Five. 2007. Directed by Amit Tripuraneni

Five friends are having a tradition of trekking in the forest, and this time it will be the last time of celebrating their friendship. This is the plan, but they don't know that the last time will definitely be the last. The memory of their dead friend Emily comes back to haunt, especially the one who killed her.

Amit Tripuraneni, the director from New Zealand, made the astonishingly professional looking "Memories of Tomorrow", with a shoestring budget. Five is once again a damn good looking thriller, although this time the use of hand-held camera has increased rapidly compared to "Memories". But now there's a certain need for shaky, authentic photography style. The setting and the location of Five itself makes a claustrophobic feel to it, and photography does a good job delivering the uncomfortable atmosphere.

The story and the screenplay is definitely not the typical Deliverance-type thriller. Five has multiple dream sequences, so you got to pay attention carefully. In the end, the choice of storytelling style is rewarding. Couple of times the rhythm loses its power, so maybe the film could have been edited differently, to make it even more tense.

Tripuraneni has found once again actors and actresses, who are virtually unknown (at least for people outside New Zealand) but seem to be comfortable with their roles. You can hardly find any overacting here. Sometimes it's like watching a reality TV, since there is time for concentrating to (only) six characters of this film. Tripuraneni has used the time for each character perfectly, and the viewer really cares about the people of "Five". When the killing starts, it's more shocking and haunting than in your average microcinema/low budget fare.

Five is once again, a prime example of using every cent or penny in just right way. It's just outstanding that mini-DV can look this good, although the choice of cameras are big part of it. Nevertheless, it's the natural light that gives final touch in the hands of talented filmmakers. The atmospheric sounds are partly from the Creative Commons-licensed Freesound project. So, in these times, the internet has increased the possibilities to made a great looking home made movies - but without a decent script, talented director, actors & actresses and the crew there won't be good films. Amit Tripuraneni and his crew knows this, and worked really hard. And it shows in every detail.