Our House

Our House

Our House is about a young man named Ethan (Thomas Mann) who invents a machine that could potentially produce wireless electricity. When he accidentally enhances spiritual activity and brings back the spirits of his recently deceased parents, the machine seems like a wonderful invention. But like everything, with the good comes the bad and when evil spirits begin to appear as well, there may be no turning back from what's been unleashed. 

The film is peppered with aerial shots showing the small, tree covered town. These shots convey a sleepy and quiet feeling. But under these trees, as the winds slightly disrupt their leafy covers, people are living lives and cars are driving around on streets. It's what's underneath that the film is focusing on, the interior of what is first seen. What internal struggle are people dealing with? What's underneath the surface of everyday life? More notably, what's underneath the dimension of the living that we can't see and when the dead enter this dimension, is that sustainable? This is the deeper theme of Our House that connects all the events of the film. Looking deeper is healthy and a natural curiosity of the human condition. But digging too deep can lead to pathways that weren't meant to be traveled and release energies that can't be foreseen or understood. 

Thomas Mann is excellent as the conflicted Ethan. In the quiet moments that show him dealing with the guilt he feels over the recent death of his parents and him struggling with the new, unexpected routine as caregiver to his younger siblings, Mann demonstrates a deep dramatic range within the simple movements of his face. This range is further shown with a deep hurt in his eyes as he has a conversation with a neighbor regarding his recent loss. It's a subtle, internal performance that is difficult to convey and Mann nails it. He is the heart of the film and successfully elicits the sympathy needed from the viewer. 

The excellent screenplay from Nathan Parker and direction of Anthony Scott Burns allows the viewer time to care for the family and show the hurt of the characters, see what drives them and the relationship dynamic between Ethan and his younger brother and sister. The untimely and sudden death of the parents took an emotional toll on the family, and while Ethan continues work on his machine, getting to know these characters is vital to the impact and arrival of the spirits of the deceased parents. And the heightened tension when the darker spirits soon follow. 

Our House is an example of strong filmmaking and a wonderful ghost story with touches of science fiction. It features a great cast (newcomer Kate Moyer and Percy Hynes White are superb), and expert pacing that leads to a tension filled and exciting finale. It's a supernatural masterpiece and is a must watch.

Dead Night

Dead Night

Dead Night tells the story of a family who travels to an isolated cabin for a little getaway. Their time together is interrupted when a stranger is found outside the cabin seemingly hurt. When the family offers to help, the stranger is not who she appears to be and the night, and their lives, turn into a hellish nightmare.
The opening sequence is a great setup that takes place over 50 years ago and introduces the viewer to 2 young lovers who drive off into the woods for some alone time. There is minimal dialogue between the 2 characters as the film relies more on imagery to set the tone and kick the story into motion. This opening reminded me of the minimal dialogue, imagery laden opening sequence of Halloween, introducing us to a young Michael Myers.
Cut to the present and we see the family headed to the cabin for their getaway. When it starts snowing early on, you get the feeling that this family is trapped inside another world and a part of something evil that they are unaware of. There's a scene where the 2 younger girls (Elise Luthman and Sophie Dalah) are unpacking in their room looking at a painting of a cabin on the wall. When one asks, "do you think that's the cabin we're in," you get the sense that they're being watched just as they watch the painting. It's as if they've been captured inside an eerie snow globe occupied by malevolent forces. Dead Night is a world of cold fog, dark shadows, and moonlit landscapes. Every scene is constructed in a way that conveys the feeling of the characters being watched or followed. It's a wonderful atmosphere that is the stuff horror dreams are made of.
Barbara Crampton as Leslie (the stranger from the beginning) gives an icy and chillingly relaxed performance and exudes an elite level of confidence in the role. Crampton effortlessly owns every scene she's in and by far has one of the strongest screen presences in the genre. This high praise for Crampton also speaks volumes of the surrounding cast as the younger characters (Luthman, Dalah and on screen brother Joshua Hoffman as Jason) all do solid work in their roles. One of the best scenes in the film takes place around the dinner table as the parents (AJ Bowen and Brea Grant) pick up on the fact that something is not right with Leslie. Bowen and Grant do great responsive work to Crampton's strange and unsettling behavior in a tension filled and cumulative scene. From here Brea Grant gives a great performance as Casey, the mom in an unthinkable situation.
What I found a little odd was the structure of the film. There's a TV show within the film called Inside Crime that tells the story of what (authorities THINK) happened to the family as the film plays. While the fictitious show perfectly mimics a true crime program, I found it distracting whenever a short segment of the show cut in and interrupted the story of the film. I see why the segments we're included and what they added, but I feel they didn't need to be throughout the film and could have provided just as much with one segment perhaps at the end.
Overall Dead Night is a fantastic nightmarish descent featuring strong performances from its cast and great makeup and gore. There's a transformation scene at the end that is a bone cracking, skin splitting, bloody masterpiece that was a nice cherry on top of this awesome film. Find Dead Night available now on Amazon and iTunes for a great midnight movie, I highly recommend it.

