Indie Scene: "The Creek," "Deadly End," and "Ice Kings"

Welcome everyone to the Indie Scene. My name is Tony DeFrancisco, and I have been getting tons and tons of screeners for the past few weeks. So, I have introduced a weekly column called Indie Scene that will be released every Thursday called Indie Scene. This will be basically where I just discuss screeners that filmmakers send to me. If you are a filmmaker and interesting in having your film reviewed for Indie Scene, send me an email at TonyD@FilmArcade.net.


“The Creek”
2007
**½ out of ****
Director: Erik Soulliard
Cast: Kathryn Merry, Brian Jesiolowski, Erik Soulliard


It’s been five years since the “accidental” death of their friend Billy (Tim Jesiolowski), and since then, each of the six friends (Kathryn Merry, Brian Jesiolowski, Erik Soulliard, Dave Foster, Melissa Rhoads, Nancy Soulliard) each seen him once since. They all come back together, go out to the creek where he was killed on the fifth-year anniversary to drink and have fun but most importantly remember Billy. But then someone starts dying, is it someone out in the woods, is it one of them, or is it Billy’s ghost?

“The Creek” starts out really, really good. The storyline is great and the script is doable. It speaks like a Kevin Smith film and doesn’t let a word down (and hell, this could be Kevin Smith’s “Red State,” which is coming next year into theaters). But then once the dialogue ends and the killings starting beginning, “The Creek” becomes tiring, and you begin seeing everything that you saw in “Friday the 13th” but weaker. “The Creek” feels like it’s a moment too long also, but aside from a few problems and the acting, “The Creek” received the same rating that I gave “Hatchet.” If that means anything, it means that it is almost better than a film that got released into theaters.


“Deadly End”
2005
***½ out of ****
Director: Graeme Whifler
Cast: Jack Huston, Pell James, Terry Becker


When Bob and Wendi Petersen (Jack Huston and Pell James) move to Wormwood Drive when Bob gets a promotion, they thought that starting a new life there would make it a perfect place to raise a family. But within the first night, they encounter strange neighbors. Two very deaf old people inhabit their street and crash into their mailbox, but that’s not the beginning. There’s a man across the street from them named Adrien Trumbell, (Nick Searcy) and there is something mysterious about this guy. After putting laxatives in their chocolate, Bob and Wendi had enough, but Adrien has just begun…

The premise of “Deadly End” sounds like a silly revenge comedy, but “Deadly End” is much more than that. It begins slowly, but doesn’t waste a time telling its story. We don’t even begin seeing this Adrien guy until thirty minutes into the movie. By then, the Petersens see mysterious trees, get into an encounter with a creepy electrician, and even get poison oak. The villain, played by Nick Searcy, works well. We know nothing about the guy when we first meet him other than the fact that he listens to a radio show that is so morbid and so frightening that it makes the film look really week. Aside from the ending (because everything has to be so happy), “Deadly End” was a great surprise. It’s really graphic, disturbing, and unforgiveable, but goddamnit do I love it.


“Ice Kings”
2006
***½ out of ****
Director: Craig E. Shapiro
Cast: Jim Lampley, Bill Macatee, Mount Saint Charles Academy Hockey Teams


Already if you put me in front of a hockey movie (or a hockey documentary, if you really want to make me happy), your film will automatically receive a three asterisk rating. Think about it as being biased or not, but I really don’t care. I’ve been watching hockey games for almost all of my life, and been playing it for about five years. And while I have never played ice hockey, the one thing that I’ve always been fascinated with was the story of the Mount Saint Charles Academy hockey team. I really don’t remember how I got a copy of this in the mail and how they received my e-mail address, but whether if it was from Anthony Thurber or not, I received it without knowing what the film was about. And when I put it on, I was gladly surprised to see it was about a tale of one of the greatest high school hockey teams on the planet.

In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Mount Saint Charles Academy has always been known for its outstanding ice hockey team. For twenty-six years, they were brought nothing but championships, but even their tale wasn’t without obstacles. That would have been a boring documentary, but “Ice Kings” isn’t. It’s actually one of the best documentaries that I’ve seen in quite some time. We don’t only get a talk with the coaches, but we get inside with the players and what it was like on the rink. If you asked me what it was like on the pavement, I couldn’t tell you what it is like, but some of these guys are at age 40 or 50, and they still remember. “Ice Kings” is one of the best documentaries that I’ve ever seen. Hockey lovers should all come here.


That’s it for this week’s edition of Indie Scene. Next week I’ll have reviews for three more indie films: “Amateur Porn Star Killer,” “Baystate Blues,” and “Deaden.” So until next week, have a great week!