Bloody Ballet

Bloody Ballet

       When a ballerina dancer named Adriana lands the lead role in the upcoming performance of The Nutcracker, she is excited for the role of a lifetime. When the stress of the pending performance begins to weigh on her, Adriana begins to have vivid nightmares while jealousy and tension among the dancers provoke supernatural elements. As a result the ballerinas begin to die one by one.

       The film starts off showcasing a grisly murder scene on a cold winter night and cuts to Adriana (Kendra Carelli) experiencing one of her nightmares. Right away Bloody Ballet shows us there's a lot of ground to be covered and promises a nightmarish and stylish journey is coming. With undeniable influence from Suspiria, Bloody Ballet in several scenes drapes itself in reds, yellows and blues creating a dreamlike atmosphere that effectively blurs the worlds of nightmares and the supernatural with reality. The confusion of reality is taken even further by the wonderful art deco theater setting with the large and empty play house implying all life's a stage, even when no one is watching.

       Along with the dreamlike atmosphere of the film are several bloody deaths and stark, often creepy imagery. A dead girl covered in a gripping black, gooey substance rising out of a bathtub is a chilling sight. A young Adriana venturing through a cave-like tunnel to find demonic figures seemingly expecting her adds a dangerous quality to the story. These scenes and more combined with the bloody deaths at the hands of a mysterious masked killer raise the stakes as the film progresses and Adriana's condition worsens. Bloody Ballet moves at a fast pace creating a sense that time is rapidly running out for Adriana and the rest of the ballerina dancers.

       Adding to the strong filmmaking and script of Bloody Ballet are the great performances from the cast, especially from lead actress Kendra Carelli. Carelli never clumsily goes over the top and handles Adriana's mental decent with careful, fearful attention while displaying genuine panic when gripped by her nightmares and visions. Horror staples Caroline Williams as Ms. Valli, the ballet instructor and Debbie Rochon as Adriana's doctor, Dr. Cassinelli, are great supporting players in Adriana's journey and give excellent performances.

       Bloody Ballet is one of those movies you would have found lining the lower shelves of the horror section at the video store, those hidden gems you'd rent again and again. The death scenes are blood soaked with grisly practical effects that show every detail of the kill. One scene in particular that takes place in a bathroom is one of the most inventive transformation/plot twist scenes I've ever seen. And the fantastic performance from Kendra Carelli pulls everything together and made Bloody Ballet one of the best slasher films I've seen in a long time.

Bonehill Road

Bonehill Road

       Mother and daughter Emily and Eden (Eli DeGeer and Ana-Rojas Plumberg) escape a dangerous domestic disturbance in their home. As they're on the road they encounter a more dangerous threat as they are run off the road by a bloodthirsty group of werewolves. Taking shelter in a nearby house, their problems only get worse. Now they are fighting for their lives and faced with potential death on Bonehill Road.

       The film gets off to a promising start with Emily and Eden on the run in the car. As they drive through foggy, back country roads, they are run off the road by the werewolves. I was excited by the beginning and looking forward to how Emily and Eden would survive the night. Unfortunately the fun and promising beginning is where my excitement ended as the film progressed.

       The biggest problem for Bonehill Road are imposed on itself by the script. When Emily and Eden take shelter in a house, the entire middle third of the film is consumed by a group of women being held captive and terrorized by a cannibalistic madman. The scene has the frenetic, dangerous, and crazed feel of the dinner scene from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. But with the madman not having anyone else of his kind to play off of, he comes across as an over the top delirious clown who has no foundation or basis for his craziness. He's just crazy for the sake of crazy and the character just comes across as lazy. His antics coupled with the well-intentioned but melodramatic fear of the captive women make the entire sequence laughable.

       The other problem with the scene is the uninteresting madman takes the place of the villain role for a big chunk of the movie while the werewolves fall by the wayside. We get random shots of them gathering around the house as they hear the screams of the women. These shots are basically just the werewolves standing there in front of the house and growling. The werewolves are obviously way more interesting than a generic madman and I wanted more of them.

       If the script dropped the lazy device of the madman, created a struggle for survival and shifting power dynamic between the women in the house as they tried to keep the werewolves out (a la Night of the Living Dead), Bonehill Road could have been a much stronger, more focused, and interesting film.

       While the lack of werewolves and uninteresting madman holding the women captive wasn't a winning formula for me, I do give a ton of credit to filmmaker Todd Sheets for using practical effects for the werewolves and gory scenes. The best parts of the madman holding the women captive are the excessive blood and gore scenes, and there are a lot. Sheets does not hold back as the camera captures full on plenty of blood and very gory open guts, which will more than please gore hounds. The werewolves look great as well and perfectly capture the essence of a low budget midnight movie. A lot of effort went in to these practical effects, and I applaud the filmmakers for that.

       Unfortunately Bonehill Road as a whole didn't live up to the very cool looking posters or the fun practical effects featured in the film. With a script that seemed devoid of werewolves until the final act and an ill advised tendency for overly serious melodramatics and bland characters, Bonehill Road is all growl and no bite.

Strange Nature

Strange Nature

       Strange Nature is based on true events that happened back in the mid 1990's when thousands of deformed frogs were found in the waters of Minnesota. The film follows Kim, a former one hit wonder pop star and single mother, who moves herself and her 11 year old son back in with her father in an attempt to build a new life together. When the deformities begin to move beyond just frogs, the hope of a new life is derailed by a deadly, town wide threat.

       The film does an excellent job setting up the characters that populate the small Minnesota town and giving each a sense of depth. The script takes the time early on to convey the different attitudes of the townspeople towards the strange mutations taking place. Some show concern and want to look into the matter further, others say let it be because the local pesticide company is an important part of the farming community's economy. It's a solid script that smartly focuses on the characters and makes the viewer root for Kim from the beginning. It also shows what's at stake right from the start, making the tension slowly rise as the situation worsens.

       While the film shows that people at local companies and the chemicals they've spread around the area may be responsible for the mutations, it also focuses on people taking care of each other. Kim moves in with her father to take care of him as he slowly dies from cancer of the liver. Trent (Faust Checho), the high school science teacher, lives with and takes care of his sick mother. So the script is careful to not completely demonize humans altogether, but rather show them as flawed at worst. It's this depth of character along with some lighthearted moments that make the largely serious script work so well.

       In addition to the script, the cast as a whole does great work bringing the characters of the town to life. Lisa Sheridan as Kim is extremely like-able and portrays her fallen from fame character with the perfect blend of humility and regret. Bruce Bohne is equally as like-able as the sweet, stuck in his ways dying father and character actor Stephen Tobolowsky is perfect as the sincere yet cautious Mayor Paulson. The only disappointment would be the severely limited use of Tiffany Shepis, who is only utilized in a single scene. Shepis is one of the best indie actresses out there and deserves much bigger roles than a mere cameo.

       As the deformities turn into a larger and larger threat to the town, director James Ojala gets to show off his skills at special makeup effects. Along with the deformed frogs we get a family with birth defects, a newly born baby with heavy mutations, and a dog that is losing its skin. It's the final act, however, where Ojala lets loose when a monstrous, mutated dog viciously tears through the area and savagely rips apart several characters. There's plenty of guts and insides on display and a lot of spurting and dripping blood. It's a rousing and violent finale and the practical effects are what horror fans love to see.

       First time feature film writer and director James Ojala shows a real talent behind the camera. Strange Nature is a tightly written, superbly paced eco-thriller that does more than simply aim to shock with deformed makeup effects and mutated animals. It's also a study on human behavior and the constant battle between those who seek the truth and those who choose to deny it.