Inheritance

Inheritance

Inheritance tells the story of Ryan and his fiancé, Isi, after they are left a beautiful beach house by Ryan’s newly deceased father, a man Ryan thought died long ago. When the couple visits the home they learn that it’s valued at 2.5 million dollars and have intentions to sell the property and look forward to financial freedom. Things take a turn when Ryan’s curiosity about his father leads him to explore the home and talk to some of the neighbors and this curiosity leads him down a dark path that opens him up to a terrible, generations old family history.
Old black and white pictures of generations past are shown as the opening credits play and as the film begins we see construction like boards being cut and shovels digging up the ground. This opening sets the tone immediately for the rest of the film: upheaval.
The past is dug up and unearthed and reborn. The slow pace of the film matches the tone beautifully as the script assembles the story like a puzzle, showing one piece at a time every so often. The filmmakers smartly allowed the film to take its time to construct the story and allow the tension to build in an effective and compelling way.
What adds to the tension is the fantastic score from Mini Mansions. The music is a very focused, very tense and ominous sound that underlies almost every scene. The score also features distant drums that slowly grow louder and beat like an overworked heartbeat working both as an auditory symbol of dread and as a sound of something coming to life, something becoming unearthed. The combined effect is a fantastically unsettling feeling.
When Ryan inherits the house, he also inherits its history — and the feeling that Ryan is both an invader in a place he doesn’t belong and a prisoner to that place as well permeates every scene of the film.
Coinciding with this feeling is a lot of imagery of bars and lines that resemble a cage or being imprisoned. There are also a lot of open doors in several scenes, suggesting that Ryan wants out of the house and to escape the dark family history that seems to be consuming him.
The lingering spirits of Ryan’s ancestors visit him cerebrally and slowly fill his mind with dark thoughts. He soon becomes consumed with the evil curse that haunts the property and runs through his bloodline. During these visits is when the puzzle pieces of the story are presented in intriguing and eerily poetic visuals. Ryan gets caught up in the heinous family history and slowly learns that he cannot escape the past.
The production value, music, script, and wonderful cinematography are enough to make Inheritance worth watching — and also enough to elevate it above the flat performances from the actors involved.
I will concede that the supporting cast doesn’t really have a lot to do with their characters, but Chase Joliet as Ryan doesn’t possess the intensity or emotional range to successfully portray a character in his situation. He doe—s his best, but the performance never seems to match the quality of the film he is in, and that the production is strong enough to overcome that says a lot about the talent of the filmmakers and writer/director Tyler Savage.

Triggered

Triggered

Triggered tells the story of two teenagers who fake an attack by their towns legendary serial killer to cover their own wrongdoing. While the two teens are enjoying the attention of being “victims”, their plan takes a dark turn when the real killer is inspired to resurface and go after them. 

Chris Moore's script is solid and pulls no punches. The film succeeds largely because of its strongly written characters and ability to find razor sharp humor in its biting social commentary. Moore is a filmmaker who knows his voice and has a clear vision with the ability to see both successfully realized and carried through. Horror and dark comedy are two difficult genres to pull off and Triggered effortlessly blends both in a highly entertaining film. All of that and I'm a sucker for a good Weekend at Bernie's reference. 

