ZOMBIEHAGEN

THE SETUP

Firstly I’d just like to say thank you to Danish Writer/Director, Jonas Ussing for allowing me early access to an online screener of his debut short film, “Zombiehagen”. Zombiehagen is a 24 minute long, Horror/Action film that centers on two young adults who’ve survived the zombie apocalypse. Helten (played by Casper Sloth) and Heltinden (Simone Lykke) (not sure why their names are so similar, random coincidence) cross paths at an abandoned football stadium that’s being used to contain the remaining undead (well most of them). From there, the two join forces and take refuge at Helten’s family home. The film also stars Elias Munk, Jeanne Eva Jepsen and Finn Nyborg Nielsen. During my weekly movie browsing online, I stumbled upon a write-up/review for Zombiehagen at DreadCentral.com. They’re usually a reliable source for all things horror related and had good things to say about this one and fortunately Jonas was kind enough to share his film with Adamthemoviegod.

THE GOOD

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of zombie related content, whether that be in TV, Film or  Gaming. It’s a sub-genre of Horror that I’ve always been quite critical of and if I’m honest, other than Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of George Romero’s, “Dawn Of The Dead”, I can’t recall many other zombie films (non comedy-wise) that I’ve actually liked (yes I’m looking at you World War Z, you sucked). Lately the ideas and creativity behind these sorts of films have dried up but then something comes along like Zombiehagen and flicks that switch back on and suddenly there’s light again, albeit in a pressure filled 24 minutes and not your typical feature-length running time. Sure, Zombiehagen treads over familiar landscapes (no I don’t mean Copenhagen if you’ve been haha), it follows that similar narrative in countless other post apocalyptic films and I don’t think the intent was necessarily to spring viewers with anything fresh. With that being said, Ussing’s script is a compelling one even with the very minimal dialogue prior to its final act. The cinematography is quite impressive, there’s a series of wide establishing shots of a deserted Copenhagen to start proceedings. We’re immediately introduced to a cross-bow wielding hunter, eventually revealed to be Heltinden. The fantastic tracking shots that mimic her movements as she makes her way across the city, are extremely cinematic and not what you’d expect from an independent film estimated to cost just over $20,000 (AUD).

The attention to detail in the set dressings and more importantly the visual effects, give this a high quality production value. The CG mapping is consistently good, showcasing backgrounds that blend in well with the environment that’s being depicted. I couldn’t get my head around the logistics of the stadium scene until I actually realized how it was carried out, so kudos to the vfx team. Sets are dressed well with abandoned cars, scattered debris and decaying bodies as well. The score is another great feature in Zombiehagen. There’s a suspenseful theme in the beginning that utilizes Bass and Horn and a more Dramatic section later that’s led with Violin and Cello, some of it felt like music from any Brian De Palma film (Body Double and Carrie), I dug it. The zombie makeup looks good and it’s evenly applied to all the extras and although there aren’t many practical effects,  the highlight is a kill involving an arrow. Now being Americanized, I couldn’t help but notice lead actor, Casper Sloth bares a striking resemblance to Hollywood’s pretty boy, Zac Efron (although Sloth is much better at his craft) and Simone Lykke is a dead ringer for Actress, Jessica Biel. Casper and Simone have good chemistry and you can sympathize with both of their characters plights (perhaps one more so than the other). The performances are both very good and I was particularly impressed and surprised by the final scene in the film.

THE BAD

The only technical detail that wasn’t to my liking was some of the darker, post production color saturation in the scenes at the stadium. As far as plot holes go, I found it a little farfetched that Helten was able to identify the specifics of something that was missing from the notice boards. Unless you have an eidetic memory I can’t see how you’d remember one very small section of information on all those boards (which can be seen in the above image). In fairness to the writing, there’s no time frame placed on the events so who knows how long he’s been looking at those boards for. The only instance where there’s some questionable decision-making is when Heltindin decides to call out in the stadium full of zombies… not smart love, not smart at all (haha). I know she’s trying to reach a conclusion in regards to her situation but that’s probably not the right way to go about it. I think that scene could have played out with her accidentally drawing attention to herself rather than just yelling out.

Zombiehagen is a wonderful and effective Horror short from a new Danish film maker in Jonas Ussing. I knew from the opening cinematic establishing shots and the larger than life orchestral score, that this was going to be high quality stuff. The cinematography is sharp, the set design thorough and the visual effects seamlessly blended into the final cut. The music is key and the makeup effects top it all off. The film needs those good performances and that punchy impactful ending to help stand out from its competition and it does. If not for a couple of small details in the writing this would be the definition of perfect. As it stands, Zombiehagen is without a doubt the best short that I’ve seen in the genre and if you’re smart you’d take this over just about any feature-length Zombie flick. Congratulations Jonas!

My rating for “Zombiehagen” is 8.5/10

DER BUNKER

THE SETUP

Firstly I’d just like to say thanks to International Distributor, Artsploitation Films for sending me a Blu Ray copy of Nikias Chryssos’s film “Der Bunker” for reviewing purposes. Der Bunker is a German film that mixes Horror/Drama and Black Comedy in the most peculiar of ways (is there any other way?). A man referred to only as “Student” (played by Pit Bukowski), takes up an offer to lodge in the bunker of a countryside mansion owned by a tight-knit, oddball couple (David Scheller and Oona von Maydell) and their 8-year-old son Klaus (played by Daniel Fripan). The Student aims to focus on his physics research, something that proves harder and harder to do with the families constant in-house distractions. Now I don’t get the opportunity to see a lot of European cinema and not because I don’t want to, its mainly due to the fact that it isn’t well promoted on our side of the world. I stumbled across the IMDb page for Der Bunker and thought it sounded like a bizarre film and therefore I had to see it, if for no other reason than to just experience that bizarre-ness.

THE GOOD

On the technical side of things Der Bunker is an extremely polished product, as are most  of the films coming out of Europe. Nikias DP (director of photography), Matthias Reisser does a fantastic job of the cinematography, everything is neatly confined with a majority of the film taking place inside the families bunker. In the beginning there’s some impressive wide shots of the snow-covered landscape, as the “Student” treks through the heavy field to approach the home. Once inside, the remainder of the camera work is smooth and the shot choices are smart. Most of the editing is strong but a scene involving the mother’s conversation with the mysterious “Heinrich”, is abruptly entered into and pulled out of even quicker (losing sight of whatever it was attempting to convey in the first place). The audio levels are clear and the English subtitles are well presented. I liked the lighting, especially in the kitchen where a lot of the scenes occur. The approach to the lighting had the feel of a stage play but then during scenes in the student’s bunk room, things were much darker in order to depict his isolation (much like any Cronenberg film). Toward the end there’s some use of Red and Green lighting and that works well too. The music is quite contrasting depending on the scene. It trades between conventional classical compositions and ominous synth and bass, with a clever use of heightened sound.

The tone of Chryssos’s script is really quite difficult to put your finger on and I think that was probably his intention. From the opening dinner table scene through to the unusually stark ending, you’re not entirely sure what to make of it all, if anything. There’s most certainly a story here but how much of it translates will depend on the individual and what you’re hoping to see happen with this family. Der Bunker is an eccentric, art house influenced, coming of age story about two parents who are having trouble loosening their grip on a developmentally stunted son. There’s awkward dancing and a random musical number performed by Klaus and plenty of other random things to distract you but at its core, Der Bunker is about a boy trying to learn the capital cities (yes it’s true haha.. well sort of). Klaus claims to be 8 years old but looks to be around 25 (surely we’re not supposed to ignore that) and he’s clearly progressing at a snail’s pace, which doesn’t please mother and father so they punish him and eventually convince the “Student” to tutor the boy as a sort of payback for boarding. On any given day in the life of this bizarre family, the father reads aloud some of the least funny German themed jokes you could hear, the mother confides in Heinrich (a spirit of sorts) while mapping out the best course of action for Klaus’s studies and Klaus himself attends daily classes taught by the “Student”. For whatever reason the Student finds himself drawn to the family and in particular Klaus, so much so that it interferes with his work on the Higgs particle theory (theoretical physics).

Based upon the ending of the film I’m not entirely convinced Klaus was even their son but I think that’s still open to interpretation and I’m not spoiling anything by saying so. Some of the dialogue was quite amusing and evoked a few chuckles here and there, although its hard to know if laughter is the appropriate reaction for some of these interactions (I suppose it doesn’t matter). There’s a line of dialogue where the father says to the Student “If you ever need help I’ve got diplomas too” (in relation to the specific physics the student is working on haha). On another occasion the mother is physically distressed and leaves the dinner table. Following her exit, the Student tries to lend his sympathy while the father simply explains it with, “You don’t know what its like to be a woman”. There’s several examples of quirky dialogue throughout the film which helps makes up for some of the stale interactions. The strongest aspect of the film is the performances from all four actors. For all intents and purposes this is a one location, minimal characters type of experimental feature and that’s not an easy thing to carry. Each member of the cast has to do something uncomfortable at some point but its Fripan and Maydell who’ve got some of the most awkward scenes to carry out. There’s something serious to be said about the psychological effects from domineering parental control. It doesn’t even have to be physical abuse that causes problems, with this kind of under development, it’s cerebral.

THE BAD

As is the case with most films, the likes and dislikes in regard to entertainment value are personal opinion but Der Bunker doesn’t have many obvious flaws. The glaring one has to be the age of Actor, Daniel Fripan (who I believe is about 30) and he’s portraying an 8-year-old boy (at least in mental capacity), so one might argue how ridiculous that seems but I think Der Bunker knows it’s quite absurd and in turn, that’s par for the course. The film doesn’t lack for awkwardness either and therefore it’s not the type of movie you’d recommend to a group of friends to watch. Bold sex scenes and the usual vulgar profanity pale in comparison to the visceral surprise of Klaus’s feeding customs. I can handle most things but I draw the line at on-screen breast-feeding (yes it does happen and multiple times), especially for a 30-year-old man (even if he supposed to be 8, that would be weird enough). I wondered if the Student almost saw the mother as somewhat of a muse. From the moment things begin to escalate between the two, he’s able to make in roads into his research where beforehand it remained stagnant. I think the story warranted deeper insight into the parental characters habits and in general just more exposition. Personally I saw the “being” of Heinrich as a psychological manifestation of the mothers fear of letting go, of letting her son out into the big wide world once and for all. Similar themes around the fear of parenting were touched on in “Eraserhead”, David Lynch’s surreal nightmare from the 70’s and that’s also my take on this one.

If nothing else Der Bunker is a truly unique viewing experience. In a world full of derivative works it certainly deserves some accolades. It has an irregular narrative that can be likened to Harmony Korine’s, “Gummo” with a touch of the twisted family dynamics of “Dogtooth”, a Greek film from 2009 ( and another truly strange experience). The cinematography and audio are impressive and the lighting along with the score, give the film plenty of life. There’s some entertaining interactions and the film’s healthy dose of darkly comedic moments keep it moving along nicely. The performances are solid and the story simple at its core. I’m sure there’s probably a lot more detail in these characters that could have been explored. I’d rather have seen more of that than been confronted with extended uncomfortable moments (e.g the breast-feeding scenes). With Nikias choosing not to explore the themes to greater lengths, I can’t help but think this one might have better suited the “short” medium. In the end it all comes back to personal taste (like most things). Unfortunately most of the people I know aren’t going to get behind a film like this but I like to support film in general and it can’t be denied that this is a well made, art house  film. I have to look at this from an entertainment point of view as much as anything else though and on that front, it’s probably not going to be for most people. Check out the trailer below if you’re intrigued!

My rating for “Der Bunker” is 5/10

MERMELADA

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks to Co-Writer/Director and Actor, Jose Mellinas for allowing me early access to an online screener of his 12 minute Horror/Thriller short, “Mermelada”. Mermelada is a Spanish made POV film (point of view) about a YouTube sensation by the name of Javitronicks (played by Mellinas himself). He’s tasked with interviewing a man named Eugenio (Albert Anguera whose also a Co-Writer) who claims to know sensitive information about the disappearance of a young woman. This marks just Jose’s second writing credit and it’s his directorial debut. The short was shot for a mere 100 euros. Lately I’ve been fortunate enough to have reviewed a bunch of really cool projects coming out of Spain and that’s how Jose got onto me, so a quick thanks to his fellow European filmmakers in Pablo Pastor and Sergio Morcillo for the networking.

THE GOOD

I spent the first five or six minutes of Mellina’s short trying to establish where the story was coming from and going to and what it all might really be about. An introduction that sees Javi (for short) conducting one on one interviews with locals in the street, looking for their reactions to having seen a viral video of sorts. Cryptic reactions to a popular video that’s never directly shown to the viewer makes for quite an odd start but an interesting one all the same. Yes, Mermelada technically falls into the Horror genre but not in the conventional sense. A narrative that appears to be about a notorious blogger/expert in legends, takes a very different turn upon its climax. The audio levels are nice and clear and most of the footage is decently shot. Fans of the found footage approach know what to expect from  but those who are new to it can rest easy because this one keeps everything fairly stable (movement wise). The acting was competent although the material didn’t call for any scene stealing moments. The last few minutes were the highlight and I didn’t see the particular revelation coming.

THE BAD

The most distracting thing on display here is the speed with which the subtitles are presented. I understand these guys talk at their own pace but seeing as though I don’t speak Spanish I have to pay close attention to the subtitles. Problem is that I’m trying to watch everything in the frame at the same time and that’s problematic. For reviewing purposes you’d benefit from at least a second viewing of Mermelada. Some of the editing is rather choppy and there’s one or two sequences that are so small they probably could have been cut. On top of that, some of the lighting inside Eugenio’s house is fairly inconsistent. The only plot hole I found was in the time-lapse regarding Eugenio’s dash into the basement and his sudden rise to the up stairs of the house. We see him go down the stairs, so if he was in the basement how did he get back up two levels so quickly? I hoped there’d be an additional scene showing what the original video was that sparked Javi’s investigation.

Mermelada is an interesting short that would fit the bill for something like the VHS franchise *see review* https://adamthemoviegod.com/vhs2-review/. I really wasn’t sure the direction this one was heading and I think in this case that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. The audio and camera work were good, as was the acting but it’s the specific angle taken in the climax that makes it worth a watch. The subtitles and dialogue comes at you like rapid fire and both the editing and lighting needed some work (keep in mind this was shot for less than $150 Australian Dollars). I think Jose missed an opportunity to let the audience in on part of the secret and the continuity issue surrounding Eugenio’s movements both let this one down a bit. In the end he’s still got a solid little film that should help you kill 12 minutes of your day, so keep an eye out for this one!

My rating for “Mermelada” is 5.5/10

YOU’RE GONNA TO DIE TONIGHT

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thank you to Director, Sergio Morcillo for allowing me early access to an online screener of his 13 minute Horror short, “You’re Gonna Die Tonight”. You’re Gonna Die Tonight is about a young woman named Victoria (played by Monica Aragon), who after an intense night out, decides to take a relaxing bath before bed. A phone call from a stranger sparks what will eventually become the worst night of her life. The film also stars Antonio Zancada, Francisco Reyes and Rafa Casette. Recently I reviewed another Spanish made short film, Pablo Pastor’s “Into The Mud” *see review* https://adamthemoviegod.com/into-the-mud-review/. Sergio (who knows Pablo) was kind enough to get in touch with me about reviewing the latest in his chain of short films.

THE GOOD

Early on in discussion, Sergio made his influences known. You’re Gonna Die Tonight, clearly inspired by films like Wes Craven’s genre reinventing, “Scream” as well as John Carpenter’s, “Halloween”. I love the Slasher genre and its formulaic approach that we’ve all come to know and love. Morcillo’s short picks up with a clearly disheveled Victoria, as she stumbles her way toward the front door of her house. It’s here where the audience are likely to have their suspicions about events that may have occurred during her wild night out on the town. Sergio promptly engages with his audience, showcasing loud audio levels and a great score that’s reminiscent of something from “Friday The 13th”. The cinematography is quite nice and all the framing length is consistent. The highlight for me was the gorgeous aerial shot that sees Victoria in the bath tub preparing for a bit of a release. If memory serves me correctly, the mood lighting during that scene was also particularly effective. The passage ways and different rooms are well-lit too, back-lit with red and yellow shades. 13 minutes doesn’t give you the opportunity to really hammer the action home but there’s still one or two sequences, both of which utilize some decent practical blood and gore effects.

THE BAD

There’s a couple of minor technical issues with dialogue delivery. Although the film was shot in Spain, all the characters speak in English (albeit inconsistently conveyed). There are Spanish subtitles attached (obviously for the Spanish crowd) that become a little distracting to an English ear, especially when you’re trying hard to focus on what the characters are saying but find yourself reading the screen. I think most Horror fans would prefer to see this short presented in Spanish, although I understand the need to “Americanize” it for marketing purposes. There’s one scene in question for its rapid editing style and it highlights some specifics from Victoria’s night out. Given what we saw and her actions after the flashback, it didn’t seem like something that you’d call to mind for stimulation purposes (haha, each to his/her own I suppose). I would have liked that scene displayed in a different way. The mask that the mystery caller dons is definitely “bondage material” and creepy, unfortunately a black version of it was used previously in Marcus Dunstan’s underrated film “The Collector”, as well as the lesser known, “Cornered!”. Two scenes in Morcillo’s film were unclear to me (although that could be something he plans to address in a full length feature). Countless photos with people’s names and details on them can be seen in a dark room (for photography) in the house (or at least it seemed like a dark room). I don’t know what relevance that scene had, Were they potential victims or people who were already victims, or neither? I don’t really know. Secondly, the hazy details surrounding the ending, I think I deciphered the mystery behind a couple of those secondary characters but I’m not one hundred percent sure.

You’re Gonna Die Tonight is my first venture into Spanish film maker Sergio Morcillo’s work and it was a pretty decent one at that. I like the poster, the premise and the 80’s inspired “slasher” title. Most of the technical aspects are well conceived, from the loud volume and the unnerving score, through to the Giallo esq lighting and the sharp cinematography, it’s all of a really high standard. The couple of action sequences were enjoyable and I commend Sergio’s effort to clue the audience in on certain evidence early, even if it doesn’t necessarily translate by the end. I’d rather have seen the film presented entirely in Spanish and a couple of the scenes within it approached from a different angle. The mask works but it’s too much like The Collector’s mask (a favourite of mine) which took me out of the film a bit. Some of the details toward the end could have been clearer, however, I’ll assume those elements would be further explored in a full length feature (which I’m all for seeing). Congratulations to Sergio on his latest short and be sure to keep an eye out for the official release date soon!

