Mania

Mania

Mania tells the story of Mel (Ellie Church) and Brooke (Tristan Risk), two lesbian lovers who live together in a quiet suburb. When Brooke lapses on her medication and commits a brutal murder, the two must flee their home and go on the run as their lives are changed forever.
Mania is the kind of movie that starts with a bang and then spends the rest of it's run time sneaking back up on you. It's about desire, want, love, demons, need, sex, and acceptance yet boasts a simplistic story that allows the two characters to slowly get into your head and haunt you in different ways. The brilliant trick of Mania is that those different ways end up being the same ghost, as Mel and Brooke slowly bleed into each other from opposite ends of the spectrum as the film progresses, yet couldn't be more different. Let me explain.
A lot of time is spent with the camera close up on the faces of the two leads. One reason for this may be the amount of time that Mel and Brook spend in a car in close quarters together, but several other moments outside of the car are also in close up and I found this a fascinating and effective choice. What these close ups reveal are the empty vessel like gaze with storms behind the eyes of Tristan Risk and the constant state of worry and concern on the face of Ellie Church. The faces of these characters are opposite sides of the same Mania coin.
Mania is a magnificent mash-up from a script that director Jessica Cameron infuses with style and know how of several genres. It's directed with ferocity that allows for explicit gore, sensual sex scenes, and beautiful, haunting, and surreal dream sequences that pop with over saturated reds and blues and yellows that recall Argento and 1970's Italian cinema. It's a little bit grind house, a little bit art house, and a little bit of an old fashioned slasher movie all swirling around a love story.
Mania offers a complex and layered analysis to be had. The film calls itself “a fucked up lesbian love story,” but about half way through Mania I was thinking it was more “a lesbian love story that gets fucked up”. By the end of the film I decided it was both. The mania works on two fronts here: Brooke and her uncontrollable killing spree, and Mel and her uncontrollable love for Brooke. The two characters couldn't be more opposite, really. The only logical connection they have to each other is love and it's easy to think that the title Mania refers only to Brooke and her lack of inhibitions but I feel the film demands more than that as it refers to both Mel and Brooke. Mel is seemingly in the same mental state as Brooke, her lack of inhibitions is what allows for the nightmarish scenario to continue.
This ability of the film to get inside my head long after I left the screening of it is what has me appreciating the hell out of it. Is it a masterpiece? No. There are some things I wish the script handled better: Mel and her extreme willingness to simply go along with whatever Mel said seemed too easy for me. The script also seemed to set up some scenarios a little too nicely. For example the set up that led Mel and Brooke to be dinner guests at a particular characters house seemed too contrived. But I have to say that I was very impressed with Mania as a whole and am just stuck on Cameron's obvious clear vision for the movie and the complex depiction of love the characters and story present.
As of this writing, Mania can only be caught at film festivals. If it comes anywhere near you I highly suggest checking this film out, it's a fantastic thinking piece of cinema that I can't wait to revisit!

Silent Retreat

Silent Retreat

Silent Retreat is about six people who work at a media company who go on a weekend business retreat. The retreat takes place at an isolated lodge in the woods that was formerly a mental institution. When one of the members of the group goes missing, the dark secrets of the lodges past begin to claim victims one by one.

Silent Retreat may not have the most original of story lines, (it's a cabin in the woods, folks), but something I really appreciated about the film was that it took itself seriously and presented a story and atmosphere that could deliver a scary movie. I like the way it avoided the college kids going to party at a lodge in the woods set up and instead took a more adult approach by making it a business retreat. Now, don't get me wrong, the employees are still young and the usual weekend getaway hijinks ensue, but hey, I'll give points for taking a somewhat different route to get there. The set up in the beginning was quick and to the point and left enough mystery to lead the viewer into the film feeling intrigued.

The location is great and the lodge sets up a deceptively comfortable setting that creates an eerie atmosphere underneath it all. The lodge itself is so nice, and so full of hand crafted decoration and personality that you just know it harbors some dark secrets, like one of those gaudy mansions in Gothic horror. It gives off that impression that you're never truly alone, and this feeling from the lodge goes a long way in giving off an uneasy feeling throughout the film.

