LOSS OF LIFE
I want to say thankyou to the directing team of Loss Of Life, David Damiata and Michael Matteo Rossi, along with Gabriella Gesicki. Thanks for allowing me to watch the screener before the films official release date. Loss Of Life is a found footage horror film about a group of young guys on the night of a big Halloween party. It opens with the group getting ready for a big night and the lead up to the party. The film drastically shifts in tone though, when the boys stumble across a girl needing help after being attacked by two masked men. What the viewer sees is evidence of everything that happened on that fateful night. The cast are made up of a bunch of fresh new faces. I’m not sure what the budget was for the film, If I had to guess I would say somewhere between $10,000 – $50,000.
I stumbled across some of the posters and artwork for the film which got me really intrigued. This is a different kind of found footage film compared to what most of us are used too. I thought this had loud and clear dialogue, it’s a little inconsistent when some of the panic from our characters sets in, but most of its good. The group of guys seem to be having genuine fun during the filming and the dynamic of their group is believable. A lot of these types of films contain really unlikable characters, not here. Some of the guys are more immature than others but it’s a realistic portrayal of 17 and 18-year-old guys. The group is made up of all African-American’s with the exception of Joey, the token white guy (played by Chris Petrovski), who I’m keen to see in the new film “All Cheerleaders Die”. Joey has some fun comedic moments and gives the audience something to chuckle about.
I thought the suspense was good in a few of the cat and mouse style scenes. It’s accompanied by some pretty good sound effects. Although some of the moments that really called for some nail-biting tension and didn’t deliver left me feeling a little flat and disinterested. I liked that the mystery behind the masked assailants was left until the last ten minutes. I have to make special mention of the masks themselves, I don’t know what they actually were but damn those things were freaky! I would love to get my hands on a replica for my movie room (haha).
It’s not all sunshine and flowers with A Loss Of Life. The biggest issue is with the overall pacing of the film. Even at just 72 minutes, it feels a little too drawn out too often. The opening scene with the boys preparing to go out is double the length of what it should have been. It’s fairly slow to escalate and bring on the action sequences, or the “horror” side of the story. If the characters had a lot too say or it was a film aimed to be driven by character development then I wouldn’t have any issues with that. The acting is not really professional enough though to be falling back on that. Once the attack starts the camera gets very frantic and shaky. It probably needs to be shot that way but because of its low-budget nature, it feels jerky and uncomfortable for the viewer. There were a few dumb holes in the plot as well just so the story could progress. I wasn’t too sure why the group of three guys who make it outside to the vehicle didn’t just leave and try to go and get some help?? I assume somebody had the keys to the car. Maybe they were worried nobody would believe them because it’s Halloween night, who knows.
The most disappointing thing about the film was the lack of blood and gore within the action sequences. Other than one great scene using plenty of blood and gore on the bonnet of a car it was mostly cut out. The story didn’t completely deliver on the suspense and horror factor, so I thought it might make up for it with some cool practical effects. There are numerous scenes where the characters are using night vision to look around, so the blood ends up just looking like water. The kills added nothing new to the genre either. The last ten minutes brings the story back around somewhat, with a motive for the attack. I thought it was good enough because it was a genuine reason and helps the viewer understand what they have just seen and why it happened, but it might seem a little trite to some people.
Loss Of Life is a fun film that’s pretty well made. It’s high in entertainment value with a few cool cat and mouse action sequences. It’s short and fast pacing make it defiantly worth watching. Just don’t expect anything visually impressive or original in the screenplay. I think it might have worked a little bit better if it was filmed in a more conventional way. It’s solid in entertainment value and I love the masks. It’s one of the coolest looking posters and look for a killer that I have ever seen. Support indie low-budget films and pick up a copy of the film from the official website below. Thanks again Gabriella!
My rating for “Loss Of Life” is 6/10
AdamTheMovieGod 