My rating for “You’re Gonna Die Tonight” is 6/10

SECRET SANTA

THE SETUP

Firstly I’d just like to say thank you to Reel Phobia Productions and Writer/Director, Mike McMurran for allowing me access to an online screener of his debut feature-length film, “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa is an 80’s inspired, Christmas themed, Horror/Slasher film about a group of college students who throw a small impromptu party to celebrate the holiday season. Olivia (played by the lovely Nicole Kawalez, in her first appearance) organizes a fun exchange of presents among the friends but the findings are quite puzzling and lead the group to believe someone out there has their own nasty agenda. The film also stars Annette Wozniak (of Chad Archibald’s “Bite”), Keegan Chambers, Geoff Almond, Brent Baird, Tony Nash and Matthew Chisholm. I didn’t intend on reviewing a series of Christmas Horror movies seeing as though it’s not Christmas but it seems I’ve got my hands on a few lately, so I thought why not? I remember hearing a few things about McMurran’s, Secret Santa from the boys on YouTube at “Bloodbath and Beyond”, so here goes nothing.

THE GOOD

I’ll be the first to admit, it doesn’t take a lot to get me interested in this kind of film. A lot of movie-goers and critics are a little more selective about what they watch but me, the promise of a masked killer, interesting albeit cliché’ characters and plenty of kills is really all I want from the Slasher sub-genre. Secret Santa while set in present day, is still a clear-cut throwback to the slashers of the 80’s. Films like “Black Christmas” and “Christmas Evil” are just a couple of the countless holiday themed entries inspiring this. McMurran’s method toward his visuals is an obvious nod to the SOV (shot on video) era of film making. The static and spotty style of Secret Santa will remind you of an old bootleg V/H/S tape, the only difference being that this film was clearly shot with good equipment (unlike years gone by). The color grading is really vibrant and in a way probably negates the desired effect that someone like Richard Mogg goes for in his films (Massage Parlor Of Death and Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend). Maybe it’s just that Mike is like me and enjoys the best of both worlds, plus with a first film it’s important to have as high of a production value as possible. Secret Santa employs some ADR here and there (additional dialogue recording) but all the audio levels are nice and clear. A similar thing can be said for the foley, particularly the sounds of some of the weapons as they’re being tested out.

The soundtrack isn’t anything special but what would an 80’s style Slasher be without the complementary synth? Most of it sounds alright and some of the heightened zany synth noises, combined with the smooth editing, really help convey the intended tone. The best technical aspect here is certainly the cinematography, McMurran is extremely proficient in giving audiences plenty of variety. Secret Santa begins with some really gentle panning and later, there’s a lot of effective focus shots that really drive the high production value. This is one of the first times I’ve seen a low-budget filmmaker refrain from going handheld and jerky during its action sequences. There’s a real attention to detail in keeping Secret Santa looking professional, a nice little nod to Bob Clark’s “Black Christmas” is the only obvious tip of the hat. We see several POV shots of someone peering through the windows of the house (straight out of the aforementioned film). All of the framing is solid and I particularly like the deep focus shots on the masked killer, as he or she is wrapping presents for the group. The film has its comedic moments dispersed amidst all the carnage, some of the lines working better than others. The five or six core characters aren’t exactly well-rounded in terms of their arcs but I respect McMurran’s simple approach with presenting each of them as a stereotype of Horror 101, e.g, the jock, the stoner, the princess, the slut and the final girl.

The group of young adults decide to have a little celebration for the end of the college year. Naive, Nicole (played by Wozniak, a dead ringer for Amber Tamblyn), straight-laced Olivia (Kawalez) and promiscuous Carissa (Chambers) all share the house that the party takes place in. Nicole presents herself as quite innocent, yet her interesting after school activity and dynamics of relationship with boyfriend, Bryan (Brent Baird) prove otherwise. Olivia’s been keeping a secret from her friends and chooses the night of the party to reveal it, then there’s Carissa, the wild one who seems to get caught up in everybody else’s drama. Fifth wheeling it is student slacker and hyper-active, Dwayne (played by a bald Geoff Almond). Almond reminds me a lot of “3rd Rock From The Sun’s”, French Stewart. Dwayne does the least amount of work to get by but he’s got a convenient drug habit helping him cram for exams. Much to my surprise, Secret Santa had very consistent acting given the rather inexperienced cast. All three of our lead girls are gorgeous and they hit all the right notes for the intended tone. My favourite being Keegan Chambers, who rocks a pair of denim shorts with stockings that scream all kinds of sexy. As I said, Annette is a dead ringer for Amber Tamblyn and she definitely gets the most out of her comedic timing. Baird does a pretty good job in his role as Bryan and Almond’s mostly there for comedic relief. His shining moment is a scene that involves an awkward conversation with the Carissa character.

Let’s get to the good stuff now, Shall we? You want to know what Secret Santa offers in the killing department don’t you? McMurran takes the old school approach we all know and love, with everything being done with practical blood and gore effects and it’s nothing if not ambitious with the execution. The opening kill comes less than five minutes into proceedings and believe me, it’s quite a violent one. There’s a couple of potential stand outs for the best kill, one utilizes a nice neck piece and the other involves a weapon no one bargained on getting used. Even with a handful of routine kills (probably due to budget limitations), McMurran still gives the audience consistent blood flow at every opportunity, especially toward the ending. A couple of sequences, specifically one in a bathroom, make a hell of a lot of mess. I was actually surprised by the ending of this one and the revelations that come with it. Up until that point I had noted a few plot holes here and there (or what I thought were plot holes) but I was glad to be proven wrong once the film came full circle.

THE BAD

There’s a couple of minor technical glitches in Secret Santa which are quite common in most independent and low-budget films. The audio in the very opening scene between Carissa and one of her other housemates was slightly out of sync. With this being a throwback to 80’s slashers (in which out of sync audio was often done deliberately), you can’t be completely sure that it wasn’t the intention, although if that was the case it probably would have remained that way for the entire duration of the film. An unnecessarily lame visual effect is used during a conversation between Dwayne and Nicole, in order to depict Dwayne’s drug related trip. A handful of scenes inside the house during the first act are really quiet and have no atmosphere due to the lack of score. A majority of the film is scored pretty well but those scenes definitely required some form of music because there’s not even any room noise, everything’s just dead. There’s only one or two small continuity issues, the main one during an interaction between Carissa and Olivia. There’s a knock at the door while the two are finishing up a conversation, Carissa can’t be bothered getting up so she screams out to Olivia to get the door but she’s just been in the same room. In the next frame Olivia is seen approaching the door as though she’s come from a different room. The other issue is surrounding the killer/s movements around what is a pretty small house and being able to sneak around it undetected. I’m not going to get hung up on that though because slasher films have always operated under similar flawed guidelines.

Tony Nash who plays Professor Ramsey, was the only person I felt was perhaps a little miscast in terms of looking the part. Nash seems quite young and unlikely to be a professor but that’s not to say he doesn’t do a decent job in the role. The weakest specific in McMurran’s screenplay is the motive behind the series of killings. Once again though, Secret Santa being what it is (a throwback to old school slashers), it may just be Mike’s take on the nonsensical motives killers in these types of films often have, after all, he makes no apologies for coming at sections of this film with a comedic approach (spoiler: all the sex toys would tell you that haha). My personal preference would have been a legitimate and believable motive but hey, each to their own. Being a small cast with minimal locations type of deal, there’s a bit of a lull for twenty minutes or so where the inclusion of a couple more kills would have been a great addition. That being said, I understand most of those creative decisions come down to whether there’s enough funding and enough time.

Secret Santa is a sharp and snappy, 75 minute feature-length debut from Writer/Director, Mike McMurran. The script is equal parts slasher film and teen comedy (relatively speaking) and it hits mostly the right notes. It reminded me of films like Todd Nunes, “All Through The House” and Michael Hall’s, “Kids Get Dead 2: Kids Get Deader”, with just a touch of “Porky’s” added to the mix. The audio levels and foley are bright, as is the color grading. The sincere attempt to make this aesthetically comparable with an 80’s bootleg V/H/S is fun but probably lost on most if you don’t get the intention. The impressive cinematography is definitely the focal point and some of the best work I’ve seen (if not the best), given the budget. There’s enough fresh perspective there while still winking at slasher’s from the 80’s era, particularly “Black Christmas”. The characters all make for a fun watch (lovely eye candy aside) and the standard of acting was refreshing for a genre that often sees most phoning it in. I commend Mike on delivering plenty of blood and gore for the hardcore fans and a couple of really memorable kills, even with the limited funds. I definitely had to reach in order to find a handful of fairly nit picky issues, so other than that dubious motive and me wanting to see even more killing than I got, slasher fans will find it hard to fault Secret Santa. This is the best holiday themed movie I’ve seen this year and Producers/Investors out there would be wise to back the next film from Mike McMurran. Money is the only thing stopping this guy from making a name for himself in the Horror genre, so keep an eye out for Secret Santa this December!

My rating for “Secret Santa” is 7.5/10

GOOD TIDINGS

THE SETUP

Firstly I’d just like to say thanks to both Director, Stuart Bedford and Co-Writer/Actor, Stu Jopia for allowing me early access to an online screener of their Christmas themed Horror/Thriller film, “Good Tidings”. Good Tidings is about Sam Baker (played by Alan Mulhall), a homeless ex-soldier with a troubled past, who spends his days helping others while continuing to guide those he’s already taken under his wing. While walking the streets on Christmas morning, Sam comes to the aid of a homeless man named Jon (Jonny Hirst), offering him refuge in a disused courthouse he and his followers are holed up in. It’s not long before Sam and his rather large collective find themselves trapped and in trouble. With the help of recovering drug addict and friend, Roxy (played by Claire Crossland) and happy couple, Paul and Mona O’Connor (Garry McMahon and Julia Walsh), Sam must find a way to stop three psychopaths in Santa outfits before they kill everyone. The film also stars Stu Jopia, Giovanni Gentile, Liam W. Ashcroft and Colin Murtagh. Good Tidings is Bedford’s debut feature-length film, having previously made four shorts.

THE GOOD

Well I love Christmas themed films, everything and anything to do with that most wonderful time of the year. Whether it’s watching 8-year-old, Kevin McCallister fighting to protect his home in the Chris Columbus film, “Home Alone”, to Bob Clark’s, 70’s sorority house thriller, “Black Christmas” or even the lesser known Susan Montford thriller, “While She Was Out”, they’ve all got one thing in common, Christmas. Most people put on a happy family drama or comedy when it comes to celebrating the holidays but these days there’s a different type of holiday film for those who like to do things a little differently. The iconic slasher has made a name for itself with Christmas entries like the aforementioned “Black Christmas”, as well as the classic, “Silent Night Deadly Night”. I’ve been lucky enough to review several Holiday themed films over the years, Steven C Miller’s “Silent Night” and Austin Bosely’s low-budget romp, “Dismembering Christmas” are just a couple that come to mind. Bedford and Co (sounds like a stationary manufacturer right?) are bound to get you in the door with the eye-catching artwork and the promise of three mysterious Santa’s causing all kinds of hell. I can only imagine these lads (lads haha, look at me trying to ingratiate myself with the UK pub crowd) are inspired by these same sorts of films I speak of.

Good Tidings opens with some really great camera work, pulling focus from the front door of a house as a drunk man begins walking. Followed by a wide shot, via dolly, tracking him across his yard and over the fence-line towards his vehicle. You can’t help but be impressed when you see such a well thought out and executed approach to the very opening frames of what’s ultimately a low-budget indie slasher. All the camera work and framing is nicely presented, there’s a handful of memorable still shots. At one stage there’s a great shot from the trunk of a car, plus some suspenseful frames angled up, looking at one of the Santa’s through the perspex as two victims try their best to remain quiet. I think the best shot of the film is an effective rack focus on an old school gramophone as a character picks it up off the floor. The combination of good equipment and tight editing gives Good Tidings a higher production value look than you’d expect given the estimated budget. The audio levels are pretty clear when you take into consideration the reverb that would have bounced off the walls of the old courtroom during the shoot. The score is quite good and helps drive some of the suspense. They utilize some early Synth/bass along with Christmas bells and later repeat an off-kilter version of, “Carol Of The Bells” which is somewhat unnerving.

The writing in the opening act is very good, it gives you a bit of an understanding as to who the various characters are before shit hits the proverbial fan. You’ll come to learn some things about Sam and issues he’s had in the past, as well as seeing why he’s so well liked among the group of struggling people. He’s developed a close relationship with Roxy, acting as her rock and preventing her from falling back into old habits. It’s really the two of them that carry the drama, along with the motherly and fatherly, Mona and Paul. The performances are of a pretty high standard given the differing experience levels and the style of film. Mulhall as Sam, balances acceptance and redemption evenly and I think you see that change midway through the course of the film, he does a really good job. Claire gives Roxy plenty of fight but she conveys her dramatic stuff really well too, the pass the parcel sequence springs to mind (no spoilers). I thought the best performance came from Julia Walsh and she makes her character extremely sympathetic due to her range as an actress. She owns all of her emotional moments and really sells it well. Stu (I think it was), playing the most animated of the Santa’s, found a way to be consistently entertaining. In regard to the action, most, if not all the blood and gore effects, are practical. As every good slasher should (if you know your rules), there’s a well conceived kill in the opening minutes and it’s a graphic one. There’s a bit of a lull in the body count for the remainder of the first act but a couple of the kills in the middle portion of the film bring it back around.

THE BAD

This is one of the first times that I haven’t had any complaints with technical features, Bedford and his crew have done well to make this a really sharp-looking product. However, I was able to pick out a couple of continuity issues (or more accurately, questionable decision-making), they’re usually par for the course when it comes to the genre though. There’s a scene in which Roxy and Mona are able to temporarily overthrow one of the Santa’s by using his own weapon on him. Common sense would suggest you’d probably take the weapon with you encase you encounter one of the other two madmen, Right? Wrong, our not so bright girls drop the weapon instead. I can’t recall whether they run into another Santa straight away or not but regardless, that’s just a dumb thing to do and something none of us would ever do if put in that same situation. There’s another sequence amidst all the chaos of this invasion, in which Sam finds someone hiding (I don’t remember who) and the two begin very noisily discussing what they should be doing. If this was realistically portrayed everyone would have been in stealth mode and trying like hell to not make a peep but hey… it’s a movie.

The story begins primarily focused on Sam (which is where the film is its strongest) but when things start to escalate during the second act, there’s quite a lengthy period of time before the story revisits him again. After Sam discovers yet another body, the drama switches to the “hostage” situation playing out in the records office of the building. It lasts for what seems like an eternity, before showing Sam again in the same room he was in prior to the change. If there’s some inconsistencies in acting it comes from those playing very minor roles as secondary characters. The reactions to this frightening situation are either underplay or overplayed by most but to be fair, they don’t get much to work with dialogue-wise, which would be fine if their deaths were extravagant but they’re not. If there’s one key ingredient missing from Good Tidings it’s the higher body count we’ve come to expect from the “slasher”. A wide shot in the courtroom during the final stages, showcases a number of dead bodies of people we unfortunately never see die. More carnage can never be a bad thing but I also understand that films have budget constraints and other complications that don’t always allow for the extras.

I first heard about Good Tidings almost a year ago and ever since, I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release. The screenplay in which Bedford, Gentile and Jopia co-wrote, is an honest homage to the holiday themed, horror flicks of the 70’s and 80’s. I love the poster art and the look of our three deranged Santa’s. I was pleasantly surprised with the gorgeous cinematography, which includes several nice tracking shots and a lot of effective still shots and technique in regard to those. The audio track is consistent and the score is a solid balanced mix of synth/bass and Christmas themed music. There’s some good writing throughout the film and plenty of early exposition to help you get to know a few of the core characters, Sam and Roxy in particular. All the lead performances are very good but it’s Julia Walsh that gets the M.V.P (most valuable player). The lads give us a nice early kill, followed by a handful of other deaths that each utilize good quality practical effects. There’s a few plot holes in the decision-making by characters who are put in dire circumstances and the film plateaus somewhat when the narrative strays from being Sam-centric. The one thing hardcore slasher fans might be somewhat disappointed in (myself included) is the lacking body count in terms of on-screen kills but keep in mind this is Stuart’s first feature-length film and it’s a low-budget independent one at that. Good Tidings still offers up plenty of fun and it’s another entertaining and well-made film for the sub-genre. Keep an eye out for the official release this December!

My rating for “Good Tidings” is 6.5/10

INTO THE MUD

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thank you to Writer/Director, Pablo S. Pastor for allowing me early access to an online screener of his 10 minute, Spanish Thriller short, “Into The Mud”. Into The Mud sees a naked girl (played by Maria Forque) awaken in the middle of the forest only to discover a mystery man (Ramon G. del Pomar) has something in store for her.

THE GOOD

Into The Mud opens with some really sharp but subtle sound effects as our disheveled lead slowly comes to, she lay on plastic, unaware of her surroundings. From there, the score kicks in with what sounds like eerie violin, a tone similar to that of Tobe Hooper’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Eventually it turns classically theatrical when the action picks up and the mystery man starts to track our girl. This heavily wooded forest makes for a wonderful setting and some solid cinematography. The standout shots are of Pomar’s feet as he tracks any movement in the creek that’s near a gorgeous clearing. The editing is tight, switching between establishing shots and then character activity. There’s some great attention to detail with the makeup, both characters looking grimy and worn out. A special mention goes to Maria for baring all and having the confidence to do so in a medium like film. You’re putting yourself out there for the world to see (relatively speaking) and that’s not something many would or could do. There’s a little more than meets the eye with Into The Mud and I was genuinely surprised by the outcome and how it all concludes. The film relies more on mystery than action but the practical effects on display toward the end were impressive, given the modest budget.

THE BAD

I don’t know that it’s necessarily a bad thing but there’s only one very small section of dialogue (In Spanish without English subtitles). I’m going to assume that nothing of any importance was said during the phone call but some context wouldn’t have gone astray. My only other complaint with this quickie is that Pablo didn’t utilize some dolly shots which might have raised the production value even further. I understand that the terrain might not have suited that approach but things do seem a little bland visually with complete Steadicam (or handheld stuff).

