Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror
Films, 2013
Images from the Internet
Scorpio Rising
96 minutes, 2012 / 2013
www.WildEyeReleasing.com
www.MVDvisual.com
Okay, I’m going to admit it. Richard
Griffin is becoming one of my favorite indie horror directors. He has covered many
different sub-genres in his films such as The
Disco Exorcist (2011) and the stunning Exhumed
(2011), and now this one, which is homage to ‘80s slasher movies. Of course,
the comparisons are inevitable with the Scream
franchise, but I’m not going there; I don’t really feel a need to do that
because the Wes Craven film had a budget of about $15 million, and this was
shot for a mere $6,000, and yet accomplishes so much.
Images from the Internet
Murder
University
Directed by Richard
GriffinScorpio Rising
96 minutes, 2012 / 2013
www.WildEyeReleasing.com
www.MVDvisual.com
This picture follows many of the formulaic
cliché’s that crop up in these kinds of films, but it is rarely done as well, in
this tongue-in-cheek way. For example, there is the obligatory “prolog” that
sets up future events. This takes place in 1983, at a college in Massachusetts
(though was filmed in Rhode Island, as is most of Griffin’s releases). Most of
the time, the rest of the film is in “the present,” but this one is set just a
year later, with anyone hardly caring about the ghastly events that took place
on the campus of “Murder U’ (i.e., “murder you”). Apparently there is a devil
masked (and hooded cloaks, of course) group using sharp objects such as axes
and knives to create some serious damage.
But let me back up a bit for a moment
to make a comment on that opening sequence.
Did not see the surprise coming; I let out a big laugh and a wow, which
is quite the statement after having seen slashers since Joan Crawford’s Strait-Jacket! (1964). This moment alone
tells you that you are not going to see a standard, run-of-the-mill chop-em-up.
The story is written by Lenny Schwartz
with flair towards both the gruesome and the funny bone. Most of the comedy is
not played for broad laughs, but rather it’s done smartly and on occasion, such
as a running joke with the main character’s mother. My favorite though, and
this was extremely subtle, was the password for getting into a frat party by
saying a password to a redneck (wearing a Stars and Bars toga) at the door,
which is a line from James Brown’s “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
But the writing is only one of the
pillars that make this a strong and multiple (festival related) award-winning
film. Another is the look of it. The picture is HD and clear, including the
night scenes. The use of RGB colors for the lighting, especially in the night
and forest locales is beautiful, giving it a nice ‘80s Creepshow (1982) feel,
but with a clearer and sharper image, and applied subtly (there’s that word
again) rather than garishly, as most use it.
The next pillar is the acting. Griffin
tends to use many of the same folks in multiple releases, and this seems wise
(though I miss the team of Reed and Nicklin). Many of the cast come from the
New England the-yay-tah crowd, so
they know how to nail a scene quickly and accurately. Yes, there is a bit stage
overplaying here and there, but it seems less as time and films go on. The
three main characters are strong in both writing and presention.
Michael Thurber |
Griffin stalwart Michael Thurber is
solid, period. Sure, he was a bit goofy in The
Disco Exorcist, but his Exhumed
performance was a nuanced tour de force. Here, he plays the aggressive, loner,
verbally vulgar police detective Forresster with a deeply buried soft spot.
From what I understand, this slovenly character, who wears a Columbo-type overcoat,
is far from Thurber’s real personality (he wore a tux to the film’s premier,
for example), but his naturalistic acting ability makes the detective come
alive.
Samantha Acampora |
His daughter and co-sleuth, Meg, whose
mother had been killed by the demon-masked killers when she was a wee lassie,
is portrayed by the very fetching Samantha Acampora. With those lips and doe
eyes, man, I would have had such a crush on her in college. Luckily, she’s a
naturalistic actor, and takes the kind of female-lead-yet-support role as if
she were part of that personality, which is falling in love with the central
character, Josh.
Jamie Dufault |
I know I’ve seen Jamie Dufault,
somewhere, but I cannot remember where. However, here he takes the lead. Though
obviously diminutive (most characters tower over him), he creatively works both
the shy-virgin and passive-aggressive sides of his character with
conviction. Josh is a shy lad with a sad
secret who is starting college (like much of his classmates, he’s obviously
older than the part he’s playing, but that’s pretty endemic in the genre, so
I’ll move on). He is a wide (blue) eyed
youth who leans towards sweater vests (there is some kind a running motif where
many characters wear horizontal striped shirts, including a Freddy Kruger
colored one worn by Meg) and deer-in-headlight reactions. But you know there is
an itch tugging inside him (again, the genre). One thing I found interesting,
and this really has nothing to do with anything per se, but Jamie has a couple
of interesting “tells,” where he will either turn his head or lick his lips as
the excitement level is ramping up, or a key comment is about to be spoken.
There is also an exceedingly large
support cast (all the better for sizable body count), and I need to comment
here. Again from a theater background, they run from the average looking to the
attractive (e.g., Elyssa Baldasssarri and Tonya Free). Plus there are a number
of outstanding basically secondary or even tertiary characters which stand out,
such as Sean Sullivan as a leather jacketed insane thug, and especially Aaron
Peaslee as a tool DJ, Juicy K. Thunder (who, in a throwaway line, mentions his
college radio show called “Morning Mishegas”); check out his dancing in the DJ
booth in the background at a gay strip club (where Forresster frequents for –
er – coffee). You may not notice him at first, but if you do, he’ll steal the
scene. Oh, and there is also a police investigator who looks alarmingly like
(but is not) disgraced ex-Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
Griffin has quickly developed into a
decent filmmaker. His shots inside a particular modernistic building are a good
example. He uses the frosted glass stair landings in a way to show movement
that is quite lovely, and the first time we see Josh walking through the
building, the stairs and floors almost look like an MC Escher drawing.
Along with the remarkably large body
count, there is also a fair number of gore scenes (without being “gore porn”)
which are sometimes amusing, but most times well done. The only effect that
gave me pause was a scalping that looks good for the effect itself, but it
almost looks like the knife isn’t really touching either the head or the scalp.
Otherwise, every other effect, from different levels of beheadings with a knife
to more subdued killings (such as using shadows, or in one case, showing
someone at knee level). What is also nice is that these killers are not gender
specific. In other words, it’s not just females that are hacked, but rather
everyone within range, including some guy getting an ax (the weapon of choice
here), well, let’s just say sharp edge up.
The extras include some trailers
(including two of Griffin’s I mentioned here) from Wild Eye Releasing and a
deleted scene. There are also two commentaries. One of them includes a number
of the cast (excluding the two male leads) which occasionally gets overwhelming
trying to tell who talking, though it’s still worth a listen because they do
manage to put out a lot of information. The other track is the director and
writer, which is more interesting, though I suggest listening to both if that
interests you.
It’s nice to see a horror film with
humor that doesn’t rely on Adam Sandler-level toilet jokes, but rather is quite
intelligent, along with some twists and turns that have some originality to
them. And besides Thurber’s perfect nuances, Dufault has a delicious sense of
timing, and can spit out dialog that is clear and emotive/empathetic. There are
lots of surprises here, but one that isn’t is the consistency of Griffin’s
output, as all his films have a shine on ‘em. I look forward to seeing the
projects that came after this, including Dr.
Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead and especially Normal.
No comments:
Post a Comment