The film has a bit of a slow build up. I fear a lot of horror fans may think it's a bit too slow of a build up and think it boring. I for one like the time we get to spend with the characters so we have a sense of knowing them. This makes the events to come that much more dreadful. And when they do come, the film does a nice job of tying the beginning into the events that take place, and ultimately it's outcome.

The film does experience some hiccups along the way. It's unfortunate that the obligatory smart ass of the group, Teddy, isn't that funny or endearing like those characters aim to be. Instead he just came across as annoying and I found every time he spoke to be a distraction from the film itself. Another distraction is the dialogue is a bit uneven. At times it seems a bit wooden and others pretty inspired. The scene where the group is welcomed to the retreat seems odd and stilted, whereas a scene where two characters banter about Axl Rose is very genuine and real feeling. The Axl Rose scene may have something to do with the two lead characters, Frank and Megan, having great onscreen chemistry together.

I wouldn't call Silent Retreat a great movie, but I did enjoy the slow churn of the story and the subtlety of the eerie atmosphere as the horror built up. Overall it was a solid flick to watch alone in the dark.

The Girl in the Photographs

The Girl in the Photographs

The Girl in the Photographs has famously become the last film credit of the late, great Wes Craven. Craven worked as a producer so it's hard to say exactly what creative influence he had over the film. But let's not confuse this with being a 'Wes Craven Film', he did not write or direct this, merely produced.

With that out of the way, The Girl in the Photographs tells the story of Colleen (Claudia Lee), a young woman living in the small community of Spearfish. Colleen has a stalker who likes to post images of murdered young women where she will find them. When a Los Angeles photographer (Kal Penn) hears of the story, he feels inspired and travels to Spearfish for a photo shoot based on the dead young women concept.

Ok, right off the bat we have a concept that could go either way. To be perfectly honest, I found the plot of the film to be very strange. And not in a good way. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The opening scene got this film off to a great start. It is powerful and terrifying in its subtlety, is nicely shot, and features a welcome cameo from the always good Katherine Isabelle. Then the rest of the story begins.

Claudia Lee does almost too good a job as the seemingly bored and distraught Colleen. It's unfortunate that her performance itself comes across as bored and in turn her character is completely lifeless. I just couldn't latch on to Colleen and her plight because of this. As if this weren't damaging enough to the film, the rest of the characters don't fare any better in the shallow feeling script.

The technical aspects of the movie do a really good job of setting a menacing tone: the music sounds imposing and intrusive, the lighting and quality look of the set pieces are beautifully eerie, and the icy cold abrupt violence is disturbing. The problem with the film that unfortunately negates all of that good stuff is a lack of character development. When the victims start to get knocked off, I didn't feel too much of a loss because I never was truly invested in any of them. In short: I just didn't really care.

It occurred to me that maybe we were supposed to be rooting for some of these people to die? But the killers were so evil that it was hard to want to see them get their way. The feel of this movie became muddled as it went on; the bad guys were terrible and the characters all felt annoying or completely lifeless.

On a positive note, Kal Penn was fantastic in this. He has this intensity that comes through in his speech that hints at a thousand thoughts going on in his head at the same time. But it never gets annoying or distracting, you just get the feeling that this guy could lose it at any moment.

The Girl in the Photographs turned out to be pretty disappointing. The film has some style and some quick bursts of bloody violence that are filmed very well, but it's not enough to save it from feeling flat. It starts out like a fully inflated balloon, full of promise after an effective opening scene. But as the film plays out the balloon slowly and continuously deflates until, by the end, you're left with something you really have no use for and most likely won't give a second thought to.

Through the Devil's Eyes

Through the Devil's Eyes

The same day David moves into a halfway house after witnessing a traumatic event, one of the house mates is brutally murdered. When people in the house begin to suspect David, he sets out to discover who the real killer is and prove his innocence.

Through the Devil's Eyes is a Giallo inspired, slow burn mystery filmed on a reported $1,500, so it's super low budget. Probably more like no budget. But given that budget and severely limited resources, the end result is technically very impressive and story wise a solid little film. Writer/director RJ Cusyk creates a tense atmosphere full of fleshed out characters, each displaying individual personalities and quirks. Through the Devil's Eyes was able to overcome its micro budget because of the strong script and characters. On a technical note, the grainy look really set the tone of the 1980's and gave it a legit VHS feel and the sound quality was excellent, better than other indie horror films I've seen with probably 50 times the budget as this film had.