Pablo’s debut short clearly showcases his understanding of technical aspects and how to execute those well. I was very surprised with the high production value simply because this is his first film and that’s something that normally comes with experience. The setting is great, the score works well and the editing is crisp. Both Maria and Ramon do a solid job regarding their characters, seemingly given just a rough outline, arc wise (due to the lack of dialogue). Into The Mud grips you early and hits the sweet spot at the perfect time. There’s a couple of creative decisions that weren’t exactly what I would have gone with but hey, this isn’t my short (haha). This is one of the best short films I’ve seen this year and you’d do well to keep an eye out in the future for more films from Pablo Pastor.

My rating for “Into The Mud” is 8.5/10

CARNAGE PARK

THE SETUP

This is a review for “Carnage Park”, the latest film from young Writer/Director, Mickey Keating (Darling) * see review * https://adamthemoviegod.com/darling-review/. Carnage Park is a 70’s throwback, an original film with an enthralling mix of Action, Crime and Horror. Shortly after a botched bank robbery in a barren California town, two small time crooks cut and run, taking with them a hostage (Ashley Bell) whose related to a well-known local. Sheriff Moss (played by Alan Ruck), the local lawmen, is tasked with finding the girl in Carnage Park, a private wasteland occupied by psychotic, ex-military war veteran, Wyatt (Pat Healy of Cheap Thrills and Compliance). The film also stars James Landry Hebert (Gangster Squad and Looper), Michael Villar (Visions) and Larry Fessenden (We Are Still Here and The Mind’s Eye). I’m pretty new to Keating’s work and have actually gone about things back to front, having watched his two most recent films before his two oldest. His previous film Darling was an absolute masterpiece and so I’ve been excitedly awaiting Carnage Park for the last twelve months. I’m yet to see his earlier films Ritual and Pod and although I know his roots lie mainly in Horror, I’m enjoying the fact that each of his films seem very different from one an other.

THE GOOD

Keating’s clear throwback to 70’s exploitative Horror (among other things) couldn’t have a better premise and location setting. Every delicate detail of Carnage Park deliberately aims to place you right in the 70’s and more specifically, 1978. Everything from the wonderful Hitchcockian retro style poster art, through to the casting and each individual stylistic choice. The film opens with a sort of monologue by Pat Healy’s character, Wyatt, followed by some extremely snappy opening credits presented in a very Tarantino esq manner (think Deathproof). There’s a great variety of camera work on display in Carnage Park too. Keating’s Cinematographer, Mac Fisken, whose worked on each of his films, knows precisely how to frame things in order to get the most out of every shot. Darling was that film for me that I can honestly say was perfectly shot and I wouldn’t have changed a single frame. You can tell aesthetically speaking, Mickey and Mac have that kind of short hand most long time Directors and DP’s have with each other. There’s a lot of really effective focus shots and one superb aerial shot that see’s Vivian (Bell) trying to detach from someone or something. The washed out, bleak approach in the color grading of Carnage Park is exceptional and true to the time period. I’ve seen plenty of unjust criticism from critics and movie goers in general about the film only consisting of earthly tones but you have to understand that’s the desired effect (If it’s not your preference that’s fine don’t watch it but it isn’t a fault with the film).

The wardrobe department and set design are another couple of features that ring true to the 70’s era. Your protagonist is usually dressed in something white or neutral, as it visually represents purity, as is the case here. Vivian blends so impeccably into her surroundings that it makes it harder for Wyatt to track her with any real confidence. It’s mostly the location that drives the intended tone of Keating’s film, however, the makeshift junkyard site and Wyatt’s dilapidated shack have plenty of attention to detail in them that helps sell the atmosphere. Gutted and abandoned vehicles, war souvenirs and old technology are just a few of the things that can be found within the grounds. I don’t usually single out crew members involved in any one facet because often the Director is key in how the whole thing comes together regardless of individuals but I’m going to talk about Composer, Giona Ostinelli. Ostinelli scored Darling (arguably one of the best independent film soundtracks) along with Keating’s previous films. With so many talented musicians and composers out there, Giano manages to keep his collaborations with Mickey feeling raw and fresh. The opening piece of music is a wonderful western style composition, reminiscent of something you’d hear from Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight) or in any number of Sergio Leone films (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West). The inclusion of some long-lost, obscure, Vietnamese pop music is interesting as well. The musical cues here are so perfectly timed. Everything from the shrill and unnerving Violin, to the accented drum beats and the variation of Synth and Bass, it’s all simply fantastic. Keating and Ostinelli are so meticulous with their approach that they even utilize the sound of the wind, which also plays a crucial part in the soundtrack.

I mentioned in my review of Darling that Keating likes to work with the same people when possible but it’s nice to see his reputation is drawing new crowds of Actors/Actresses too. Fessenden plays Travis, (in a minor role) but he’s the only regular of Mickey’s, the rest of the cast are made up of young talent as well as a couple of well-known and familiar faces. I think James Hebert, Ashley Bell and Alan Ruck in particular, had a look so well suited to the 70’s that it was something clearly established by Keating and hence why they were probably cast. Their appearance is only part of it, they obviously have to sell their specific characters accents and perform to a high standard. Pat Healy’s rapidly risen to the top of a list of powerful character actors who can do great work in most genres (at least in this reviewers eyes). He’s in the upper echelon with the likes of Robert Nolan and Bill Oberst Jr.  Healy’s, Wyatt is a wildly delusional, yet calculated and cold war veteran who still thinks he’s holed up fighting “Charlie” in a war that’s long since ended. Everything about this performance is memorable. From his opening monologue about god’s free country, to his specific and demented laugh, each of his scenes are intense and have an air of Marlon Brando’s, “Colonel Kurtz” (Apocalypse Now) about them. Both Villar, as “Lenny” and Hebert, as “Scorpion Joe”, do a great job of playing the two crooks. Their screen time is somewhat limited but they make the most of their scenes and I’m looking forward to seeing if their respective characters appear in Keating’s next film, “Psychopaths”. A big part of the film’s success rests on the shoulders of Ashley Bell and she’s quite impressive, displaying a range of different emotions here. I don’t know if she watched a lot of 70’s films or not but she squarely balanced her portrayal of a frightened young victim and a no-nonsense farmers daughter, exactly as it needed to be. I can’t say much about Ruck’s character at the risk of divulging spoilers but he rounds out the cast nicely.

Carnage Park’s brisk running time of just 77 minutes (plus the credits) means that not a single frame is wasted and that’s exactly what you want from a film. Even though deep down I was left wanting (because I was so engrossed in it) every sequence was a feast. A couple of my favourite sequences were the car chase in the beginning (that I see people comparing to Pulp Fiction), which actually gave me similar thrills to that of Quentin Tarantino’s, “Deathproof” (and not Pulp Fiction) and Vivian’s shocking discovery involving a land map on a board, a record player, a queue of pillars and a couple of megaphones (with a bellowing voice singing disconnectedly) set to signal the enemy. The final 10 minutes or so has been unfairly criticized, for what people labelled poor technical execution which is not the case. Yes, the final sequences play out in almost total darkness and I understand people have their own preferences visually but an important part of evaluation is intent, intent of the film maker (especially when critiquing something). I know for a fact Mickey is so adept with presentation on all technical fronts and his approach to the end of Carnage Park is done with a clear-cut purpose. From the moment Vivian finds herself in her own version of hell (in this case a series of tunnel shafts) you’re anxiously awaiting her fate. It’s a very precise and slow burn build up to a rather ambiguous ending, which I think is genius (if you understand the intent). Much like a Tarantino film, the violence can sneak up on you. Keating is more about mood and building tension though, than just using the film as a platform to showcase shock value gore. That being said, the blood and gore fx are fantastic and shocking, there’s a couple of truly sensational scenes and one with a full body cast.

THE BAD

My only technical issue is to do with the volume of the music during the car chase in the beginning of the film. It’s clearly too loud and even with Hebert and Villar’s characters yelling at each other in a panic, you can’t make out much of what they’re saying. As far as the story content goes, it’s not without its flaws (plausibility wise) and continuity issues. In the opening scene we see a man (played by Graham Skipper) being hunted by our ex-military mad man. Shots are fired from one direction and the man hits the ground, in the very next frame the shooter is seen approaching from a completely different angle as to where the shot originally came from. I suppose there’s an argument that with it being partially a slow-motion sequence, maybe he’s taken a specific route and come around a different way (not too sure). From the outset, Carnage Park definitely foreshadows some things to come but that’s almost unavoidable with a film of this nature. For example, the opening with Wyatt’s monologue probably should have been presented as off-screen narration. It’s displayed to the audience like he’s speaking to someone in frame, which I guess he is in a way, if you consider the man in the distance. Although, he finishes his dialogue before we even know he’s hunting someone, so that’s a little misleading.

There’s some other things that Wyatt does that could have been carried out differently as well. After all hell breaks loose a car accident sees Vivian stranded, Wyatt drives his truck up to the damaged vehicle and makes himself known to her. I would have preferred seeing that sequence carried out with a little bit more subtlety and suspense. As previously stated, Ashley Bell does a stellar job in what’s a fairly demanding role. Considering she’s on-screen for all bar 6 to 8 minutes of the running time, the only weaker moment she has is a somewhat forced response to a very unfortunate situation that takes place inside Wyatt’s dwelling. Most of my complaints are very minor but there’s a couple of plot points involving Wyatt and Vivian that some viewers will find quite difficult to swallow. The major one is during the first climax between the two, where she is able to disarm him and shoot him (which coincidentally takes place off-screen) or so we think. The argument is a fair one, how is this guy, even with his military gear and gas mask, able to survive a high-powered weapon at close range. The only assumption I can make is that he had some sort of bulletproof armor beneath his uniform, granted it’s never shown (but who knows). I’ll admit, that’s a rational argument against the film and I know that plot point has alone been enough to put people off. Making matters worse is that Vivian doesn’t even take the weapon with her when she’s done shooting (it may have been empty, I don’t recall) so that’s a hard pill to swallow.

It was always going to be a hard task for Mickey Keating to outdo himself with Carnage Park after the masterpiece that was Darling. As far as Horror/Thriller’s go they don’t come much better than the aforementioned. Carnage Park is an outstanding film in its own right, an honest homage to the 70’s and a multitude of films that include Tobe Hooper’s, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “John Boorman’s, “Deliverance” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now”. I say that because Keating blends the horror of TCM, the bleakness of Deliverance and the intensity of Apocalypse Now, all into one gripping piece of exploitative cinema that trumps each of those films. I love the opening monologue and the western score mixed with the Tarantino style, credit presentation. The sharp cinematography and washed out color palette put you right in the thick of the 70’s, as does the matching wardrobe and the set dressings. Ostinelli’s score is extremely original and close to the best thing about CP and I can’t wait to get my hands on the soundtrack. The performances are all superb, the film clearly in safe hands with Healy and Bell delivering in spades. The fast running time and riveting narrative are guaranteed to keep you hooked. I might have structured a couple of the specifics a little differently but all the content is still there. It’s just a shame those couple of altercations between Wyatt and Vivian suffer from a lack of clarity and leave me no choice but to dock a couple of stars. As it stands, this is still superb stuff and I love that with a Mickey Keating film you know what you’re getting. He’s the only young film maker I know of that gives you much more than just 90 minutes of entertainment. I can’t wait for his next film “Psychopaths” but for now Carnage Park is available to watch through digital platforms VOD, ITunes and Amazon. You can also pre-order the hard copy at Amazon.com

My rating for “Carnage Park” is 8/10

SUICIDE SQUAD

THE SETUP

Here we are on August 4th, the official release date of the DC comics, Action/Adventure summer blockbuster film “Suicide Squad”, Written and Directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch and Fury). Suicide Squad is about a secret government agency who fear they might be ill-equipped to deal with any future threat to the world. In a last-ditch effort contingency plan, U.S intelligence officer, Amanda Weller (played by Viola Davis of TV’s, How To Get Away With Murder) enlists the help of imprisoned supervillians who are being held at an undisclosed location. Their task, carry out a dangerous black ops missions requiring them to stop an entity known as “The Enchantress” (Cara Delevingne) before she assembles her army. The film also stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye- Agbaje and Jared Leto. My last experience with DC was the train wreck that was “Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice”, needless to say that whole universe went down a rung in my estimations. With that said, ever since I saw the first trailer for Suicide Squad I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release so I thought I’d go and check out the very first screening.

THE GOOD

If memory serves me correct, the whole idea of bringing superheros together on the big screen originally came about in Joss Whedon’s 2012 film, “The Avengers”. Since then, we’ve seen a number of characters making appearances in films of various comic book adaptions. It’s been done in “Iron Man”, “Captain America”, “Superman” and that’s just to name a few, most recently the cluster *expletive*, Batman vs Superman. With most of those individual Avengers characters having their own franchises, I can’t help but wonder why they bother crossing them over into each others films again and again, especially when they already have The Avengers… I mean where do you draw the line? Any who, I still enjoy those films for exactly what they are, a couple of hours of entertainment, nothing more, nothing less. So at the helm of Suicide Squad we have David Ayer, a fantastic Writer and Director whose spent a career mostly in the Crime/Drama genre, bar the screenplays for superb war films, “U-571” and “Fury”. If I’m honest, a fresh set of ears and eye could be what’s required in a genre that’s growing laborious with each and every new (but not new) release. Ayer handles the material and its delivery like a pro, on top of that, let’s just take a second to acknowledge how great it is to see this bunch of misfits and iconic characters finally together in one film.

Suicide Squad is really nicely shot. There’s a lot of variety in the camera work and a majority of the editing plays superbly to the storytelling. The original trailer showcased what type of soundtrack we were in for but it’s surprisingly more extensive than you might have thought. There’s the recognizable sound of Creedence Clear Water Revival and Queen, as well as “You Don’t Own Me”, originally performed by Lesley Gore. Also in the mix are modern artists like Eminem, Skrillex and some Lil’ Wayne with Wiz Khalifa. I think the style of soundtrack works given the tone and genre but I suppose it can be a little guilty at times of coming off more like a plug for MTV than anything else. Suicide Squad is all about its action, it’s what you paid for isn’t it? The film takes a little while to amp up but there’s plenty of enjoyable scenes along the way that help build the character development. There’s some early first act action, albeit in fits and starts, showcasing the abilities of each of our anti-heroes. The weapons look great but unfortunately there’s no real use for any of the high-caliber military gear because the squad each have their own signature go-to, involving something in their arsenal. Most of the visual effects were pretty solid and it goes without saying that a film of this nature relies heavily on its vfx. The buildings and general landscape design (wherever not on location) all looked quite good as well.

Now let’s talk about the squad because these characters are the reason you’re going to go and see this film. I didn’t do much research in terms of the characters and the respective casting decisions. I thought I’d avoid the inevitable mass of keyboard warriors giving their spiel on why they think a certain actor/actress is the worst choice for said character. I, like most kids, went through a bit of a comic book phase when I was younger but I’ve never been a keen fan, so I was happy to head into this one with no pre-conceived notions about what to expect. Will Smith was cast as “Deadshot”. I’ve always enjoyed Smith’s work, particularly in “Enemy Of The State” and “I Am Legend”. Deadshot is probably the most grounded of the supervillains, he’s built a reputation on being the best hitman and he’s got an impeccable shot. The outfit looks good and Smith supplies us with good banter among the misfits. Australian, Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys and Jack Reacher) plays “Boomerang”, an infamous thief from Australia whose found his new playground in the US. I’ve always thought Courtney got an unfair wrap much like Sam Worthington when he started out (even now I suppose). Sure, Jai’s done some poor films (yes I’m looking at you “A Good Day To Die Hard” and “I, Frankenstein”) but who hasn’t. I was really glad to see him do a fine job here. His character’s got a little bit of heart and Courtney’s comedic timing is good too. Then there’s “Killer Croc”, a man/monster mutation (played by Agbaje). Other than the fantastic makeup job (kudos) I can’t say much about this handsome looking fella’ because he didn’t really have an arc.

Moving onto “Diablo” (played by Jay Hernandez of “Hostel”), an Hispanic man with a temper, a temper that manifests itself in the form of fire, something which landed him in trouble in the past. Hernandez is really good here and I loved the tattoo and makeup job on his face and body. I haven’t seen him in anything recently so it was nice to watch him getting a bit more screen time among these heavyweights, plus Diablo’s back story had real relevance. Bringing me to the last member of the squad, the infamous Harley Quinn (played by the stunning Margot Robbie). Those of you who know even a little bit about the DC world know about the dangerous and psychotic, pig tailed bombshell, Harley Quinn. Quinn was once a psychiatrist at the Arkham Asylum where the Joker was a patient. Some of the twosome’s history is covered in the opening and middle acts of the film. The costume and makeup department nailed Quinn’s look perfectly and Robbie does a really wonderful job of bringing the character to life for the big screen. Her sense of timing is clever and her mannerisms very spirited, I was hoping she’d have a little more dialogue than she did but it was great watching her regardless. Her beau, The Joker (played by a vivacious Jared Leto), comes into the narrative trying to reunite with his demented girl after he gets wind of her release (from a guard who visits a certain club he owns at least I think he owns). Leto’s performance is feverish but also reserved in all the right places, to help maintain the suspense. Fans (and I use that term loosely) were calling for his head when he was first announced in the role and much like the late great Heath Ledger did (albeit in a different style), Leto let his acting do the talking and boy does it talk, he completely nails it. Don’t attempt to compare Jared’s take on the infamous clown with Heath’s because they came at it with a very different approach (but both were great). The tattoos, hair and makeup, most notably the teeth, all bring this unbalanced individual to life.

Soldier, Rick Flag (played by Joel Kinnaman of “RoboCop” and “The Killing) is the man tasked with leading the covert mission and keeping the Suicide Squad in line, which proves to be more difficult than first thought. His character’s an intriguing one and more pieces of his puzzle (one crucial one) are revealed to the audience as the film progresses. Ever since I saw The Killing I’ve been a fan of Kinnaman, although I do prefer seeing him play primarily good characters. He’s the surprise packet for me here and I thought he actually gave the best performance in the film. He played his emotional scenes really well and his dry dialogue delivery was entertaining. Both Leto and Robbie are right up there and very good but unfortunately they don’t share a great deal of screen time, which may disappoint some viewers. Ayer’s narrative doesn’t accomplish anything new or different as far as the genre goes but he presents the story in an entertaining fashion. It’s quickly established who these mad characters are and what they’re capable of. From there it’s all about the action and those looking for anything more in terms of substance, best look elsewhere.