The main character, Callee, is smartly written to speak up for every social cause, fighting for justice through her outrage. Yet she feels no compassion for the lives of other people and is ultimately focused on only herself. Ironically, as aware of others as Callee is, she is not aware of herself enough to realize that. This conflict within Callee is what holds the entire film together and Meredith Mohler is superb in making the character work in an incredibly deep and rooted performance. 

Amanda Wyss is the perfect counterbalance to Callee as Principal Fielding. Her character is the adult mentor that Callee doesn't know she needs. Wyss plays the role with a sturdy sweetness that shows she's experienced more than she lets on. In one scene, Principal Fielding attempts to reach out to Callee with a touching, personal story. As she is bravely telling her story, Callee is scrolling through social media on her phone, only occasionally looking up to offer Principal Fielding the attention she deserves. The story seemingly falls on deaf ears as Callee doesn't seem interested in the story she thinks she's too smart to hear. 

Triggered is an inspired genre mix of dark comedy, horror, and mystery about the evils and anxieties that run through even the quietest towns and the deepest parts of the human mind. It's a fresh feeling film with a layered story, fantastic script, and spot on performances that should play really well on the festival circuit. If you find yourself somewhere it's playing, I can't stress enough that you go check it out, it would be a lot of fun to see with a crowd. 

I enjoyed writer/director Chris Moore's previous effort, Blessed Are the Children, (read that review here), but Triggered is a huge step up for the filmmaker. Put this one on your watch list.

The Toybox

The Toybox

In an attempt to reconnect, an estranged family take a trip in a used motor home out into the desert. When they break down, the scorching terrain becomes the least of their worries when the family learns the RV has a terrible and haunted past and starts killing them off one by one. 
The family dynamic between the characters is established early on. We're introduced to the responsible, older brother with a family (Jeff Denton) and his wife (Denise Richards), the will-he-ever-grow-up younger brother, (Brian Nagel), and the nostalgic feeling father with a promise to keep (Greg Violand). It's clear the family has baggage and have drifted apart. This simple set up is an effective way to make the horrific events that follow all the more tragic. 
The Toybox is a really unique take on the slasher genre. Not only does it have a cool supernatural element but it also features a killer motor home and explores all the ways an RV can kill someone. The filmmakers had fun with this and it shows as the deaths are creative and fun with one eliciting a shared "OHHHHH!" from the audience I watched it with followed by clapping. It was a great moment for the film and worked as a perfect example why horror movies are best experienced with a crowd. 
The script is smart and really makes the most of its location. It's interesting how the wide open desert has an endless amount of land for the characters to run to in order to get away from the deadly motor home, but running also separates them from the only shelter they have from the hot desert sun. This adds a real sense of hopelessness and feeling lost. The bright hot sun also works to expose all, leaving no where left to hide from the evil that is after the doomed family. The Toybox works as a fine example of how location can add extra layers of terror to a horror film. 
Mischa Barton does excellent work as Samantha, giving an intense and focused performance. When the horrors of the haunted, murderous RV are at their peak, her portrayal of the terrorized Samantha reminded me of Dee Wallace in Cujo. Barton seems to have found a home in horror lately with a handful of her recent films being in the genre, and I for one welcome her with open arms and look forward to more performances like this one. 
My only complaint is that I wish the entire film felt as self aware and fast as the last act. Their were a lot of funny, self referential moments that happened one after the other that had the audience cracking up. While these moments happen throughout the film, they don't happen nearly as quick and often as the last act and the audience was just eating it up.

Imitation Girl

Imitation Girl

Imitation Girl is about a mysterious young woman who materializes on Earth. With each passing moment she learns more about her new surroundings and discovers she has a twin with whom she shares a lot more than just an outward appearance. 

Imitation Girl is a beautiful movie with themes of searching for meaning and longing to find oneself. Julianna (Lauren Ashley Carter) is constantly imitating life, never feeling fulfilled by her daily routines. She goes through her days imitating passionate sex and satisfying sexual fantasies as an adult film star, she imitates an ultimately hollow relationship with her boyfriend, and imitates having fun by feeding her drug problem. Julianna even tries to imitate her past as a young musician when she runs across an old piano teacher from when she was a child. 

