1/5 wow bad.
  by J. Onorato (Hobart, IN USA)
There are varying degrees of bad. Some of my favorite movies are what I call 'awesomely bad.' A few examples of this would be Gingerdead Man, Sick Nurses, Versus, or Chainsaw Sally. Unfortunately, Skeleton Crew doesn't fall into this category. This one is more of a 'Wow' bad.

To explain: The main character starts out surviving a car crash and walking to a nearby insane asylum for assistance. Roll Eyes Here. Anyway, from the very beginning, the actress playing the main character was not very good at her trade. Not very good at all. Beyond that, she had no screen presence, she is somewhat unattractive and she speaks in a brutish sounding Eastern European accent. I hate to sound so critical, but I seriously wondered who the actress might have been in bed with to get even this meager role. Perhaps she was the director's girlfriend or something. As it turned out, that exact scenario was worked into the plot. She was 'playing' a bad actress who was sleeping with the director. Aha.

Next, we meet the director of the asylum who is, in my estimation, perhaps the second worst actor I've ever seen in a movie. EVER. And for reference, the #1 worst actor starred in the horrible Beyond the Wall of Sleep DVD.
But then, we are shown that the actor playing the asylum director is 'playing' a bad actor. Nevertheless, all the rest of his scenes are bad, just like the main character's. Go figure. In fact, other than the young girl playing the character Anna, the movie is filled with bad actors well deserving of gruesome horror-flick deaths.

Finally, it is explained how the whole experience is actually a movie within a movie, within another movie. Sadly, all three movies are beyond redemption.

2/5 When Inspiration is Greater Than Execution
  by Captain Insanity (NY)
Have you ever been very aware you were watching a movie?
Like the acting, & and unspecial effects were so bad you felt like you were just watching people make pretend?
Have you ever cursed yourself for an hour and a half about twenty bucks you'll never get back?
If you still care by this point:
It's a low-budget flick about a film crew making a horror movie in an abandoned haunted mental institution.
The same wacko-basket where 30 years earlier a doctor killed his patients for his own personal snuff films.
Guess what super-nova of a idea Mr. Director gets,
when they stumble upon said snuff flicks in a sealed off room containing a chair, a projector, and a giant popcorn machine?
Is he overcome with inspiration? Or overtaken by possession??
The movie itself reflects this whole inspiration theme by dropping more names than a public school attendance list.
Though it doesn't seem to play up the possession angle as much.
Just hints at it.
It's not a terrible idea for a horror flick mind you... I mean the film within the film.... the actual film isn't bad either.
Though the addition of spirits to the plot was unnecessary, and could have easily been removed, the overall idea was interesting enough.
With a bigger budget, and better actors this might have actually been a pretty decent flick.
The special effects were amateurish, which is essential in the kind of flick where gore is the star.
But they weren't bad enough to kill the flick, just tame it.
The acting is what ultimately seals this flicks tomb.
Most of the time it felt god-awful, though sometimes it felt like it might have been improving.
In the end it was bad enough to keep you from getting into the story.
The actor playing Bruce for whatever reason, played a doctor better than an actor. Go figure that one out.
If you have an extra hour and a half it's watchable, but it's also regrettable.
2 Stars for Sub-par.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Inspiration is just as strong as possession.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
The Devils Chair, Saw 1 -5, Hostel 1&2, Gag, Captivity, Live Feed, Frontier(s), The 8th Plague, Session 9, August Underground 1-3, Snuff 102,
Flower of Flesh & Blood, Men Behind the Sun, Henry, Wizard of Gore (remake), Windchill, Rose Red, Mirrors, 1408, The Shining.

3/5 No Sequel Indeed...
  by L. Eason (In Your Fairyland)
I've been reading some of the reviews for this movie; and I gotta say that it's not as bad as people make it appear to me. The idea of this flim isn't actually bad. I mean having a movie crew making a movie based off some snuff flims in an asylum; and having the director of the project going all deranged and sadistic... it's kinda orginal if you ask me. Granted the acting is C Rated, with a C+ on the violence, it's really not a bad film to buy for the price Amazon is asking for {$14.99}. I personally think the idea of this movie is decent and could have been done a lot better. I think my favorite part of watching this movie was seeing the director watch the snuff flims and get "inspired" for his movie; oh and the ending actually made me go "Wow... how unexpected, nice". Overall it's not that terrible and not bad for your horror collection. However get it for a low-price; you'll feel more content I believe. Lucky there is NO SEQUEL, because I think it'd be actually horrible.

1/5 Please, please, please do not waste your money!
  by A. lowery
I enjoy small budget horror movies in addition to the blockbusters. I came across this movie at Best Buy, so I thought I would give it a chance. It's a cross between Saw and Hostel. The first 15 minutes start out great. I was very interested. Then the viewer learns that a "remake" of some snuff films is being made (then switch to the real movie). I always hate those movies in which movies are being made inside the movie--especially in horror films. Well, the "skeleton crew" finds the real snuff films made by a madman in the run-down mental hospital. The director becomes obsessed with them and begins killing the crew while filming it. After the first 15 minutes of the movie, it goes downhill fast. The characters are not likeable, and I really did not care if they got killed or not. It just becomes so ridiculous. Characters are walking around aimlessly in the building looking around corners. I really do not think this movie would even make it to the Sci Fi network 10 years from now. I watched about 3/4 of the movie then got up out my bed to write this review. The movie is so bad that I want my money back.