THE BAD

A lack of originality is always going to be the main issue for anything that’s based in the comic book world. Both Marvel and The DC universe are often guilty of the exact things that see other genres like Horror constantly getting a bad name but they just seem to escape criticism (well not by this reviewer). The whole “kids at the cabin in the woods” trope you see in Horror, isn’t usually a key factor in whether I like a film or not but I’ll always still acknowledge the lack of creativity. So that’s exactly what I do when I see “the world is coming to an end” over and over again, in whatever the latest superhero film is and this time it’s Suicide Squad. The plot lines here are essentially the same as in Whedon’s, “Avengers”, only this time around the individual personalities are far more entertaining. With that being said, it didn’t take me long to realize something was missing from Suicide Squad and that was a complete lack of people populating the city. Given the massive budget, you’d think upon realizing the landscape looked bare someone would have said, “Hey guys do we maybe want to dress the streets with some extras or at the least, CGI people?”. To be fair, there was one scene which indicated part of the city was in evacuation mode but still, we don’t even see any people beforehand. Even though I enjoyed most of the visual effects, during the final showdown it all felt a bit distracting. The Enchantress’s figure and design felt more like something out of a Tim Burton film, gothic esq and the effects went a bit haywire.

The articulation of Cara Delevingne’s dialogue during her portrayal of The Enchantress, felt off. The tone they went for (which would have been altered in post production) took me out of the film a bit. In addition to that, it wasn’t all that clear why she was doing the things she was, or what she was even trying to accomplish. I gathered she, along with her spiritual brother, were trying to assemble an army to take over (and or destroy) the world because that’s usually evil plan 101, move numero uno, a prerequisite if you will. Short of that I don’t know what else was going on, she seemed to be embracing the pretty lights and generating strength from some sort of power source. There’s another key aspect to Delevingne’s character but I don’t want to spoil the details. There’s a convenient setup that involves Rick Flag utilizing her powers as a tool to use to the government’s advantage. The sequence that eventually sets things in motion seemed rather lame. All it ends up doing is shifting blame onto Flag for his involvement, which holds no real weight in why certain events play out the way they do anyway. A little more time could have been spent either ironing out the finer points of the story or changing the villain altogether.

After the Suicide Squad screening I had a bit of a look around at some of the other critics reviews (most of which were non-favorable) and can’t really understand what they expected from an extravagant, Action/Adventure summer blockbuster. The promotion was perhaps a little over the top and therefore you can’t help but have high expectations going in but it doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable (unless that film is Batman vs Superman, yes I’m going to take a swipe at that film every time I get the chance). Ayer is a fantastic Writer/Director and this he’s assembled the true epitome of an ensemble cast. It’s a well shot film and the soundtrack is an energetic one. If its action and special effects you seek, you shall receive. The introductions of each anti-hero are quite colorful and entertaining, emphasized even more so by the tight editing. All of the cast are damn good but for me the best performance was Joel Kinnaman’s, however, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Robbie and Margot do their thing as well. The film clearly follows common trends and on occasion it’s guilty of a lack of attention to detail as far as making the most of its environments surroundings.The CG and effects go a little overboard in the final act and The Enchantress isn’t as dynamic of a villain as I’d hoped for. Combine those couple of issues with a few weak plot points and you’ve still got a far superior comic book film than “Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice”, or for that matter any of its counterparts lining your video store shelves. I was entertained for 120 minutes and that’s about what I expected, What do you expect?

My rating for Suicide Squad is 7/10

BIGFOOT ATE MY BOYFRIEND

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thank you to Writer/Director, Richard Mogg for allowing me early access to an online screener of his new Adventure/Horror/Comedy, “Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend”. This review is based upon a compressed file I viewed and the final product may differ somewhat. Mogg is the creator of “RickMoe Productions”, a company dedicated to DIY (do it yourself), micro-budget film making since 2010. I’ve purchased several films from RickMoe over the past twelve months (most of which still remain in their plastic but will be watched and reviewed at some point). My introduction to Mogg came after I reviewed his most recent film “Massage Parlor Of Death” *see review* https://adamthemoviegod.com/massage-parlor-of-death-review/. I recommend you read said review, as it’s a guide for what’s in store for you with a Richard Mogg production (if you didn’t already know). Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend sees John Saurius (played by Kirk Munaweera of “Massage Parlor Of Death”), an ex-cop (I think?) and self-proclaimed tracker looking for payback, team up with former TV child star, Jimmy Johnson (Kevin Paynter) to hunt the mysterious and violent beast known as “Bigfoot”. The film also stars Lauren Richardson, Meghan Kinsley, Richard Mogg and Lloyd Kaufman.

THE GOOD

It’s clear from the outset that Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend is a throwback to the creature feature/monster b movie’s of the 50’s. Richard adds a personal touch to each of his films by following a specific style of presentation, a look similar to the days of bootleg SOV films (shot on video). Films like Nathan Juran’s, “Attack Of The 50ft Woman” and Jack Arnold’s genre defining, “Creature From The Black Lagoon” helped put the classic “monster movie” on the map. It goes without saying, the genre we know today was initially shaped by the works of prolific science fiction film maker, Roger Corman (Swamp Woman and Attack Of The Crab Monsters). In recent years there’s been several films sincerely attempt to explore the legend of Bigfoot but nothing quite like Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend. I’ve always felt the subject matter was inane but if there is room for it, that room is certainly in the comedy genre. “Attack of the Gorilla” is the only thing I’ve reviewed on the site that even slightly resembles a Bigfoot film and it was below par. What I like most about Richard Mogg is the enthusiasm he has for these crazy little ideas. Above all else, his passion is evident by the personable and candid remarks at the beginning of this film, more or less willing the audience to just have fun with it all.

Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend opens with several trailers, much the same as your old VHS rentals did. The trailers are for Mogg’s other films “Massage Parlor Of Death”, “Easter Bunny Bloodbath” and “Teenage Slumber Party Nightmare”. If you take off the 7 minutes of trailers and the film’s closing credits, it only runs about 60 minutes and for a film like this that’s a perfect length. There’s some nice early establishing shots of the fields (or do I dare say parkland haha) and all the framing is consistent. The shot choices are pretty stock standard but the one thing Mogg does use well (and entertainingly overuse might I add) is the mandatory soap opera zoom. You know the one you see on The Bold and the Beautiful anytime the drama’s about to heat up… One conversation between John and Sheriff Baily (Richardson) alternates with a zoom in and zoom out and it’s hilariously pointless. The audio levels are pretty decent given the shoestring budget (made up of $500 in chump change) and the synth score during the attempted suspense (haha), is very 80’s arcade game and damn cool. The highlight of the music is definitely the opening and closing track of the film, a pop rock piece of music that sounds great. This is a film about Bigfoot so I’ll assume you probably don’t care as much about the technical stuff and just want to know what the hairy bastards like, Right? Well there’s no sugar-coating that it’s clearly a guy in a suit and micro-budget funds don’t even allow for a guy in a “good suit”. It is what it is but I still respect the willingness to go practical with the effects.

The above image is just a promotional still shot from the movie (Doesn’t actually appear in the film itself)

There’s a handful of characters and in turn, Actors and Actresses in Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend that I really enjoyed watching. I thought the best performance actually came from the lovely Meghan Kinsley, playing “Julie”, a sexy and confident actress who lands a gig accompanying Jimmy Johnson (Paynter) as he attempts to hunt Bigfoot. Kinsley seemed like she had to try a little harder than everyone else to get to those cheesy over the top heights… or are they lows? I dunno, which is it? I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not but it happened all the same (haha). Then there’s news reporter, Chet Brockwell (played by Mogg himself) and I use the term “news” pretty loosely. He spends all of his screen time pretending to navigate the grounds searching for Bigfoot while reporting live. Richard plays the stereotypical role with great conviction and it’s a blast to watch, I particularly like his  line “If you’re in the woods, stay at home” (in relation to the danger of Bigfoot haha).  If there’s one reason to watch Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend it’s definitely for former child star actor, Jimmy Johnson, hilariously portrayed by Kevin Paynter. His attire, made up of white “Vanilla Ice” inspired shorts and a ridiculously busy flower covered shirt, give you some sort of idea of the intent for this kung-fu kid. Paynter does his best, albeit far more squinty and exaggerated impersonation of a stiff, Benedict Cumberbatch and its pure gold. He can be seen on several occasions trying his damnedest not to laugh.

During Chet’s news reporting, sketches of the Bigfoot and his footprint are shown to the viewer and they are hilarious. They’ve clearly been drawn poorly for laughs (probably by Mogg himself) and it works. Every time someone (usually Sheriff Baily or Jimmy Johnson) comes across a body they rant about how disfigured it is, or talk about certain body parts being missing and how gruesome it all looks, yet Mogg doesn’t even attempt to hide the fact these actors/actresses are just lying on the ground playing dead (haha). With a budget this minuscule, it should come as no surprise that there’s nothing in the way of blood and gore. I’m sure most of what Mogg does is intentional, including the continuous cycle of our lead trio, wandering through the same stretch of parkland for the entire duration of the film.

The above image is in its raw form and may differ in the finished version of the film.

THE BAD

A majority of the films issues, not only with plot points but technical problems too, could probably fall under both the good and bad headings. It will depend a lot on your ability or even want, to identify with something like this. I’ve already given several examples of continuity related points but another one would be the clear differences between the type of days it was shot on. We have shots of characters walking through the brush on an extremely overcast day, then the very next minute, finding a clearing where suddenly the sun shines on their faces and into the frame. It’s obvious that there was no effort made to keep the shooting days consistent weather wise (I don’t know if it was intentional or not). The wind is another factor wreaking havoc throughout Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend. Once again, there are certain sequences where the air is still but an abrupt scene change sees it start going ballistic. These problems arise in independent film making, so it’s no real surprise but when there’s no dialogue or action it’s basically all you can hear. Some of the foley was pretty bad, especially the gun effects and fight choreography hits. I’ve heard sound replacement isn’t that difficult if you have good editing software, maybe Mogg just doesn’t, or like everything else, it could be bad on purpose. Given what I know about the details of the story, I’ll assume the roaring sound of Bigfoot at the beginning was John Saurius’s psyche getting the best of him, either way it was a weak introduction to start the film. My biggest issue audio wise is the same one I had with “Massage Parlor Of Death”, all the actors/actresses yelling and screaming sounded harsh and constantly peaked out.

There’s a lot of ham-fisted dialogue here and make what you will of its delivery. One example, Baily’s line “Alright shall we go to the crime scene?”, to which Saurius half nods, as Baily reply’s with “Sounds good”. Surely I don’t have to tell you that police don’t talk like that, do I? At this point you’re probably thinking critiquing the lines of dialogue in a campy film called Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend is a bit much, well yeah…. it probably is but cheesy story aside, at least some of the dialogue has to sound remotely believable. Chanelle Fraser’s (I think?), “Brooke” attempts panic and terrified screams in the beginning of the film which were quite bad. She screams “Bigfoot ate my boyfriend”… hence the title of the film. I don’t know, maybe she was doing her best to challenge some of those opening performances by actresses in any number of the SyFy original films, or it may have just been a bad performance, probably best not to assume anything. On the plus side, it’s rare in a movie of this nature (with this budget) that someone writes multiple entertaining and likable characters, unfortunately that also highlights the ones that aren’t entertaining or likable. In this case, Lauren Richardson is that actress playing that character. The Sheriff wasn’t an entertaining character and Richardson’s hollow performance didn’t work. I could be wrong but it didn’t seem like she was having much fun, everybody else’s energy was quite apparent. It’s a small thing but I could have done without seeing the defecation sequence, I think toilet humor has grown tiresome now that I’m getting older.

There’s countless continuity flaws but most of them get a laugh, whether that was the intention or not. Sheriff Baily never actually dials the phone when she makes a call and even the angle the scenes are shot from make it seem as though the phone isn’t even plugged in (which I’m quite sure is the case haha). What’s more is that the same pink phone is used on separate occasions by both Jimmy Johnson and John Saurius. Additionally, Mogg likes to use the same locations because it’s obviously cheaper but that can be a problem if you can have back to back scenes in different places but shoot them in the one place. There’s a scene where John is sitting on his couch, hung over, watching the news (the same pink phone in frame). The very next scene is of Jimmy Johnson in the same place, next to the same phone, watching the same TV but this time the couch position is slightly different (haha). In another scene, Baily’s in her office (Mogg’s kitchen haha), there’s no hiding that this isn’t an office, no attention to detail to make it look like a cop’s office because well… detail usually costs money. You’ll either be able to accept the fact The Sheriff has no uniform just a badge (and a pretty terrible one at that), or you won’t. You’ll be able to take heavily bearded Mogg as a doctor in a hospital (his bedroom, no IV fluid displayed among other things) when moments before he was playing news reporter, Chet Brockman, or you won’t. You wouldn’t think Baily’s character design could be bested, enter Kirk Munaweera (a RickMoe productions regular), playing a slightly more serious character and doing a decent job. Here’s a guy whose donned a brown sports jacket, with a white t-shirt you’d be embarrassed to wear to bed and coordinated those with gym shorts and a pair of runners (haha). I suppose he was a bit of a deadbeat so maybe that is how you present yourself in that situation but it’s ridiculous all the same.

When it comes to writing a fair and informative critique, they don’t come much harder than Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend. It’s such a difficult film to gauge a proper reading on and your opinion of it will be determined by several very different factors. I think Richard Mogg seems like an incredibly nice guy. I’ve got a lot of time for him and plenty of respect for his passion for this very specific style of film. He didn’t actually have a written script for this one, just an outline of what he wanted to do. So he grabbed his crew (basically himself) and his friends and cast members and went out to the woods and made it happen. Some of you will find it that obvious that he didn’t have a script and probably judge the film solely based on that but I urge you not to because there’s still fun to be had. The camera work is pretty good, especially the constant zooming played for laughs and the dialogue audio is nice and clear. I like the synth score and the pop rock title track and I’m always going to respect the practical costume rather than some terrible CG (even though the costume is cheesy as hell). Whether it was Mogg’s intention or not, most of the continuity issues were a lot of fun to laugh at and the characters were extremely entertaining. Meghan gives the film some sex appeal and delivers a pretty straight sort of performance and Mogg plays the news reporter shtick to a t. Kevin Paynter’s portrayal of a washed up child star, hands down wins him the M.V.P. I dug his brief but memorable role in “Massage Parlor Of Death” and once again he’s terrible in the best possible way.

The piercing screams and yelling got the best of me and the changes in weather patterns from scene to scene became a bit distracting, the film needed some better editing. Some of the dialogue was poor and I really didn’t enjoy any of the scenes involving Sheriff Baily and consequently Richardson (her continuity fun aside). The big thing missing for me was some much-needed blood and gore and in fact, just an all around better presentation of the action. In the end Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend is what it is. What it is, is a $500 film and a very different one at that, certainly aimed at a specific audience. I simply can’t recommend this from a great film making standpoint because how could you possibly make a great product on this type of money, it just can’t be done. On the other hand I can’t tell you to steer clear of this, because I think if you’re looking for a lot of laughs and to just have fun for an hour, then it’s well worth your time. It was most entertaining and definitely not a waste of the hour. Mogg is god among the dollar store film makers, so I’m about to do something I’ve never done before and in fact didn’t even do for his previous film (which cost less to make) and that’s give it two different type of ratings. For now, stay tuned for more reviews of other RickMoe Productions in the future.

My rating for “Bigfoot Ate My Boyfriend” is both 2/10 and 6.5/10 (make of it what you will)

HEIR

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to thank Producer, Zach Green for allowing me access to an online screener of the 14 minute, Horror/Drama short “Heir”, the latest from Fatal Pictures and Directed by Richard Powell. If you haven’t heard of Fatal Pictures go ahead and check out my reviews for their previous films, “Worm” and “Familiar” see reviews* https://adamthemoviegod.com/familiar-review/ and https://adamthemoviegod.com/worm-review/. Green and Powell have been doing their thing for the better part of a decade and FP (in my opinion) has become somewhat of a benchmark for how you go about making a successful independent film. After watching their work and prior to making my debut short, I actually took some notes in regard to production value and things I didn’t want to compromise on. All the little things that these guys do really well, I hoped too as well. Anyways.. enough about that and onto this latest project. Heir is about Gordon (played by Fatal Pictures regular, Robert Nolan) and his son Paul (Mateo D’Avino) who embark on an impromptu road trip, where Gordon plans to treat himself in a secret desire that involves Denis (played by Bill Oberst Jr.), a mysterious stranger whom he met online.

THE GOOD

As I stated earlier, Fatal Pictures have made a couple of the best short films that I’ve seen and reviewed since this site’s inception. Both “Worm” and “Familiar” shared parallel worlds in their own unique way and Heir feels much the same (heck, just take a look at the three similar style posters). Worm tackled the serious topic of depression, with its key character’s jealous and narcissistic personality (also played by Nolan) on the brink of completely exploding. There’s actually no on-screen violence in the film but the hate spewed monologues Robert delivers while playing this volatile high school teacher, Mr Dodd, make it an extremely memorable indie film. In “Familiar”, Powell and Green chose to tell the story of paranoid family man, John Dodd (brother of Geoffrey from “Worm”). This second short was a little more fleshed out (pardon the pun) and introduced a clever element of science fiction that I loved. Maybe it’s only because Robert Nolan has worked on three films from Fatal Pictures that it feels like Heir fits the same mold as the aforementioned. Instead, this latest blend of Horror/Drama feels more like the compacted and potentially distant cousin of something like David Cronenberg’s, “The Fly”.

The film opens with a really effective bass orientated score that underlines Gordon’s mysterious agenda. There’s a lot of static sounds and odd noise that essentially plays as the entire score throughout the second half, it all sounds really good. The dialogue audio is crisp and clear too. The combination of gorgeous lighting and really consistent cinematography is what drives the high production value of Heir. These specific technical aspects are always of a high standard in Fatal Pictures work. Michael Jari Davidson was the cinematographer for their previous film, Familiar, as well as Audrey Cummings home invasion gem, “Berkshire County” (which you can also find a review for under “Low Budget Horror”). All of the framing in Heir is perfectly gauged and the shots are extremely sharp. On top of that, some of the dolly work and panning is fantastic, most notably when Paul gets out of the car to alleviate himself, along with the scene of his and Gordon’s entrance to the diner. There’s not a great deal of action but the effects on display are all practical and look pretty good given the limited budget.

