Welcome to the fifth edition of Indie Scene. I’m still surprised that I’ve been going this long. The last time I went this far at something was… Christ, this may be the longest. Anyway, the fifth edition is a special edition. Instead of reviewing independent films that very little people have heard of, I teamed up with Anthony Thurber of FilmArcade.net’s Reviews From the Horror Chamber. We decided to split up the DVD releases of the After Dark Horrorfest films from last November. The films were released on DVD March 18, 2008.
If you don’t know what After Dark Horrorfest is, you’re in luck. The Horrorfest is in its second year, where eight horror films are released into selected theaters for one week, and usually they are shitty movies. Last year’s Horrorfest only released one good film, “The Gravedancers,” and only released one other in a nationwide theatrical release, “The Abandoned.” In this year’s After Dark Horrorfest, not a single film was given a nationwide theatrical release, which means something. Anthony Thurber and I separated the films so we had four each. Here is my half of the films.
“Borderland”
2007
** out of ****
Director: Zev Berman
Cast: Brian Presley, Martha Higareda, Rider Strong
First up on my list was “Borderland,” the only film in the After Dark Horrorfest series this year that was based on a true story. Three college students (Brian Presley, Jake Muxworthy, Rider Strong) go to Mexico after they graduate, to get high, hallucinate, and schplotz. Once one of the guys goes missing, the other two go looking for him. Many think that he has become captive by a sacrificial cult. The first forty minutes are boring. Nothing really goes on. The students talk about their future, get high, meet women, take mushrooms, and party for a few nights. If you can take “Hostel,” you can take this. The biggest problem with the film is not the pacing issues, however.
For “Borderland,” to be called a horror film is like calling “Horton Hears a Who” a raunchy sex comedy. It’s the farthest thing. Oh, it’s gory, but most of the gore comes in during the first scene. It has the cinematography that Tony Scott used for “Man on Fire,” and it definitely has the feel of “Man on Fire,” but a horror film it is not. The film, unlike many films in the After Dark Horrorfest, actually has some good acting. A lot of the great acting comes from Sean Astin, the same Sean Astin from “Lord of the Rings.” He plays the main villain in the film, unlike his usual portraying of a heroic character. Rider Strong doesn’t add much to the film as much as he should. The rest of the cast does a decent job. “Borderland,” while low on the scares and the story, takes advantage with some good acting. And that is all I can say that was good about it.
“Crazy Eights”
2006
½ out of ****
Director: James Koya Jones
Cast: Traci Lords, Frank Whaley, Dina Meyer
Next up I watched “Crazy Eights.” The film was released prior to the Horrorfest according to IMDb, so I’m guessing that it must be good… right? Actually, it is the worst of the four films that I was scheduled to review. Six childhood friends (George Newbern, Traci Lords, Frank Whaley, Dina Meyer, Gabrielle Anwar, Dan DeLuca) reunite at one friend’s funeral. They follow an address that was on the friend’s will, which ends them up to an abandoned house. They later realize that they were all tortured as tots in that place, where they begin to panic… and say that they have to leave… shit I just gave away the ending, huh?
“Crazy Eights” is the usual After Dark Horrorfest film – filled with shitty acting, shitty direction, shitty scares, shitty plot, but some fantastic fucking marketing. You remember “Captivity” last year? It might as well have been called “Poster,” because that was the best part of the actual film. Nothing was good about that movie… not even the credits. “Crazy Eights” is even worse. We can see the twist coming from the first thirty second of the film and director James Koya Jones never tries to turn it up. It’s bland, boring, and nothing new. This film was worse than last year’s After Dark Horrorfest’s “Wicked Little Things,” and that is saying A LOT.
“Lake Dead”
2007
*** out of ****
Director: George Bessudo
Cast: Kelsey Crane, Jim Devoti, Kelsey Wedeen
Finally. The next film on my list was “Lake Dead,” and it is the best one that I have watched so far. The film isn’t original, but it’s not supposed to be. I should explain. “Lake Dead” is to put as many horror movie clichés as one possibly can. You have the characters that no one likes, drugs, sex, nudity, an inbred family, a death, a will… While I just gave you the plot, I might as well go into further detail. Brielle (Kelsey Crane) and her fiancé Ben (Jim Devoti) wake up to a call from Brielle’s drunk father (Dan Woods), telling them that Brielle’s grandfather has died. In his will, Brielle and her two sisters Sam (Tara Gerard) and Kelli (Kelsey Wedeen) are left with a motel. Brielle and Ben let Sam know that they were going up after the funeral… and Sam goes up there… and gets killed by someone. Along with Brielle, Ben, and Kelli, Ben’s frat-brother Bill, (Alex A. Quinn) his wife Amy, (Vanessa Viola) and Kelli’s friend Tanya, (Malea Richardson) they go camping for a few nights while traveling to the hotel… and then they meet the inbreds in ways that they never wanted to.
“Lake Dead” doesn’t have many scares in it, but it likes to homage some of the great horror films that have bestowed upon us in the past three decades. The film spots clear references to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Last House on the Left,” and many more films. The showdown in the end is a lot like “The Hills Have Eyes,” and it very rarely misses a beat. The worst part about the film is the very bad acting. It is like that they hired all of the steaming hot actresses that acted in Cinemax late-night specials instead of actresses that could act (which really isn’t a problem with me, but let’s be frank here… there is only one pair shown here and it’s not from the lead actress). Aside from that, I really don’t see much problem with Lake Dead. It’s not great, but compared to all of the other After Dark films, “Lake Dead” is a fucking masterpiece.
“Tooth and Nail”
2007
* out of ****
Director: Mark Young
Cast: Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, Rider Strong
The last film I checked out was “Tooth and Nail,” and boy, was this sadly misplaced in the After Dark Horrorfest. It’s the farthest thing from a horror film. The film was more of an apocalyptic science fiction film rather than a horror film. If there were scares, I would like Mark Young, the director, to point them out to me. Hell, a lot of the film was so laughably bad that I would like the guy to show me any REAL humor that was in the film. And you know your movie is bad when Michael Madsen, the best part of “Bloodrayne,” couldn’t even work his magic with this film. But hey, it wasn’t as bad as “Crazy Eights” was. Once the last bit of oil is gone, shit goes downhill. Nothing can run, and people begin to die…
Wait a fucking second – so without oil, people BEGIN to die? What the fuck kind of bullshit is that? Am I fucking missing something here? So you mean to tell ME that without oil, we would all be dead? Jesus Christ some people really need new ideas. What in the hell happened to some great works like “Blood Car?” Anyway, a small group of survivors stay in an abandoned hospital. They are later invaded by cannibals. Yeah, the movie is stupid and so am I for watching it. What I really hated about the movie is how the film tries to rely on the twists and turns, but they all fall short in the end. It’s like watching a M. Night Shyamalan film that falters halfway through the actual twist. It could have been a lot better if the entire film was played cool instead of throwing stupid twists at the audience. In the end, “Tooth and Nail” was a waste of time, just like most of the After Dark films this year. I sure hope Anthony Thurber faired out better than I did…
That’s it for this week’s edition of Indie Scene. Next week, I’ll give you a look into two very different independent films, and one of my favorite independent films that I’ve ever seen. So for now, keep reading, and do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from films from the After Dark guys. There are films like “100 Tears” that need your attention. Anthony Thurber's half will be posted in this week's edition of Reviews From the Horror Chamber.