The film would have benefited from more wide shots or establishing shots when the location or scene changed, it would have added a stronger sense of location and environment, especially in the beginning when David arrives at the halfway house. There are a lot of up close and tight shots on the characters and their surroundings, I would have liked seeing some of the spaces opened up a bit more.

The markings of a Giallo are all here: a mysterious killer wearing black gloves, anyone possibly being a suspect, brutal kills and bloody deaths, and the focus being on an independent investigator as opposed to the police. In this case David, a suspect, works as the investigator. I believe the deaths could have been a bit more graphic here, splattering a little blood on the wall goes a long way as far as gruesome deaths are concerned. The kills are deemed gruesome by some dripping blood here and there and the amount of blood on the killer's knife. Regarding the story I give the filmmaker credit for paying attention to the tropes of a Giallo and making them as evident as possible. Through the Devil's Eyes is a love letter to the Giallo sub-genre and while the budget definitely held back the blood and gore factor, the script did a good job at conveying the spirit of a Giallo film. It's a character driven mystery sparked by an incident that sends David to the halfway house, an incident that is brilliantly played out and built up throughout the film little by little until it is ultimately revealed.

The acting is solid enough all around with some displaying stronger abilities than other. Tristan S. Bradford who plays Jonathan did an excellent job here, he has a real natural way about the way he speaks that made him seem very in the moment and had him stand out amongst the cast.

In the end I was pretty impressed with what Through the Devil's Eyes was able to deliver: a solid mystery that paid accurate homage to its source inspiration.  

Hell and Back

Hell and Back

After their best friend accidentally gets dragged to Hell, two friends (Remy and Augie) go in after him to get him back.

Hell and Back has the look of Corpse Bride and the attitude of Superbad crossed with The Odyssey. It's a foul mouthed roller coaster ride filled with dirty jokes, filthy insults, and off color humor. And it is pretty damn funny. I will admit that it takes some getting used to watching these computer animated clay-mation characters swearing up a storm. But the sooner you get over that and accept it the better, because it's a hilarious film and one hell of a ride. And to let the cartoon look mixed with adult humor keep you from seeing this movie would be a shame because you'd be missing out on a really good time.

Every scene is meant to make you laugh or shake your head as we see these characters telling very explicit, sexual jokes and swearing almost every fifth word. Of course, with the jokes flying around at such a high volume, not all of them are going to hit or be successful. But I found myself constantly cracking up largely due to the great cast and there superb voice work. Hell and Back combines a winning formula, fusing humor of the new millennium with the screwball feel of 1980's comedies.

Bob Odenkirk as the devil is downright hilarious. His raspy, weak, and almost beaten down, middle management sounding voice runs contrary to the look of the devil and makes for a great character. The contradiction of look and sound is a constant source of humor throughout the film; such a great casting choice!

There is a great running gag throughout the film that shows the various ways the demons "torture" the people in Hell and it is pretty funny and unconventional to say the least. It's just one of the many details that make Hell and Back creative, inventive, and fun. Stick around for the end credits for more on this fun little bit!

The movie starts fast and moves fast. But it seems to start almost too fast. By the 25 minute mark we seem to be in the thick of it already and if I have a very small complaint it's that maybe we could have spent an extra scene or two with Remy and Augie in their real world on Earth before they journey to Hell. Just to get a better sense of character and the relationship between these two, instead of continuing to piece it together as the two are in the midst of their journey in Hell.

The film does seem to meander and stumble a bit to find an ending. The slow down in the action in the final act took me out of the story just a little bit. This may have something to do with the film perhaps starting a little too quickly that left it running out if gas not long after the 1 hour mark (the run time is only 1 hour 25 minutes). The ending isn't exactly a blown opportunity that ruins the fun experience of the rest of the film, but it does hinder it just a bit.

Hell and Back is a really fun movie with a very creative view of Hell that offers a great Odyssey like journey and fantastic voice work. It loses it's way a bit at the end but overall I would definitely say check it out, especially since, as of this writing, it is streaming on Netflix.  

Home

Home

Forced to stay in a new house with her mother and her new wife, the religious Carrie now lives with people she is at odds with. The story takes place over the first two days at the strange house, as Carrie's newlywed mom and her wife leave for a business trip and she must now watch over her young stepsister. As creepy occurrences lead to full blown terror, Carrie must fight to save her little sister.