Being a huge fan of independent film (collecting and reviewing them for years), you can imagine the anticipation and excitement I had for seeing Bill Oberst Jr. and Robert Nolan, two heavyweights going toe to toe in a Horror film. These two guys are arguably the most well-rounded and best performers on the independent circuit right now. I’ve been a fan of Oberst’s work for a long time and “Worm” was my introduction to Robert Nolan, of whom I’ve since been an admirer of. From their first encounter in the diner, Bill’s “Denis”, carries a sinister front and it draws you in immediately. Most people will get the intended connotation, though clearly all is not as it seems because even Gordon, concealing his palm that’s oozing with inexplicable puss, knows something seems off. The juxtaposition of Bill’s line delivery and energy, with Robert’s reserved and controlled manner, makes for an engaging conflict. Nolan has become so adept at playing these multi faceted and dark characters that I know I’m getting a great film before I even sit down. Bill and Robert are most definitely a powerhouse duo in a genre made for them.

THE BAD

The details in the climax of the film aren’t entirely clear but that’s okay, they don’t need to be. If I have an issue, it’s with the sequencing of the final scenes and the way they alternate from inside the house, to outside it. My preference would have been to see the events inside play out in their entirety and close on those external shots.

I’m so glad Fatal Pictures are providing us with great short films and Heir definitely continues that trend. Yet again, this is another intriguing little story and I was pleased to see them bring Bill on board, as well as continuing their working relationship with Robert Nolan, man he’s good. Hopefully this is just the first of many more collaborations to come between Oberst and Nolan. The score is unnerving, the lighting beautifully presented and Davidson’s camera work (with Powell’s direction) clearly showcases the quality of product you get from these guys. The effects were a nice addition but it’s really those two leading performances that keep you hooked. There’s that one plot point that could have been a bit clearer and I had a differing opinion on how I wanted to see the end presented. Heir isn’t quite as good as Familiar (honestly I don’t think much is) but it’s right up there with 2010’s, Worm. I suggest that if you haven’t seen a Fatal Pictures film you get your hands on a copy of one as soon as possible, you won’t regret it!

My rating for “Heir” is 8.5/10

RED CHRISTMAS

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thank you to Writer/Director, Craig Anderson for allowing me early access to an online screener of his first feature-length Horror/Thriller, “Red Christmas”. Red Christmas is an Australian film about a somewhat dysfunctional family coming together for Christmas on the families rural property. Diane (Dee Wallace of “E.T”) is the mother and proverbial glue that holds them all together. She manages the property with her brother Joe (played by Geoff Morrell of “Rogue”) and spends most of her time caring for Jerry (Gerard Odwyer), her son with down syndrome. As the other siblings and their partners arrive, so too does a cloaked stranger who threatens to reveal secrets from Diane’s past that have been kept hidden from her children. The film also stars David Collins (half of “The Umbilical Brothers” comedy duo), Sarah Bishop, Janis McGavin, Bjorn Stewart, Deelia Meriel and Sam Campbell.

THE GOOD

I hadn’t seen or heard much about Red Christmas, other than a short teaser trailer for it on popular horror website, DreadCentral. The trailer didn’t give a lot away (other than perhaps highlighting a particular death) and the poster wasn’t something that really jumped out at me but I discovered that it was an Australian film and I’ve been hoping to review a few more of those on my site. Anderson’s script is an intriguing one to say the least. For most of its duration, I didn’t really know how to take Red Christmas. It presents as a home invasion style horror flick but there’s a specific undertone in the narrative. Central themes such as abortion, disability and depression are covered, as well as the ramifications of the decision-making on the termination of birth. With Anderson’s film, the consequences from a choice made by a key character are showcased in a completely far-fetched, albeit entertaining way but hey, this is movie making people (haha). The audio track in this one is consistent and Anderson keeps the drama primarily internal, using just the one location. The shot choices in the opening act were great. Lots of simple camera movements, plenty of diversity in the placement and all the framing is evenly displayed. During the film’s opening there’s some effective slow motion used, something I’m not normally a fan of but in this case, given the revelation, it works. I liked some of the score, most notably during the rising intensity with some of the action related content. The themes are fairly generic but balance the style of storytelling well enough. I don’t know if it was the intention to light the film with a Christmas themed arrangement, whether directly or indirectly, that is the end result. It gives the film a high production value feel but it definitely takes something away from the suspense. As soon as night comes, everything is so colorfully lit that it makes it difficult to engage in the stalking aspect of the story. There was definitely room for use of shadows and darkness but it wasn’t fully capitalized on.

In regard to the characters and performances by the cast, everyone does well to hold their own. It has to be a little daunting when you see your name billed next to someone like Dee Wallace. Here’s a woman who started acting in the 70’s, whose accumulated a long list of credits that include “The Hills Have Eyes”,”The Howling”,”Cujo”,”The Frighteners” and of course the infamous, “E.T”. She’s had a very successful career in the Horror genre and all of her fellow cast are Australians with little to no experience working in the genre, so I give them credit for their consistency here. Wallace gives the best performance, keeping her natural Kansas accent and playing the motherly manner to a t. My personal favourite addition to the cast was Gerard Odwyer. What a fantastic thing to see, a young man with what must be an incredibly difficult affliction, showing us all what you can do if you put your mind to it. His role as Jerry requires a certain amount of drama, humor and honesty and he delivers all three very well. Kudos to Craig on casting him! It was great seeing Morrell again, the last film I saw him in was “Coffin Rock” (a really solid South Australian film). In Red Christmas he plays Diane’s American brother, Joe. His screen time is limited but he supplies us with a few laughs. Collins and Bishop play Peter and Suzy, a deeply religious couple, Suzy being one of Diane’s daughters. Suzy’s constantly butting heads with her condescending sibling, Ginny (Janis McGavin). Ginny and partner Scott (Stewart) are expecting, which is something Suzy resents because she’s never been able to get pregnant. The combination of different couples make for some entertaining scenes, especially Peter’s shameful but funny behavior. Rounding out the group is adopted (I think?) sister, Hope (Meriel), the young free spirit of the family.

I think the most memorable aspect of the film is the makeup and practical effects. The film only runs 80 minutes and there’s not a great deal of action in that time but what we do get in the way of special fx is impressive. The first notch to the body count doesn’t come until the end of the first act and I’ll admit, I was disappointed to see it occur off-screen (or not see it… if that makes sense haha). The saving grace being that Anderson makes up for the cutaway by making the aftermath of the kill look fantastic. I won’t spoil anything for those of you who end up watching this one, just know that the attention to detail in the first sequence is great. In fact, the same can be said about the second piece of action. A style of death similar to that of one in the “Wrong Turn” horror franchise (personal favourite). If you’ve seen the trailer for Red Christmas, or looked at the screenshots (including the one in this review) then you’ll know what the “Bear trap” sequence is all about. It’s a very impressive trap, my only criticism was that it was all too briefly on-screen. The build up to the kill and of course the impact itself could have been a lot better, after all, you’ve got great effects so why not showcase them. I’ll also make special mention in reference to the makeup job on Cletus, it looked great. (He can be seen in the image below)

THE BAD

Unfortunately Red Christmas doesn’t quite maintain its high production value as things progresses into the second act. There’s a handful of frames that are slightly out of focus during a scene where Diane gathers everyone and takes them upstairs to hide from Cletus. In the same sequence, the handheld camera work starts to get a little shaky but given the situation is fairly intense, I suppose it can be understood from a dramatic point of view. The same thing occurs later during the group’s discovery of a particular characters body. The method used is a combination of frenetic camera work, mixed with slowed frame rates and I’ve just never been a fan of it. It’s a creative license thing though, some viewers will like it and others won’t. It’s disappointing that those techniques were used too often in the second half of the film and let it down. Most of the dialogue feels natural enough but there’s an overuse of the F bomb from a stereotypical, Aussie farmer (I sort of get the point). There’s also some stilted lines delivered by Scott and some dullness through Suzy’s dialogue, though to be fair I think that’s more keeping in theme with her character. The one thing stylistically missing from Red Christmas is that essential Christmas soundtrack. Although, this isn’t huge on suspense so you can’t make those themes sound creepy but at the same time, you can’t have them be happy either. It’s just one of those things that I feel go hand in hand, if you’re doing a holiday themed film you’ve got to have those tunes accompanying it.

Not all families are alike, in fact often they’re not at all, as is the case here. Saying that, I’m not sure where Hope fit into the equation (or if it was mentioned, I don’t recall), I assume she was adopted, taking into consideration Diane’s age, current position in life and past experience with child-birth. My other questions are surrounding Diane’s not so sudden reaction to Cletus’s arrival. At first glance, this is a guy covered from head to toe in a dark cloak and a bandaged face, you know nothing about him yet you offer him refuge. I guess it’s in the Christmas spirit but you’d think you might ask some questions first before letting him in but nope. Once inside, he insists on reading a loud to the whole family, a letter he wrote to his mother and it’s not until that point that things start getting interesting. Diane believes it’s someone (a teenager, I think she mentions) playing a cruel joke on her, so she freaks out and kicks the mysterious man out of her house. It’s entirely understandable that she may be trying to conceal the secrets of her past from the family, by coming up with what she deems to be an acceptable alternative. The problem is that none of her kids put the question to her, What was that all about? Who was he? What was with the letter? all valid and reasonable questions that never get asked, that’s a little difficult to believe. I’d describe Red Christmas as a slow burn type of Horror film and a rather predictable one at that. With that being said, a lot of what I review here at Adamthemoviegod is Horror related, so chances are I’ve probably seen a lot more of these films than your average movie-goer.

Craig Anderson’s, Red Christmas is a little different to the usual run of the mill home invasion flick. The introduction of a couple of dramatic themes you don’t often see in horror, act as his original spin on the sub-genre. The audio track is clear, sections of the score are active and most of the shot choices and framing are serviceable. The lighting seems inspired by European cinema but it does feel out-of-place in certain scenes, though it’s all nicely presented. The performances are all solid and I particularly enjoyed watching Wallace in something new, as well as being introduced to the good-natured, Odwyer. The practical effects and makeup are as good as anything in the genre, I just really craved more of it because there’s not quite enough action there to satisfy me. There’s some patchy dialogue and I can’t rate the camera work in the second half of the film in comparison with how it started. The inclusion of a Christmas themed score would have been nice too. Some of Diane’s inconsistent reactions in regard to Cletus were confusing and no one seemed to ever ask the right questions about what was going on and why it was going on. I don’t think the opening sequence does the film any favors either, as it predictability sets events in motion and foreshadows what’s to come. With that in mind, it might prevent some people from wanting to revisit this one. For a first full length feature, Anderson has delivered a reasonably entertaining genre film that’s worth a watch. Keep an eye out for this one soon!

My rating for “Red Christmas” is 5/10

BLACK CHRISTMAS

THE SETUP

This is a review for the 1974 Horror/Slasher film “Black Christmas”, Written by Roy Moore, Directed by Bob Clark. Black Christmas is about a group of sorority sisters, led by Jess (Olivia Hussey), who amidst preparing for the holiday festivities, begin receiving threatening phone calls from a mysterious stalker. The other sorority sisters are Margot Kidder, playing “Barb”, Andrea Martin as “Phyl”, Lynne Griffin as “Clare” and Marian Waldman plays “Mrs Mac”, the director. The film also stars Keir Dullea, John Saxon (A Nightmare On Elm St.) and Art Hindle (The Brood). These days it’s all too rare I end up seeing an original film before its inevitable remake, however, Black Christmas was an exception to the rule. I’ve had both the 1974 film, as well as Glen Morgan’s 2006 remake, for a while now, so I thought I’d do things the right way and watch Clark’s original film first and boy am I glad I did. This isn’t a review for the 2006 film but what I will say is everything that was right about this film was completely wrong with its remake. Keep in mind, anyone that knows me knows I’m pro remake so it’s got nothing to do with just being a modern adaption. Picture seeing a local band cover songs from your favourite artists but they leave out the hooks that made the song so great in the first place. That would be Black Christmas (2006) any who…. on with the review shall we?

THE GOOD

Black Christmas is one of those low-budget (relatively speaking), genre specific films that no one would have seen making an impact long-term, especially not back in 74′. It was a time when people had no idea where the genre would end up. This is a film that was way ahead of its time, in both technical presentation and its bold approach to the stalker plight. Before the early 70’s the only thing you had in the way of horror, or more precisely “slashers”, were your murder mystery films known as “Giallo’s”. The term was coined for European pictures that centered around a who dunnit narrative. Filmmakers like Mario Bava (Blood and Black Lace), Dario Argento (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage) and Lucio Fulci (The Black Cat) shaped the genre and dedicated their body of work to the specific style. All through the 50’s and 60’s it was really only Hitchcock primarily associated with horror. It wasn’t until John Carpenter’s 1978 film, “Halloween” that audiences were truly introduced to the world of a “slasher”, or so they thought. Black Christmas, along with Tobe Hooper’s, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, were both released in the same year but it’s only now people realize the impact they had on shaping modern horror. This would have to be the earliest Christmas themed horror film (as far as I recall) and what a great premise it was.

The opening sequence of Clark’s film is one of the best in the genre (compare it to say, Scream). The opening frames are a lingering wide shot of a sorority house lit up like the fourth of July. Following that, two scenes inter cut between a group of girls inside the house and someone beginning to approach the front windows and peer in, eventually settling on the side of the house as they scale the barrier to gain entry. Clark’s film might very well be the first to have utilized the POV (point of view) technique. It’s a fantastic method that most people thought was first established in Carpenter’s, Halloween which was clearly not the case. Unfortunately it’s seen as a bit of a gimmick these days but make no mistake about it, Carpenter’s opening scene with Michael Myers was heavily influenced (whether intended or not) by Black Christmas. You’re constantly wondering where the killer is, much like you do with Myers in Halloween, Is he in the house? Has he left already? A lot of the shot choices plod in order to build the tension, which the film does nicely. The aerial shots, up and down through the hatch to the attic, are among some of the best shots in the film. The most iconic scene being one eye peaking through the gap of a door, really creepy stuff. The audio levels are nice and clear and the mix of rumbling bass and clattery sound effects, drive the suspense during all the stalking sequences.

The leading performances from actresses Olivia Hussey and Andrea Martin were really good. If you go back and watch a lot of these older films, particularly ones from the 70’s and 80’s, the standard of acting is quite inconsistent, that’s not the case in Clark’s film. John Saxon and Marian Waldman don’t feature quite as heavily but their time on-screen is still important, although Saxon more so. Mrs Mac was a bit of a dag, like an Aunt you might have that occasionally gets inappropriate at a family dinner. She was an entertaining character and Marian played her well. As for John Saxon, this was a decade before his role in Wes Craven’s, “A Nightmare On Elm St.” but he’s very well suited to play a police officer. His dialogue was well delivered and the scene in the station with Sargent Nash (played by Doug McGrath) was quite funny. The two are discussing the address and zip code notes Nash has taken down for the sorority house. Although the comedy is a little odd in its timing, you still need it to give the audience a release. The body count isn’t huge but there’s the inclusion of an early kill and a tension filled final showdown between the intruder and Jess. There’s enough here for fans to enjoy and I thought the second action sequence was definitely the highlight, particularly in the way it was cut and edited together.

THE BAD

Although most of technical facets in Black Christmas are good, there’s a couple of scenes with focus issues from the lens. Parts of the stalker’s dialogue while he’s on the phone were a bit crass, I understand that’s kind of the point but we don’t really need countless C bombs to convey his seedy and fanatic state of mind. His sexual comments and the tone of his voice got the point across sufficiently. Characters are guilty of some unnecessary rhetorical dialogue throughout the film as well. Obviously it was in the script but when they’re constantly making sure the audience knows what they’re thinking at all times, it gets a little tedious. Some of the secondary actors/actresses performances were sub-par. Margot Kidder has an exaggerated drunken rambling that felt a bit forced, Art Hindle seemed disinterested and James Edmond’s character “Mr Harrison”, served no purpose being in the film. His presence didn’t add anything crucial to the story and he wasn’t there to be part of the body count either. Keir Dullea as “Peter”, fell in and out of character throughout the film and tried his best to make himself look guilty, so that wasn’t a great piece of writing. I also found it hard to believe the intruder could throw their voice so successfully and make it sound like multiple personalities. In regard to the persistent phone calls and looming threat to the sorority sisters, the police seemed quite blase’ about the whole thing, the girls too. They never scout the premises thoroughly, they fail to check the attic, the basement and even the bedrooms (which I find a bit of a stretch). A big risk for the stalker to take given the evidence was basically in plain sight.

I thought some good ole’ fashioned holiday music might have fit nicely into the film but Clark never followed through. Having now seen several Christmas themed films in the genre, I think it’s fairly textbook but something I like to hear all the same. The execution of the kills, and or action sequences are pretty good but I would’ve liked to have seen a higher body count and more in the way of blood and gore. I suppose that’s often a gripe I have with modern horror movies as well, so I can’t be harsh specifically on Black Christmas but the payoff from the suspense isn’t quite there. I thought the identity of the mysterious stalker was pretty obvious, I picked it shortly into the second act which kind of spoilt things a bit. With that being said, there’s a couple of somewhat pointless red herrings that take away from the impact of the ending. Clark leaves plenty of things to the imagination and ambiguity plays its part to a degree, especially in the last revelation. All the evidence from what you see leads to one conclusion and one conclusion only, yet it’s not really what you end up with which was disappointing. I enjoyed and respected the original part of the ending, even with it being very predictable. The second twist definitely feels tacked on, as if these guys were hoping to tell another part of the story in a sequel when it works perfectly as just one film.

Black Christmas feels like that forgotten slasher of the 70’s. It flew under the radar, given everything that came around that time or after was either made on a bigger budget or more commercially successful. Clark’s film has to be one of the first of its kind, especially with the holiday themed setting. It’s clear that some of the technical aspects in relation to building suspense, where way ahead of their time. The POV (point of view) camera work and tight unique shot choices make this a very effective slasher film. The audio is clear and the jangled sound effects  help maintain the tension during the action sequences. The performances by Hussey and Saxon are among the film’s strongest and the pacing is good too. Even though the kills aren’t graphic, they’re cut and edited nicely and this will probably go down as one of the earliest horror films to pull off such an iconic and original death (you only need look at the poster to see how it happens). I was hoping for a few more Christmas nods and better specifics in the dialogue. The police needed to take the situation seriously and follow protocol in order to be fully believed. The secondary performances are rather uneven and I felt the original revelation at the end was better than what the film ends up closing on. If you’re looking for a well made, old school slasher that beats the remake, Black Christmas is well worth a watch.

