The Settings section allows you to prevent making changes to Softros LAN Messenger settings.Īllows (1)/disallows (0) changing settings on all tabs in the Settings dialog box. The Admin.ini file contains a series of sections, each having a certain set of parameters. Having administrative rights allows you to limit user access to most features of Softros LAN Messenger.Īll local restrictions are imposed by editing the Admin.ini file found in the Softros LAN Messenger installation folder.Īs soon as the Admin.ini settings are modified and saved, they are immediately put into effect. The sad thing is that there's the nascent seed of a really good movie in here, and all it would take is a bit more background and a touch more care with the plot.Please note: Editing Admin.ini file manually is deprecated. There's enough creepiness to make it fun and plenty of screamingly-silly dialogue and plot points to keep you at least giggling. There's also a subplot with a missing family that's just too hokey for words.Īll this said, I didn't hate the film. Kady, the outsider, almost immediately attracts the interest of a local pretty young thing, a favorite of a Rockwell Falls sheriff's deputy. The process answers some questions, but doesn't satisfy others.Ī predictable love triangle rounds out the mix of easily- augured components. Random lots are chosen to see who will get the axe. This is partially explained by a regular festival ala "The Lottery," dependent on the population, in which one person is doomed to die when the total hits 437. The number of children allowed to a couple, and the frequency with which they are allowed, would have to be tightly controlled if only to ensure the preservation of certain skill sets I figured the doctor was some sort of abortionist, but they didn't go there.Īll of this stems from pure logic: When every accidental pregnancy means someone in the population has to die in exchange, there has to be some way to make sure you're not killing off all the adults at a dangerous rate. It begs the question of how births and deaths are regulated, since they would have to be. The narrative, in fact, begins with a birth. It feels like an utterly undeveloped, throwaway premise - a shame because this background could have enriched the story greatly.Ī woman is shown, quite pregnant. This potentially vital bit of history is only mentioned once and never delved into again. The "great fire" was the supposed punishment for such transgressions. There's also mention of some sort of dark stranger that came to the community in the past, busted its then-perfect 436 population, and started spreading sin and wickedness. This explains some obvious questions, such as why every UPS driver and grocery deliveryman isn't drawn into the darkness. There's some sort of malarkey about how if you stay overnight, then you're considered part of the town. Overall, there's too little explanation about the whole 436 business, which is unfortunate. There's the regular ending and an alternate ending, and I don't consider it a spoiler to say both possibilities are covered. The biggest problem is that the film is its predictability, the only question being will Kady, and the little girl he soon decides to rescue, make it out or not. The residents believe that God himself punishes those who try to leave with the "fever," a malady that only the local doctor knows how to quell. Mysterious deaths - and arrivals, either in the form of births or new faces - keep the population at a constant 436, a "perfect" number determined through some sort of pseudo- kabbalistic system divined by the gent who refounded the town 100 years ago. They send their man, Steve Kady (played by Jeremy Sisto, best known for his turn as Billy Chenowith in the late and lamented Six Feet Under), to check it out. The twist is that the population has maintained a perfect number of 436 since the place was rebuilt after a fire, a fact that attracts the attention of the U.S. So, by now you've guessed the sort of tale we're spinning here. Much is cribbed from Shirley Jackson's far superior take on this sort of story, "The Lottery:" Perfect little town, sort of a timeless place, but there's a powerful price the residents pay for their bliss and idyllic lifestyle - one paid in blood. The narrative focuses on the mysterious goings-on in the little town of Rockwell Falls. Full of traditional tropes, Population 436 is a somewhat muddled, largely cliche-ridden film that manages a bit of charm despite its overall disappointing experience.
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