life isn't a total loss.