My rating for “Black Christmas” is 6.5/10

STRESSED TO KILL

THE SETUP

This is a review for the new Crime/Drama/Comedy film “Stressed To Kill”, Co- Written by Tom Parnell and Mark Savage, who also directs. Stressed To Kill follows Bill Lawrence (played by Bill Oberst Jr. of Circus Of The Dead), a fire safety contractor living a fairly mundane existence, who after suffering a heart attack, takes desperate measures in an attempt to reduce his blood pressure. The film also stars Armand Assante (of American Gangster and Judge Dredd), Marshal Hilton (The Bunnyman Massacre) *see review* https://adamthemoviegod.com/the-bunnyman-massacre-review/, Sonia Curtis, Paul Fanning, Derek Roberts, Lance Tafelski and Tom Parnell. This is my first time watching a  Mark Savage film and after doing a little Imdb..being (ya know what I mean) I discovered that he is a fellow Aussie (who I assume is living and working in the US now), small world. He’s been involved in the industry for 30 years, so it’s great to hear of another Australian filmmaker having made the journey to “Hollywood” (so to speak).

THE GOOD

I’ve always endorsed the notion of writers wanting to explore the depths of the human psyche. When it comes to behavior and our interactions with people and the world around us, each of us work in slightly different ways. Delving into the darker side of our sub-conscious is a risky undertaking, although I suppose there’s no safer medium for it than in a fictionalized environment such as film. This is exactly what’s going on with Parnell and Savage’s, Stressed To Kill. It’s a dark and often comedic (depending on your taste) exploration of a neglected and self-sufficient man, who has little joy in his life aside from the occasional afternoon matinée (which he can’t even enjoy in peace). Stressed To Kill’s script is a far-fetched one to say the least but what it does manage to do, albeit in flashes, is tap into a certain level of frustration with life. It’s something that we can all relate to especially when you have one of those days (you know the ones I’m talking about… yeah lady you go ahead with your shopping cart full of stuff and I’ll just wait here with my Iced Coffee and Doritos, it’s totally fine). Joel Schumacher’s 1993 film, “Falling Down” starring Michael Douglas, is probably the most successful example of this particular type of narrative. In recent years films like “God Bless America” and “Buddy Hutchins” have attempted to do the same sort of thing, Stressed To Kill could be seen as on a par with those latter two.

Stressed To Kill is competently shot with most of the framing consistent, relying on close personal camera work to drive the drama. The audio track is crisp and clear and given this is an independent film with a lot of external scenes, that’s a feat in of itself. The color grading seems to have been left quite natural and it suits the setting, as does all the lighting. The score is primarily made up of Piano, something I didn’t think was going to work for the tone but surprisingly it keeps in theme with the distant lifestyle Bill leads. There’s also some effective violin to help up the intensity levels when Mr Lawrence decides it’s time to manage some stress. From the get go, the film jumps right into the deep end, showcasing Bill’s lack of patience and ever-growing disdain for those he crosses paths with during his day-to-day routine. The sad thing is that the circumstances he’s put in are totally relatable. Most of us have been put in similar situations at one point or another in our lives, the difference is, we don’t overreact because we know that’s just life (well most of us know…). Bill gets stuck in traffic due to incompetent road users, he ends up behind two women who have a thousand and one questions about a movie they may or may not be seeing, in turn making him miss the start of the movie.. and so it goes. Once inside the theater he can’t even enjoy the film because people are talking or constantly on their phones, something I know we can all agree happens way too often. There’s nothing quite like having an extremely suspenseful horror film ruined by pre-pubescent immaturity, manifesting itself in the form of nervous laughter, throwing of refreshments down the aisle and just all around buffoonery.

It’s not as though it’s just Bill’s leisure time being disrupted, even at work he’s dealing with the demanding schedule of his boss Mr Lee (Alvin Aki), as well as unnecessarily loud people talking on the phone, rude and selfish drivers and then there’s the tranquility of home. Bill’s stale relationship with wife Vera (played by Curtis) is at the point of no return, especially when he finds out what she’s been up to in her personal training job. Their daughter Ashley (Mary Krantz) comes home and ends up in the middle of it all, after having been fed half truth’s about Bill’s current condition. It’s an endless cycle of despondency that’s pretty much run its course and Bill’s only respite comes in the form of his long time friend, Stan (played by Hilton). Stan’s not exactly kicking goals, he’s been married and divorced several times and taken for a ride on a few other occasions. He’s still in the process of trying to keep his latest girl satisfied, despite Bill’s willingness to take care of the situation with his own brand of justice. Their friendship is a dysfunctional one but an important one regardless. Setting aside Oberst and Assante for a minute, performance wise the film is mostly solid. Curtis, as Bill’s wife, does a pretty good job of playing the shrew, Derek Roberts as a fellow police officer is believable and Mary Krantz is natural in what can only be described as a backseat role. Parnell plays Bill’s doctor, appearing in a couple of solid scenes and Lance Tafelski brings his A game, in what was a really brief but wonderful display of emotion through his character’s desperation. Actors/Actresses with minor parts in film could definitely take a page out of Tafelski’s book and what it means to give everything no matter how small the part. This is reminiscent of someone like James Duval, congrats my friend.

Bill Oberst and Armand Assante are clearly the two veterans on the scene here and both do a great job in their respective roles. Assante plays Paul Jordan, a somewhat eccentric cop on the tail of Bill, who he believes to be responsible for a recent string of murders. I’ve enjoyed Armand’s performances ever since “Tough Luck”, a film he did with Norman Reedus over 10 years ago. As for Oberst, he continues to prove what a talent he is in the industry. The quirks associated to the character are perfect for Bill’s look and feel. The evil smirk, the child like glee he displays when some happy accident occurs to one of those stress enhancers, it’s all very entertaining. Oberst just seems to love the process, it’s apparent in everything he does big or small and that’s why it’s so clear to me that he’s often the best part about his films, as is the case again here. You could question whether the mix of Black Comedy and Drama would suit him and no one would blame you, given he’s become somewhat of a Horror maestro in recent years. That being said, make no mistake about it, Bill’s bows got more strings than Robin Hoods. My favourite scenes involve Bill dressing up as an elderly lady in order to sneak into a women’s bathroom (knowing Bill I’m sure it’s something he got a kick out of and perhaps even his mother, if he could get her to watch this one haha) as well as him using the term “dickhead”, a common insult used in Australia but something you seldom hear in American films, so that was a nice touch.

THE BAD

Even with some of the nice piano ballads and violin to accentuate the random behavior displayed by Bill, there’s pieces of music that don’t quite fit. Most notably a dance track during a scene where Paul tries his best to convey naivety in regards to the situation with Bill. There’s a few other sequences that have odd music choices as well but that’s just down to your personal preferences I suppose. Script wise the dialogue isn’t always strong, though to be fair I don’t think the intent was necessarily a social commentary on human behavior. Using this platform to vent over the frustration in day-to-day life, yes, but I don’t believe there’s anything deeper here. Continuity wise the film is pretty good. Bill does replace a fire extinguisher in the same location of a hotel he visits earlier on. I’m not sure you’d be required to check on one for another 6 or 12 months (which the timeline of the film clearly doesn’t stretch across). It’s a very small thing but the daughter’s use of “Daddy” really annoyed me. Stressed To Kill isn’t the only movie I’ve seen where a grown female has referred to her father as “Daddy”, maybe it’s just an American thing or something because girls just don’t do that here, they’re adults. Savage and his sound department missed an opportunity to tinker and really highlight Bill’s level of stress. I think fade in’s and fade out’s in relation to people’s laughter, or chewing, or any number of those things they do that annoy us, could have worked well. The film may have also benefited from some close-ups and quick cuts to emphasize those irritating quirks from secondary characters.

I don’t like to single people out, especially if I’m doing so with a negative critique of something they’ve probably put a lot of work into but Marshal Hilton’s, “Stan”, was a difficult character to take. Now it’s not just because Hilton’s chipper performance comes out of left field because I get it, this character is irresponsible, unpredictable and in a way, a big kid who never grew up. Hilton’s tone sounds like that of the great Clint Eastwood, very distinctive but the line delivery is more like that of Robert Carradine’s. If you don’t know Robert he’s the one Carradine brother that’s always trying a little too hard. I’ve seen a couple of other films that Marshal’s been in and he’s been a lot better, so I’m going to notch it up to a melodramatic interpretation of what was on the page. Stressed To Kill has a certain amount of repetition about it, something that’s difficult to avoid when your anti-hero only has one or two means of killing. Bill wants to do the deed quick and painlessly (for the most part) so aside from one sequence displaying some practical effects, it’s all pretty tame stuff. Assante’s character arc is rather predictable as well. The key maneuver in his case against Bill can be seen coming a mile off. There’s a few scenes that don’t amount too much and the one character you hope see’s some swift justice, never really does (well kind of but I wouldn’t call it swift). So with that in mind, the run time could have been cut down by 15 minutes and the film wouldn’t have lost anything.

If I’m honest, “Stressed To Kill” only really caught my eye because of its promise of Oberst and Assante teaming up (so to speak). I hadn’t seen the trailer, I didn’t know much about it but I do my best to support all of Bill’s work because I know how much effort he puts into his craft. Parnell and Savage’s script is fun and somewhat relatable. They manage to avoid that kind of mean-spirited despair associated with lots of psychological films, in turn keeping this somewhat lighthearted. The production value is solid and all the technical aspects well conceived. I enjoyed a majority of the piano/violin score and there’s several funny and typical situations Bill finds himself in that audiences will get a kick out of. It will come as no surprise that the two strongest performances are from Bill and Armand. Assante isn’t give a lot to work with but he makes a particularly explosive scene with Oberst, his own. As for Bill, he’s as consistent as ever and notches up yet another credit to his ever-growing list on IMDB. I was a little disappointed that his character never went completely off the deep end, emotionally speaking. Those kind of outbursts are Bill’s bread and butter so why not showcase that? There were missed opportunities to do a bit more with sound design and a couple of minor plot point issues but that’s usually par for the course. The two aspects that may prevent viewers from revisiting Stressed To Kill are the predictable turns and the far-fetched nature of Bill’s friend “Stan”, combined with the depiction by Hilton. If you’re a fan of Bill Oberst you’re likely to have a bit of fun with this one, it’s currently playing on Amazon, ITunes and other various digital platforms. Check out the trailer below.

My review for “Stressed To Kill” is 5/10

INTRUDER

THE SETUP

“Intruder”, not to be confused with the 89′ slasher film of the same name, is the latest in a wave of Horror/Thriller home invasion films. In recent times we’ve had the aptly named “Home Invasion”, “Static”, “Mischief Night”, as well as the impressive “Home Sweet Home” and Mike Flannigan’s fantastic entry, “Hush”. Intruder was Written and Directed by Travis Zariwny (Cabin Fever and Scavengers) see the review for Cabin Fever at https://adamthemoviegod.com/cabin-fever-review/. Intruder is set during the night of one of Oregon’s heaviest storms. Elizabeth (played by Cabin Fever’s, Louise Linton), a young withdrawn cellist, is settling in for the night and hoping for a relatively uneventful evening. Little does she know the safety of her apartment has been jeopardized by a hooded intruder. The film also stars John Robinson, Moby, Zach Myers and Teresa Decher. Having just come off the aforementioned Hush, a film that left a long-lasting impression on audiences, I was equally as excited to see Travis’s latest film which I’ve followed for over 12 months now.

THE GOOD

Zariwny’s screenplay is pretty solid and suspenseful in most of the right places, albeit treading over familiar territory. It should come as no surprise though when you look at everything that’s been done in the home invasion sub-genre through the years, originality isn’t exactly the selling point. That being said, if you’re a huge fan of the genre (much like this reviewer) you won’t have trouble getting on board Intruder. I enjoyed the fact that the story took place during a storm, it was a nice touch with the sounds of the storm aiding to the soundtrack in a natural way. I for one hate Winter, all you want to do is get home from work, get into the warm and cozy up with a good book or movie and a cup of Joe, exactly like Elizabeth does. Problem being, she’s not alone. We know it, she doesn’t. Imagine if you were in those shoes…. creepy stuff. The audio track is nice and clear and Travis sets the tone early with some really resourceful shot choices, continuing to play with depth of field inside Elizabeth’s apartment. The viewer is the voyeur, we can almost always see the actions and movements of the invader but the point of it all remains a mystery. The shower sequences are among the best and the mysterious stranger’s gall to lurk inside Elizabeth’s bedroom while she’s in it too. I thought their approach to lighting the opening sequence worked well. You’ve got heavy rain, flickering lights and reflections in wall coverings. Made even more atmospheric by clever placement of white light and dark shadows. As the story moves to the apartment, a lot of the rooms are lit with a yellow tinge which changes the look completely, really cool stuff. The music is probably the key component that drives the tension in the film. Early on there’s a fair share of sharp sound effects to go hand in hand with the mostly classical score, the opening piece of music is a wonderful bass and violin track.

From there, we’re introduced to Elizabeth who we see practicing her instrument in a dark and vacant theater. The plot point of her being involved with the philharmonic was a good one. It’s the most important aspect of her character arc and you can see why the soundtrack is so heavy on orchestral themes. I’m not really interested in the style of music but it fits the film perfectly, reminding me of a Hitchcock or Polanski film, even something from Brian De Palma. Linton recently played the iconic character “Deputy Winston” in Travis’s remake of Eli Roth’s “Cabin Fever”. I was actually looking forward to seeing her again, she did her best in CF but it’s hard to imagine anybody else other than Giuseppe Andrews playing that character. She delivers a fairly even performance as this gifted musician but doesn’t really ever have to push herself to any great lengths. Myers is serviceable as “Justin” but the character doesn’t project a lot (maybe written that way) and Robinson’s, “John” is quite layered, although not all those layers get peeled back. Moby plays a slimy and volatile music teacher, he’s underused but delivers an unsettling performance in his few scenes. This one is definitely a slow burn and while it’s not heavy on the action, it still presents you with some interesting plot points along the way. Aside from the introduction, a memorable opening that sees a young woman (played by Decher) being stalked while she’s home alone, there’s little in the way of conflict until well over half way in. The moves our hooded assailant makes are always subtle and much more realistic than what you’re used to seeing in these types of films. Ornaments are moved, food and drink partially spoiled, all little things one wouldn’t notice unless suspicious, things he or she clearly gets a thrill out of doing.

THE BAD

In regards to the camera work, there’s a few frames that appear slightly out of focus and some of the framing during character interactions was closer than it probably needed to be. While most of the lighting looks great, the scenes in Elizabeth’s bedroom when she’s sleeping lose something and could have been darker to gauge better suspense. I don’t know anyone who can sleep with that much light, making it that bit harder to believe a stranger could be sitting at the end of your bed without you becoming aware of a presence. The overall volume of the music is quite loud too. It just needed to be softened and a little more subtle in the mix, especially considering every time something remotely suspenseful happens, there’s musical cues. Normally that’s not something I take issue with but when you correlate every stage of progression with sharp sound prompts, it loses its impact. As I stated earlier, Louise gives a decent performance as our principal character but there’s definitely a few moments of inconsistency. I don’t know if I put that down to an uneven accent, or just stiff line delivery but I noticed she went from sounding English, to Australian, to American. I apologize if that’s just a natural thing but I found it a little distracting.

The problem I had while watching Intruder was that it reminded me of one of my favourite home invasion films, “388 Arletta Avenue”. Not really in terms of presentation (given that the latter was presented as hidden camera footage) but more about where I feel the bar is set for these types of films. Intruders feels like it plods along in patches and loses some momentum. It starts out strong but tapers off during the middle act and I think for that reason impatient viewers might get bored. I’m certainly not impatient and I do like a good slow burn approach, however, if I take into account the final revelation and the way it plays out, I can’t help thinking it could have escalated quicker. Unfortunately that major reveal you’re hanging out for is pretty stock standard and you can see it coming half way in. There’s no real confrontation or showdown to speak of, instead, Zariwny opts to let the cat out of the bag point blankly. It was disappointing that the final unveiling wasn’t even really an unveiling, because by that time the audience has already seen who the intruder is. Given the story’s slow development, the ending needed to pack a bigger punch than it does.

Intruder makes for an intriguing premise that unfortunately doesn’t quite live up to its full potential. Travis’s screenplay is decent and a majority of the technical aspects are well conceived. There’s some good personal camera work on display, consistent audio, atmospheric lighting and a good mix of classical music combined with suspenseful themes. Both Robinson and Linton share the load, with Moby doing good work on limited material. The opening scene was extremely effective and help set the tone for the main story. The intruder’s psychological game with Elizabeth plays out quite realistically. Using subtle moves, Travis flirts with our voyeuristic tendencies as we watch the intruder make themselves perfectly at home. Some of the particular shots and bedroom lighting missed the mark and the music track was a little overbearing. The main thing working against Intruder is that it’s slow and fairly predictable, plus the underwhelming ending leaves things feeling flat. I like these types of films a lot but those of you looking for a big payoff will probably be sorely disappointed. With that said, it’s still a cool indie flick that’s worth a look late on a Saturday night.

My rating for “Intruder” is 6/10

THE LAUGHING MASK

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks to my good friend Michael Aguiar, Writer and Director of the Horror/Crime/Thriller, “The Laughing Mask” for allowing me access to an online screener. The Laughing Mask is about Jake Johnson (played by John Hardy), a man looking for revenge after losing his wife and daughter at the hands of the deranged Laughing Mask killer. As the murders continue, Officer Katherine O’Malley (Sheyenne Rivers) looks for clues about the killer’s potential connection to a gang known as “The Rancors” and a club called “The Barn”. The film also stars Gabriel Lee, Fran Rafferty, Terence Van Auken, Inge Uys and Jeff Jenkins as “The Laughing Mask Killer”.