Imitation (also Lauren Ashley Carter), the mysterious woman who materializes on Earth who assumes the appearance of Julianna, imitates life in a different way. She imitates to learn in order to live life on Earth, from eating to going to the bathroom to even sleeping. Her imitations broaden her knowledge and ability to experience life whereas Julianna's imitations confine her to an empty existence that she doesn't know how to break free of. 

Imitation Girl is a thoughtful film that observes itself as much as the viewer observes it. In the vein of Kubrick, it's a confident and patient study of an occurrence that is strengthened by the sure handedness of writer and director Natasha Kermani with beautiful edits between the two protagonists as they work their way to each other. Along with Kermani, the captivating talent of star Lauren Ashley Carter is another strong pillar of the film. I've praised her performances before and this one is no different. Carter has the surreal ability to give absolute life to her characters as if they have always resided within her. With one character on the brink of despair and the other full of wonder and hope, she fully embodies both Julianna and Imitation from her eyes to her body movements down to the way she listens to other characters. She's an extremely gifted actress who thrives on deeply flawed yet strong characters and there's no one else who could have performed the dual roles in Imitation Girl better. 

This movie is like a puzzle with the pieces starting from the outside and working towards each other. As the picture completes you're left with a thought provoking and open to interpretation conclusion. This may frustrate some viewers but I found it to be a compelling and hopeful, albeit mysterious, ending that has stayed with me after viewing the film and has forced me to ask questions of myself and reflect on the direction of my own life. This reaction is a consequence of art at its best and because of that and everything else I highly recommend Imitation Girl.

Bus Party to Hell

Bus Party to Hell

Bus Party to Hell is about a group of young adults on a party bus on their way to Burning Man. When the bus breaks down and a slaughter from a satanic cult leaves only 7 survivors, the group must figure out how to survive as they worry that someone among them is not who they seem. 

Let me start by saying this: I want more of Tara Reid as this character! She's an absolute blast to watch here as the drifter/hippie who opens the film. Reid knows exactly how to work a campy, blood spattered film like this and she gives an engaging and fun performance here. Her character and presence had me hooked right away, she was brilliant casting! 

Bus Party to Hell is a crazy movie. I give the filmmakers a lot of credit because they went all out to make this as chaotic and erratic as possible. The film is bursting with color, dripping with blood and uses the desert location to portray bright, searing heat during the day and secluded darkness at night. It's a great location to give these doomed partiers a real sense of isolation, almost as if they're in a different world. 

This is where the location truly adds to the freakish, otherworldly appearance and ways of the satanic cult that attacks the bus. Once again the filmmakers go all out with the satanic group as each is covered with menacing makeup and are a cross between the worlds of Mad Max and The Hills Have Eyes. All of this is capped off with a terrific creature design that pops up towards the end. 

My one complaint of the movie is that, at an 81 minute run time, there is a TON of time spent on gratuitous group sex...and I mean a ton. I understand that this is a sick and sadistic satanic cult that has rituals to abide by, but wow is there a lot of sex in this movie! I'm no prude but it did seem to go over the top with this and here's hoping that any possible sequel will spend more time delving into just who this cult is and how they can be overcome.
With such a great ensemble cast it would have been fun to see them band and work together a little more and see the members of the cult engaging in group sex a little less. The cast as a whole does a wonderful job and worked very well together. Amidst all the absolute craziness, they manage to keep the mood surprisingly light with funny, tongue in cheek performances.
Sadie Katz is appropriately hard to read in her role. With her secretive, whispery voice and hotly expressive eyes, she's the perfect mix of tense and unpredictable. Shelby McCullough as Ivy is the standout of the cast with a confident and charming performance with ViDonna Michaels and Richard Hochman also doing solid work.
Overall the film moves fast, is tremendously entertaining and features snakes, sex, mummies, spiders, blood, more sex, more blood and Tara Reid. Bus Party to Hell is pure heavy metal on film and is completely fucked up fun.