Our first introduction to Carrie is her being dressed up "because it's Sunday" and praying out loud at the dinner table while her new family is visibly uncomfortable and looking at her like she's a weirdo. The first thing she does is hang up a cross, she apparently sleeps with a bible on her nightstand, she goes to church her first full day there, and of course she listens to Christian music. In terms of storytelling and writing, the character of Carrie is nothing but a stock character at best and is based on the laziest of cliches. The whole religious/gay marriage conflict in the middle of a horror film felt a bit distracting from the film itself and came across as a weak plot mechanism to create some sort of drama to raise the stakes. Right away I started to get a bad feeling about Home.

The film meanders for a while once it hits the second act. The two moms leave on their business trip, some odd things happen here and there, and...well that's about it. There's the religious aspect to create conflict, the house that used to be lived in by an old man who when he died was rumored “to never have left” but unfortunately the script doesn't seem to know how to use all of this to create a compelling story.

While watching her stepsister and amidst the slightly odd but minor goings on, Carrie and her friend Aaron, a boyfriend type who comes to visit, decide to rid the house of any unwanted spirits. Because after about 20 minutes, Carrie decides that's what must be in the house. So after a quick Google search they find a do it yourself exorcism that is "sanctioned by the church". So they do that and are on the couch kissing in no time. I mean, after explaining that sequence of events, do I really need to say why I didn't exactly dig this movie?

By the time anything really starts to happen and the "horror" of this horror movie starts to take place, there's about fifteen minutes left and at that point I just didn't care anymore. The terror at the end probably should have happened at the half way point and the story could have gone from there, a true good (Carrie) vs. evil (the spirit in the house) scenario. At least then her over the top religious convictions would have actually meant something.

To say the least Home was a disappointment. The bright spot in the film was seeing Heather Langenkamp turn in a solid performance in a horror film again, she does a really good job here. Maybe it's enough for some hardcore horror fans to see Langenkamp again in a film like this in order to watch Home, because that's the only real reason to.

Ava's Possessions

Ava's Possessions

This is the story of Ava Dobkins, a woman who is recovering from a recent demonic possession. Forced to attend a Spirit Possession Anonymous group, Ava struggles to pick up the pieces of her interrupted life and remember the events of her month long possession. But when she starts to suffer from horrific visions she realizes that the demon is trying to come back.

I am loving the mixing of genres that has been taking place in horror lately and the explosion of unique films released on video on demand platforms. It really is the best medium to find the best of horror, and there are a lot of great horror films out there and Ava's Possessions is an example of that.

Ava's Possessions doesn't go with the usual dreary and dark look of the typical possession/exorcism film. It instead is awash with fluorescent neon lighting that in turn casts several dark shadows in every scene. It's a fascinating look that gives the cloaked and chaotic yet secretive feel of a dance club. And with all the randomness and violent movements associated with possession, a dance club is a brilliant analogy to underline the look of the film. It has the look of Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives.

The film walks the fine line of drama and dark comedy extraordinarily well. With such a unique storyline tied in with familiar horror territory, the script manages to blend this into the real world in a believable way. Huge kudos go out to writer/director Jordan Galland for creating a stylish and lively and fresh feeling story that for me, so far, is one my favorite films of 2016. Louisa Krause is great in her role as Ava. She embodies Ava as a dark and sensitive and lost character in a way that added strength to the already strong story. Wass Stevens also does great work as the passionate but seemingly tortured group leader of Spirit Possession Anonymous. The cast is rounded out with familiar faces such as Carol Kane, William Sadler, and Lou Taylor Pucci.

At the heart of Ava's Possessions is a haunted film noir where the detective herself is the case file and the assailant can only be found within herself with the puzzle piece help of others. It's a story that is constructed with skill and attention to both genres and kept me interested throughout the film.

The final act falters just a little bit with a climax that comes across as slightly disappointing and quick as compared to the skillful build up of the story throughout the film and a final scene that perhaps didn't need to be there. Although I wish the ending was a bit stronger, the film overall was a very welcome and enjoyable experience both visually and in terms of storytelling.

As of this writing Ava's Possessions is available on Amazon Instant and I suggest you check it out for a unique mash up between film noir and horror that's a lot of fun to watch.