THE GOOD

It was a couple of years ago that I originally saw a brief teaser trailer for The Laughing Mask. In it, a woman was being slowly tortured by a methodical killer wearing a creepy mask with a wide smile etched into it. I kept tabs on the film for the better part of 18 months before finally seeing an early screener late last year. At its core, The Laughing Mask is a crime/murder mystery film that happens to be masquerading as a slasher. Other than an impressive and potentially iconic villain, there’s no core element linking it to your conventional slasher flick. Aguiar has ticked the first box of Horror 101, fashioning an interesting and unique looking “big bad”. The outfit is great, the killer dresses like he works on Wall Street or as a Maitre D. The vests, the jacket and the varying colors of tie look great and offset the films dark color palette nicely. The mask (which can be seen above) looks fantastic and let’s face it, anytime you can’t see facial expressions it’s unnerving. In the opening of the film there’s a number of really smart and diverse shot choices and almost all the framing is perfect. Bill Schweikert, the DP (director of photography), is a guy with plenty of credits to his name, having worked on such films as “Chainsaw Cheerleaders” and “The Hospital 2”, as well as shorts like “Maniac” and “Straight”. A lot of the close up shots are used to great effect, usually focusing on the killer’s array of weapons or finer details of his lair. Given this is a low-budget independent film, I was surprised with the inclusion of a helicopter shot, in addition to a smooth aerial shot from the ceiling of a hospital.

The audio levels in the original cut I watched back in August (I think it was) were very inconsistent and a lot of it unusable without large amounts of ADR (additional dialogue recording). Due to budget limitations, things like perfecting audio are incredibly difficult but like any good filmmaker, Aguiar went back to the drawing board and meticulously addressed each issue and it paid dividends. The audio is rich and full and most importantly consistent with each location change throughout the film. The lighting quality is another technical aspect which appears to be a cut above what it was in the original version. On a modest budget, Aguiar was able to put into action some wonderful smoke and fog effects to blend in with impressive set design. All of it enhanced of course by the use of an iconic museum known as “The Wolf’s Museum Of Mystery”. There’s plenty of attention to detail in the distinctive looking museum and the old black and white cartoons dispersed within the narrative add something original. There’s an old-fashioned score that utilizes Jazz, Blues and Folk, going hand in hand with the stylized design of the killer and the plot in general. It’s not usually the type of music I like but it definitely had a sort of charm to it. During the investigative scenes, the soundtrack plays more like something you’d hear in an Argento “Giallo” (Inferno or Tenebre).

Sheyenne Rivers was cast in the lead role of Katherine O’Malley or “Kate”, she’s investigating the murders and trying to piece together the connections. Rivers seems genuinely nice and it goes without saying (even though I’m going to haha) that she’s easy on the eyes. O’Malley is easily the most likable character in Aguiar’s film. From the moment we meet her, post fornication, she’s sassy and confident and isn’t going to take anyone’s shit. It should come as no surprise that Rivers turns in the most consistent performance, which is crucial given she’s got as much screen time as Actor, John Hardy. Minus a couple of slightly forced lines, Sheyenne does a top-notch job. Hardy is one of those types that falls in an out of character a bit, I’ll give him some credit though because this is his first film and he will only continue to improve. He authentically conveys the emptyness Jake is feeling and carries his general dialogue pretty well. The letdown is that his angry emotional flashes don’t hit their mark enough times to really be believed. Gabriel Lee plays Detective Cordova, whose taken over the Laughing Mask case while Kate’s been on leave. The character is pretty cocky and all to sure of himself but he’s not just a stereotype, there are layers that are peeled back during the course of the film. Lee does have his moments, albeit in patches, doing his best work with Rivers but letting himself down in a crucial bar room scene that underwhelmed. Fran Rafferty as Brock, is another actor that’s just inconsistent. His early interactions are good but the writing sees him oddly jovial as the film progresses. As far as action goes, there’s an early montage of kill sequences cut together and some decent practical effects scattered throughout. The highlight from the kills is The Laughing Mask killer using a chainsaw. It was a nice touch but the chainsaw sound needed to be amplified and larger than life. I was hoping for some more on-screen kills but there are usually limits due to budgetary constraints.

THE BAD

I think The Laughing Mask may have just simply played better as a straight up slasher film. With such a vintage exterior and some original elements added, the crime sub-plot wasn’t an absolute necessity and does become a distraction at times. There’s some wonky, side to side camera movements during an altercation between members of “The Rancors” and the LMK at the back of “The Barn’s” loading dock. Most of the lighting is atmospheric and works well but in several scenes there’s an over exposure of natural light, that pierces into frame and is quite hard on the eyes. It might just be a creative decision but during the apartment scene with Cordova and O’Malley its harsh. Most of the music does fit the tone of the film but one particular double bass track, during a graveyard scene, appears out-of-place and more suited to something in film noir or even David Lynch’s, “Twin Peaks”. While I’m on sound, a fair share of the foley isn’t quite right either. It’s a combination of sounds that don’t really match with their impact, as well as too much silence during the fight choreography and action sequences. I happen to know that’s something Aguiar wasn’t completely happy with but such is independent film making. Chunks of the film lack suspense, particularly where the score starts to build toward something but then abruptly ends with an establishing shot or fading transition.

For each decent performance there’s a complimentary bad one, usually from a secondary player. When you have limited time and funding, you have to work with what you’ve got and in Aguiar’s case it wasn’t a lot. He made a smart decision in limiting the amount of screen time for these actors/actresses and their characters, so as to avoid taking you out of the film for too long. I can deal with that bit of inconsistency our leads are probably guilty of, however, almost every supporting performance is just plain bad. From the opening female victim’s complete lack of struggle and fight, through to the police chief’s uneven line delivery, its sub-par. Manny Dortanieves, as the groundskeeper, offers up very little in terms of fear or exerting energy to escape and given that he’s probably going to suffer a horrible death that’s weak. Mark, Jake’s publicist (played by Van Auken) is the opposite. He hits his mark when the action is called for but misses beats in his insecure dialogue delivery and general interaction. He can be forgiven somewhat, with this being his first role in a feature film. Unfortunately, Matt Ganey as “Floyd”, Kate’s ex-husband, turns in the worst performance. It’s painfully flat with each line of dialogue sounding trite, on the upside he’s only in a couple of scenes. Jeff Jenkins does a solid job of portraying the laughing mask killer, although I would’ve preferred to see a similar body type when you take into consideration the reveal. The laugh doesn’t really sound like I thought it would and I think the film would have worked as well without it.

On top of the acting, there’s plenty of specifics with the writing and its vague details that I didn’t really like. In the beginning it’s clearly established that Jake Johnson is our protagonist, this is ultimately his story. Yet after the first five minutes, it’s a long period of time before the story actually revisits him, by this time we’ve been introduced to several detectives and secondary characters. We come back to him talking book ideas with his agent, hoping to draw out the Laughing Mask Killer. The most important relationship in the film seems to be between Kate and Jake but I never found it completely clear what their relationship was, not until the very end of the film. It’s a plot point made confusing by the fact that they both have daughters around the same age (played by Aguiar’s real life daughters) who also happen to look very similar. In a flashback, it appears as though O’Malley is babysitting her daughter as well as Jake’s daughter so maybe they’re brother and sister. Then there’s also a photo of Jake’s daughter that’s seen a couple of times at his house but a screen saver on his cell phone that’s of his daughter (I think?? even though it looks like O’Malley’s daughter), appears when Kate’s number comes up, it’s all very confusing. There’s another muddled plot point about units that Johnson’s family owns that have tenants in them. There’s a copy of a key that comes into play and O’Malley goes to one of the apartments to investigate but it all unfolds a little improbably.

There’s a rather large amount of rhetorical dialogue when characters are on their own and some incredibly inappropriate joking during the crime scenes. It’s only so obvious and an issue because some of the more important dialogue that needed to be conveyed wasn’t. Particularly the twist surrounding one character in the final act of the film. O’Malley finds out something extremely important yet fails to tell anybody else about it. Instead, we get scenes with Lee’s “Cordova”, discussing whether a certain victim’s breasts are real or not and during a later body analysis there’s laughing and joking that’s in poor taste. Not only is it highly unprofessional but it’s very hard to believe people would act that way. During the “chainsaw” sequence, the killer stuffs something in the groundskeepers mouth to stop him from yelling out (not sure why because he never tries to call out anyway). I’m still waiting for someone to realize unless you tape something into or over someone’s mouth, they can actually spit it out because there’s nothing holding it in! How many times do we see people gagged who aren’t really gagged? Someone please get some gaffer tape it’s not that hard. I’m not just picking on Aguiar’s film, just film in general when it comes to that hostage type situation. There’s probably a couple of scenes you could say didn’t add anything and could have been omitted. One at a children’s birthday party, where some odd flashing camera work was used and the other involving Jake at his house mentally losing it and Brock coming in out of nowhere to help him. There’s an element involving drugs, which feels tagged on as well because it’s never alluded to throughout the film.

Like I said, its been close to a year since I watched The Laughing Mask and I wanted to revisit it upon completion and I’m glad I did. I actually enjoyed it more the second time around and after extensive talks with Michael, found out a little bit more about what goes into independent film making. With his first screenplay, Aguiar was able to develop a stylish and disturbing killer with a macabre M.O. Schweikert’s cinematography is crisp and the shot choices diverse, a credit to Aguiar’s direction. I particularly respect those who try for something a little bigger, such as the aerial shots and some of the other unique placement. The audio is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was in the original cut and the set design is impressive, taking into account the budget of course. There’s some visual effects but some decent practical stuff as well and when the action comes, most of it’s well conceived. The vintage style music from the 1940’s, mixed with the European suspense score, make this one of the best indie scores in the genre. The highlight for me was Rivers performance and her likeable character. The main supporting cast do a decent enough job as well and will all improve with more time and experience. While all the technical aspects are much improved, there’s still some issues with lighting, foley and parts of the editing but that’s usually to be expected. There are stages where the story lacks clarity and cohesion and some plot points feel tacked on. The core relationship needed to be clear from the very start and just spend that little bit of extra time establishing your leads arc. The biggest thing hurting The Laughing Mask is the flat reactions during the film’s climax and all around poor performances from the minor actors/actresses. Amanda Millar (I think it was), playing the coroner, being one of the few exceptions. If you’re looking for a gore fest probably look elsewhere but if you prefer your Horror films with some murder mystery in the mix then check out and rate “The Laughing Mask”, it’s currently playing on iTunes.

My rating for “The Laughing Mask” is 5.5/10

HIDDEN DAYLIGHT

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks to both Writer, John Rice and Director, Adrienne Lovette for allowing me access to an early screener of their 18 minute, Horror/Thriller short, “Hidden Daylight”. Hidden Daylight is the story of a businessman (played by David Rey) whose seeking answers after his wife (Ella Jane New) is abducted by a sadistic killer. The man visits a blind psychic (John Rice) who has the ability to see through the eyes of the deranged psychopath. What will the man learn about his wife’s fate? The film also stars Rica de Ocampo and Adrienne Lovette.

THE GOOD

This is Rice’s first screenplay and an intriguing one at that. Hidden Daylight’s definitely an interesting concept. The path chosen sees the details of a disappearance conveyed through a secondary channel (the psychic), rather than just your typical Sherlock Holmes goes digging for clues type of narrative. My favourite sequence in the short involves the masked killer sneaking into an apartment to capture the wife. The shots of the unit looked great, particularly when combined with a semi split screen framing, that has the audience using one eye to look at her on the balcony and the other on the killer at the door. There’s an ongoing, ambient keyboard score throughout that compliments the short nicely. The intensity is amplified where it’s required, to accentuate part of the plot development. The performances are solid all around and Rice’s diction in his verbal interaction with Rey is really calm and controlled, I dug that. As for the killer, he or she is pretty conventional looking (white mask and black clothes) but remains creepy none the less.

THE BAD

Most of the issues I had with Hidden Daylight were surrounding its technical aspects. Don’t worry though because I was pleased to learn that the version I watched is an early screener and the film is still in post production, so keep that in mind as you read on. The dialogue audio is a little quite in a few places, especially when combined with the score and sound effects. It’s a stylistic decision and just a personal preference but a lot of the camera work here is handheld, something I’m not a huge fan of. The camera often rotates back and forth side to side ever so slightly, occasionally it works well but more often than not it’s just distracting movement. The last sequence of the film stood out the most because in several frames the camera is completely out of focus. At first I thought it was just visual representation of a particular character being drugged, or hallucinating but when nothing happened to validate that I just realized it was poorly executed. I thought Rey’s acting was really good but I hoped his character would be straighter, a little more sympathetic and the ending was good but if I’m honest, I didn’t like the last bit that was tagged on.

Being from a first time writer and a fresh new director, Hidden Daylight is a cool little indie suspense/thriller. The screenplay is mostly solid, some of the shots are cleverly executed and the music helps carry it. The most positive aspect is the natural performances from the cast and the interesting killer and the way in which he or she is presented. Other than a couple of needless frames at the very end I can’t fault the development side of things. A few of the technical gripes are easily fixable and the camera work is just down to personal preference. The big thing is the out of focus stuff, which is where my rating drops away, definitely a concern and will hopefully be something that’s addressed before the films official release. That being said, Hidden Daylight is still well worth 18 minutes of your time, so keep an eye out for this one soon!

My rating for “Hidden Daylight” is 6/10

THE FUNHOUSE MASSACRE

THE SETUP

Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks to Director, Andy Palmer for allowing me early access to an online screener of his new Horror/Comedy, “The Funhouse Massacre”. Those of you who keep tabs on my website would know that I recently reviewed another of Palmer’s film’s, “Badlands Of Kain” see review *https://adamthemoviegod.com/badlands-of-kain-review/*. The Funhouse Massacre was written by Ben Begley and centres around a group of young adults at a Halloween funhouse. Unbeknownst to them and the rest of the carnival patrons, 6 of the world’s most dangerous psychopaths, have escaped a local asylum and are on their way to the event to get back to what they know best, killing. The film stars Jere Burns (From TV’S Justified and Breaking Bad), Scottie Thompson (The Blacklist and NCIS), Clint Howard (Austin Powers), Robert England (Nightmare On Elm St.), Matt Angel, Ben Begley, Renee Dorian and Candice De Visser (in her first film).

THE GOOD

I’ve been tracking the movements of The Funhouse Massacre for a while now. I had the privilege of meeting Robert England at a convention and picked his brain a little about the film, it sounded like a blast. The poster art looks great, definitely a nod to some of the 80’s Horror films. I’m a bit disappointed with the US artwork for the Blu Ray release though, I was hoping they’d use the above poster.. any who. I really like Begley’s script, tonally it’s an even blend of Horror and Comedy. He’s fused our love for the carnival and haunted house theme, together with the thrill of a classic slasher flick to get a good settled balance. The camera work is really nice, particularly once the funhouse scenes begin and there’s a number of well-timed, focus shots and lots of gentle panning. The audio seemed rather uneven during the opening in the asylum but it got a lot better as the film progressed. During the first interaction between England’s character and Visser’s, his audio was sharp and distinct but hers was a little hollow (maybe due to the location). The soundtrack was fairly standard but there was a cool industrial style song, similar to music from the band “Orgy”, I dug that. The best technical attribute here is the lighting, or more specifically the atmosphere that’s gauged from the lighting. There’s a combination of fog and smoke used throughout that really matches the “Carni” motif. Speaking of which, the set design was quite elaborate. Palmer really embraces the premise by giving us a substantial amount of variation in sets. Each area has its own unique feel by catering to the individual maniac that minds it. Given this is an independent film, the attention to detail deserves plenty of praise.

Ben had only written one short film before The Funhouse Massacre, never the less, he’s clearly got an understanding of the genre and its fan base. Begley’s approach is pretty conventional, he first sets the scene by introducing us to his demented group of killers, followed by a second act involving our four young adults, Morgan (Angel), Laurie (Dorian), Christina (Chasty Ballesteros of “Final Destination 5” and “GirlHouse”) and Jason (Sterling Sulieman from “Pretty Little Liars”). I suppose you’d say six if you include Randall and Mikey (played by Leigh Parker and Michael Reid), though they don’t get a great deal of screen time. Of course the third act is all about the carnage and the payoff and it’s probably the best part of the film. Begley provides us with plenty of enjoyable pop culture references (as the Writer and an Actor). Matt Angel’s, “Morgan” has an amusing “Dr Who” jive with a grumpy old customer at the diner where he works. There’s also a handful of references to Danny Trejo’s infamous character, “Machete”. Gerardo (played by Erick Chavarria, “Get Hard” and “Bone Tomahawk”), an Hispanic employee at the same diner, don’s similar leather to that of Machete and the joke definitely lands. Most of the film’s comedy is situational based and involving Deputy Doyle (played by Begley himself). He’s a lovable guy but a rookie cop with a lack of awareness, which makes for a bunch of really funny lines. Ben genuinely seems like a funny guy and that’s probably why his character is the most memorable.

This cast make for a really great mix and most of the performances are solid. Robert England plays “The Warden”, head of the local Asylum. Even with limited screen time, England makes the most of his dialogue and executes it with great diction. Explaining to Ms.Quinn (Visser) and in turn, the audience, who each of these colorful characters are and why they’ve been imprisoned. There’s “Rocco” the clown (Mars Crain), an ex-wrestler who took things a little too seriously in the ring. “Animal” (E.E Bell), a cook who liked to serve people up in his dishes. ”Dr Suave” (Sebastian Siegel), a dentist with a knack for going overboard with the drill. The “Taxidermist” (Howard), a man with a penchant for working on live “patients” instead of dead animals. Last but not least, self-proclaimed leader of the group “Mental Manny” (played by Burns), the ex-leader of a cult that orchestrated mass suicides. Everyone does a solid job but Bell wins the votes for creep factor and Burns delivers a calm and controlled, yet disconcerting performance as Manny. Both Chasty and Sterling are serviceable as the “sex-crazed couple” but the characters are somewhat one-dimensional. It’s really Morgan and Laurie that are the most relatable. They’ve got that unspoken love thing going on (well sort of) but Morgan tends to trip up on his words when it comes to Laurie and she’s stuck in a place of uncertainty, still, you can’t help but root for these two kids. Angel’s comedic timing was consistent and Dorian seems down to earth and suited to play your girl next door type. Thompson plays “Sheriff Kate”, a police woman heading a murder case she thinks might be related to the escaped inmates. She’s okay but I wasn’t a fan of the character, so when it came to the police, I much preferred Deputy Doyle. There’s so many characters in the film that it’s difficult to cover them all, so I apologize to those who weren’t mentioned.

I’ll close on this section of the review by touching on the blood/gore and practical effects. Robert Kurtzman heads up the special effects team for The Funhouse Massacre and again, showcases why he’s one of the best in the business. If you don’t know Kurtzman you’ve been living under a rock.. (I kid haha) but in all seriousness the guy has worked his magic for years. He’s worked on films like Boogie Nights, Scream, From Dusk Til Dawn, The Green Mile and more recently It Follows and Tusk. There’s a couple of nice and simple kills early on in TFM but I’ll admit, I started to worry half way through that I’d seen the best of it but I can safely say now that wasn’t the case. Once the story picks up so does the action. There’s an impressive amount of blood and gore during the final act of the film, the body count rises and we’re party to some pretty fun stuff. I don’t want to spoil anything but my two favourite kills came in the form of a decapitation, which was through sheer brute strength, and a messy and practically achieved kill with a giant mallet (something I hoped to get in the film “Circus Of The Dead” but didn’t).

THE BAD

On the technical front, my only gripe was that most of the music was too loud in the mix. At times it somewhat overpowers the dialogue, most notably during the opening scene in the asylum. Speaking of the music, there’s a few good tracks but the one thing missing from the film was the token “circus theme” (you know the one), it was used in Tobe Hooper’s 80’s film, “The Funhouse” and so I guess I expected they’d use it here. With these types of films usually centering around young people, you get your fair share of immature dialogue which in this case includes, “hashtag” this or that, as well as, “That’s what your mom said” jokes. Maybe it’s just because I’m going to be 30 this year but I feel like I’m kind of past that stuff, well for the most part (haha nit picky I know). I always talk about the three keys when it comes to making a successful horror film, Sex, Violence and Comedy. While The Funhouse Massacre had all three, the sex scene actually felt out-of-place. In any other setting I would’ve been all for it but somehow it didn’t accomplish anything (other than potentially setting up a death) and just ends up feeling kind of awkward. Additionally, the inner workings of the script, in relation to the sheriff’s connection to the story, felt unnecessary. The finer points involving her character seemed tacked on as well, not to mention a silly ending that loosely leaves room for a potential sequel. More importantly, you’ve got a key couple of characters in Morgan and Laurie, who are very likeable, warranting a more fitting conclusion than the one they got.

The Funhouse Masscare is a solid entry to the Horror/Comedy sub-genre, it’s guaranteed to entertain fans of these type of films. Kudos to Ben Begley on writing a fun and self-aware script, that blends both elements together pretty well. The camera work is neat, the lighting atmospheric, especially when combined with smoke and fog and the set design is quite impressive given the film’s modest budget. I love the clear-cut, three act structuring that helps us learn who the killers are and who are teens (or young adults) are. I’m a fan of good, pop culture references when their dispersed as well as this and almost all of the rest of the comedy works too. Our couple of leads are sympathetic and turn in the most well-rounded performances, while it’s a tie between Jere Burns and E.E Bell for the best of the psychopaths. In retrospect there really isn’t a weak link among the cast. From the moment Robert Englund enters the frame, to the final showdown between Doyle and Rocco, it’s all pretty damn good. Kurtzman and his team’s practical blood and gore work is a stand out, even the general makeup looks good. The highlight of this one is the final act, where all hell breaks loose, saying that, I think they should have done away with the lousy sex scene and instead, filled the time with a few more kills that involved better gags (more like the couple we see towards the end). The music track needed to come down in the mix a bit and a few of the writing points could have been tidied up, specifically the silly ending. I wasn’t fully satisfied with it given the quality of character we had and I wanted more killing but I know that’s probably just the horror fan in me. Palmer’s film is so much fun that I pre-ordered it from Amazon and you should too. It’s out in June! check out the trailer below.

My rating for “The Funhouse Massacre” is 6.5/10

13 CAMERAS (FKA- “SLUMLORD”)

THE SETUP

This is a review for the Drama/Thriller, “13 Cameras” formerly known as “Slumlord”, Written and Directed by first timer, Victor Zarcoff. 13 Cameras centers on pregnant newlyweds, Ryan and Claire (played by PJ McCabe and Brianne Moncrief) who move into a new house, hoping to sort through some of their marital issues. Little do they know, their beastly, grimy and brutish landlord, Gerald’s (Neville Archambault) been spying on them through a number of hidden cameras in and around the house. The film also stars Sarah Baldwin, Jim Cummings and Heidi Niedermeyer. I’ve followed 13 Cameras, or Slumlord as I knew it, for a while now. I first heard about the film over twelve months ago and it sounded vaguely like Randall Cole’s “388 Arletta Avenue” (one of my personal favourite home invasion films), at least in terms of the presentation. You know, misguided loner with voyeuristic tendencies, invades a house unbeknownst to the occupants. There’s no doubting that premise has been covered numerous times over the years, so it’s a matter of what one can do to bring something new to the table.

THE GOOD

The core idea behind Zarcoff’s film is an extremely unsettling one. Often in these types of films, the invaders are simply a faceless presence, a man and or woman behind a mask. As much as I enjoy a good masked orientated, home invasion film, said method always separates fantasy from reality. There’s something to be said about watching a face and a persons physical response to any given situation. The someone is always watching you, “big brother” aspect of the film, is a clever presentation because it’s never been as prevalent as it is in today’s society. We have social media avenues like Instagram, Snapchat and Video Call/Skype being used by millions of people all over the world and hidden cameras have long since been a thing you’ve heard being misused. 13 Cameras swiftly alternates between the hidden footage and a conventional shooting style. We never really see a complete layout of Ryan and Claire’s place and we usually only see the end of Gerald’s process of placing or fixing cameras. That ploy of Victor’s keeps the visuals interesting because you never know where you’ll be viewing footage from. The placement of the camera’s are smart and I particularly like the locations in the shower, the ceiling of the bathroom and the corner of the pool. All the routine camera work looks good as well and the framing is consistent. The audio levels are bright and the score, much like the development of the story, is subtle. It’s usually a thin layer of bass with vibrations in the mix, always very inconspicuous (like Gerald himself), with a potential to erupt.

It’s interesting to watch the different points of view between Claire and Ryan, in regards to their relationship and its current condition. Before we discover the inner workings of their marriage and what might, or might not be happening, it’s made clear that she’s more concerned about her physical appearance during the pregnancy, while he is concerned about the lack of intimacy. It highlights widespread issues that do arise between partners and specifically differences between men and women. The writing involving Gerald is approached with caution, Zarcoff keeps this lump of a man a complete mystery to the audience. The way he sets his cameras up really makes the house feel claustrophobic. At first, he seems to just get off on watching Claire, along with co-workers and friends of the couple but it’s not long before he’s sniffing bath towels and test tasting toothbrushes, of course this is all his own form of affection, For who? Claire?.. we don’t really know. My favourite scenes were those of Gerald productively crafting, how to isolate a specific character. The idea felt very much like something a logical thinker would arrange. The standard of acting from the younger members of the cast is decent. I realized I’d seen both Sarah Baldwin and PJ McCabe in an amusing short film called “Shark Pool” and Moncrief spent several years on “All My Children” so she’s had plenty of experience. The remarkable story here is Neville Archambault, a very distinctive and powerful looking man, who reminds me of a cross between Michael Berryman and Brad Dourif (coincidentally both were in the Oscar-winning “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest”).

I did some research and found out that Neville did a bit of Acting when he was younger but then had a lengthy break (not sure if forced or not). Since then, he’s gotten some small roles and done a few short films but I don’t imagine he’s done anything quite like 13 Cameras before. This is brilliant casting by Zarcoff because Archambault’s such a menacing looking guy (although I’m sure he’s really nice) and that’s exactly what the role required. Neville delivers a truly intense performance, mostly conveyed through his penetrating eyes and stare, or the incessant sweat seeping from his forehead. He does have a dozen lines of dialogue or so throughout the film but his voice rarely gets above a mutter or an impatient grunt. I hope this piece of work acts as a catalyst in him getting future work in the industry, particularly anything Crime/Suspense or Horror related, which I think suits him to a t.

THE BAD

All of the issues I had with 13 Cameras are in relation to the script and its lack of sufficient discourse. The film only runs 90 minutes but it’s definitely what I would describe as a slow burn, it works both for and against the film, depending on your personal preference. There’s some stupid decisions made throughout and a couple of predictable plot points, one of which was made more obvious because I’ve seen it in several other films. I don’t think it was actually shown on-screen but it’s clear Ryan gives someone in particular (no spoilers) a spare key to the house, this someone could potentially be a very risky commodity, yet he still does it. At one point, Claire rings Gerald because they’ve got a blocked toilet that needs fixing. Upon his arrival, he precedes to get “handsy” with Claire’s belly, telling her the baby’s a girl. As if somehow he’s determined that via a premonition or something equally as ludicrous, yet Claire doesn’t think to tell Ryan what happened. Okay, I guess you could say at that point there were no obvious reasons to think Gerald was anything other than an old landlord but still. The only continuity mistake I could find was with the blood on the driveway. After another session playing prowler, things escalate. Gerald is checking over some of his earlier video footage and notices some blood near where he parked his van. Following that, Paul, one of Ryan’s friends, arrives to check on the place but by that time the blood has disappeared. It wasn’t clear at all what happened with that, Where did it go?

There’s no sugar-coating it, soon to be father, Ryan, is a complete jerk and for no apparent reason, at least nothing that’s divulged through the limited amount of background information. Yeah sure, he’s a guy questioning some of his life choices but he never attempts to really deal with it, instead lashes out at those around him. In the context of the movie it works but given his label, everybody else needed to be better developed. The friends are only involved to potentially be used against the couple, other than co-worker, Hannah, nobody else had much substance. Gerald is shrouded in ambiguity, which can be a gamble to take with your audience but with a performance like that of Archambault’s, you’re probably safe. I tend to like plenty of exposition surrounding characters, so I definitely could’ve done with a bit more in regards to our mysterious, glass wearing landlord. By the time the film rolls around to it’s not so big finish, some of the momentum has distinguished. 13 Cameras never really reaches that next height, our protagonists don’t ever really feel exposed, or at least if they do, they don’t show it. There’s not even a great deal of surprise from them when they do realize what the house owner’s been up to this whole time. Zarcoff continues to tease you with an explosive payoff in the cross hairs that sadly never really leaves the chamber. Neville does his best work during the build up and then when the finale comes, it’s all a bit rush rush.

13 Cameras is a filmmakers directorial debut and a very solid one at that. Victor’s taken the familiar premise of a home invasion and made it downright disturbing by painting it in a natural light, something other films in the genre don’t always capture. The camera work is solid and its voyeuristic nature works superbly, due to well positioned hidden cameras. The soundtrack lingers just enough to be eerie and a few specifics in the writing translate well to the screen. The upshot here though is Neville Archambault. This guy has given us something that’s been desperately long overdue, a really unsettling portrayal of a lonely but seemingly normal man. There are no masks, no facades, nothing separating fantasy from reality. In the end Gerald is just a man, a dangerous man. There’s the odd continuity blip and some of the poor decision-making and lack of information sharing, stretches the plausibility somewhat but not enough to take away from the end result. I think 13 Cameras hit its straps early but never spiraled into the complete madness I was hoping for. We don’t learn anything of importance about Gerald and our key couple remain partly undeveloped to, in turn holding the weight of this one down a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing what Victor does next and if you get the chance to watch this, give it a spin, you won’t be disappointed!

My rating for “13 Cameras” is 6/10

BADLANDS OF KAIN

THE SETUP

This is a review for the 2016 Drama/Thriller, “Badlands Of Kain”, Written by Rachelle Dimaria and Directed by Andy Palmer. Badlands Of Kain sees old friends Shannon and Kris (played by Dimaria herself and Katrina Norman) reunite for a cross-country road trip. Shannon’s distant relationship with boyfriend Josh (Scott Evans) is reason enough alone for her adventurous counterpart to suggest a girls vacation. Car trouble lands the girls in the desolate town of Kaine, Arizona. Terry (Paul Soter of “Broken Lizard” the comedy team) the local priest and altruist, offers to tow their vehicle and sort them refuge. It’s not long before Shannon and Kris learn that leaving Kaine isn’t as simple as entering it. The film also stars James Marshall (from TV’s “Twin Peaks”), Jordan Belfi and Kaylee Wing. This is one of those films that was recommended to me by IMDb, after searching for something similar in the genre. It’s an easy thing to just ignore it and continue going about your business, however, you might find yourself missing out on a hidden gem.

THE GOOD

The above poster art was the initial thing that jumped out at me and got me interested in Palmer’s film. I know you can’t, or shouldn’t, judge a book by its cover but unless you’ve got time to do your research (thankfully I do), it’s usually all you’ve got. The subject of life and death and more importantly faith, or a lack there of, are the central themes covered in Badlands Of Kain. On the surface, it appears as though this might just be a cautionary tale about what can happen when you go off the beaten path and well yes, you’d be right to a degree but there’s a little more to it than that. I’m glad Rachelle dug a little deeper in her writing and designed most of her character arcs around real human behavior, rather than just reverting to predictable archetypes we’re so used to seeing. The story opens with a scene involving PJ (Marshall), his wife and some impromptu action. The brief practical blood and gore effects looked great and the scene unfolds with some nice close-ups and fast intense cuts, helping to convey the pressure that’s clearly been building in their lives.

The camera work is quite diverse and all the framing looks nice. Beginning with Shannon wanting to document the road trip, an objective that lasts for all of ten seconds (quite literally haha). Instead, it moves right along to sweeping shots of “Ladybug” (Shannon’s trusty Volkswagen) and the girls, as they travel across the arid landscape of Arizona, that is until they breakdown. From there, the remainder of the film utilizes Steadicam to help build the suspense and for the most part, it works. The lighting is another standout feature in Badlands Of Kain, there’s a constant use of red and yellow anytime characters are seen in the main street. Even inside the motel room there’s always a reflection in yellow coming from the “street” (and I use that term loosely.. it’s a small town). The audio track is clean throughout and I love the Violin/Strings based theme during the opening credits. Chris and DJ, the two guys responsible for the soundtrack, did a wonderful job. There’s a variety of themes here, shifting between the classic orchestral score you’d hear in any number of Giallo’s from the 60’s/70’s, to a modern Tim Burton movie soundtrack. It’s unsettling at times and on other occasions, downright quirky.

The big take away from Palmer’s film, is his (and Rachelle’s) ability to cast surprisingly good actors/actresses, who end up delivering strong performances across the board. A very well written script, when penned by Dimaria herself, is one thing but to also then deliver a genuine and grounded performance vital to the film’s success, is a whole different feat. I recently began writing some short scripts myself and I know how much work goes into it, so to do so for a full length feature as well as play the lead character, deserves some commending, kudos. Katrina does a nice job as Kris, balancing wild party girl and loyal friend, while James Marshall (one of my Twin Peaks favs) showcases what he can do, with an unnerving performance of an edgy character so far removed from the motorcycle riding introvert we all knew in the 90’s (well the character I mean), it’s not even funny. Young, Kaylee Wing deserves a special mention in her very first performance. Playing Emma Jean, she’s a natural in front of the camera and her timing is good. The chemistry between the girls is natural but that’s only half the battle, the mystery of the situation hinges on often funny guy, Paul Solet (Super Troopers and Club Dread).

It doesn’t happen often but once in a while, you’ll see an actor step so far out of their comfort zone by taking a role that really surprises you, and for me, that’s Solet playing “Terry” in Badlands Of Kain. Here’s a guy that’s only ever done comedy and done it pretty well. He could have just rested on his laurels but no, he takes a role in an independent film, by a new writer, of a character completely out of left field, given the previous types of roles he’s played, that’s something I feel earns respect. Terry is the mild-mannered, ever so helpful priest of Kain, yet you can’t help but feel like something’s a little awry with him. His strong performance is only further heightened because of Rachelle’s honest and realistic writing I touched on earlier. He never becomes a parody or misrepresentation of the character he plays and that’s such a difficult thing to maintain. This is by far in a way Paul’s best performance and as a fan of his work in comedy as well, I hope we get to see him push the boundaries further by continuing to explore different roles.

THE BAD

There’s some immature dialogue in some of Shannon and Kris’s interactions and a fairly common writing trope that comes to light in the second half of the film. The film is also quite guilty of predictability, with its foreshadowing of the sleepy town not being all it seems. Although the direction makes for an interesting metaphor about faith/religion and the possibility of an afterlife, it only allowed perhaps one other possible outcome. In hindsight, I would’ve preferred to see that other road taken (pardon the pun). With the characters of Kain being written so realistically, I think we could have seen a much darker side of the town. The running time is 109 minutes and unfortunately because of the slow burn nature, it feels every bit as long as that. There’s little character development after the opening act, so things could have progressed much quicker. On several occasions in the middle portion of the film, there are subtle signs of something strange going on but it’s never really enough to make Shannon or Kris dig any deeper. In retrospect, nothing would have been lost if the run time had have been cut by twenty minutes.

Badlands Of Kain is an intriguingly written film by Dimaria and well presented by Director, Andy Palmer. The shooting style is slick, the lighting atmospheric and the suspense lay in the mystery behind the town of Kain. I love the poster art and the overall production value is impressive. The “Twilight Zone” esq premise and Tim Burton like score, go hand in hand but it’s the quality of the casting that elevates Badlands from its counterparts. Rachelle and Katrina’s take on their characters, make them mostly likable protagonists and it’s great to see the talented James Marshall on-screen again (getting me all the more excited for the return of Twin Peaks). If there’s a surprise in Palmer’s film, it’s Paul Soter. You know the guy can do comedy but what he brings to the mysterious Terry, is a certain amount of unpredictability. In part because the character requires it but there might also be a layer of art imitates life, with him stepping outside his comfort zone in this role and therefore inadvertently displaying that insecurity. Either way, Paul was fantastic. I could see what they had in mind for the ending but as I said, there was another way they could have gone with this (think Kevin Smith’s “Red State”). On the flip side, I could see how they wouldn’t want to label the masses as fanatical and consequently decided on a different resolution. If I’m honest, I think the slow development might dampen wanting to revisit the film for a while, none the less, it’s a very well made Drama/Thriller that deserves your attention. I’m excited to see Palmer’s other new film “The Funhouse Massacre” and any future works from him or Dimaria. Be sure to check this one out if you get the chance!

My rating for “Badlands Of Kain” is 7/10