Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2016
Images from the Internet
Hank Boyd is Dead
Written and directed by Sean
Melia
Bag of Cats Productions / Loree Lewis
Motion Picture Company
76 minutes,
2014
I have
know quite a few “bubbling under” actors in my life. While the cliché is that
struggling artists are wait staff in diners and restaurants while they anticipate
their big break – and this is somewhat true – but what I have found to be
closer to accurate is that there is more of a tendency to work for catering
companies, both private and corporate. Some have even gone on to more success
running these outfits than acting careers. And that, in part, is the premise of
this film. But more on that in a couple of paragraphs.
Major
films tend to go for the “easy kill,” as it were, with simple premises that
have been proven to satisfy, such as masked killers and the like, repeated over
and over. They’ll take a premise from an unexpectedly successful indie film, for
example Friday the 13th (1980), or Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and then
decimate the story into the ground by a matter of redux (A Nightmare on Elm Street No. 25: Freddy’s got COPD; coming soon,
probably, to a theater near you). If they don’t do an umpteenth sequel, then
it’s either a prequel or a “reboot” to start the series from scratch.
Indies,
however, freed from the burden of corporate sponsors, tend to take chances, hence
most of why the franchises started out as independent releases. Even with old
tried-and-true ideas, they look at things in different ways, such as with this
film.
 |
| Stephanie E. Frame as Sarah |
In
this story with comedic overtones, the action actually starts post-murders, and the death of the
killer, the titular Hank. He has been found hanged in his jail cell after being
arrested for several murders. It’s at that point we meet our protagonist, Sarah
(Stefanie E. Frame), an struggling actor who is on her first day of work as a
caterer. After years of taking care of her ill dad, she arrives at Hank’s
family home to work. Only then is when she learns not only whose house it is,
but that she actually went to high school with Hank a decade earlier. Small
towns are small towns, even in New Jersey.
As
much as Sarah is the central character, it’s the Boyd family (and acquaintances)
that are the real scene grabbers, as each is looney in their own way, much in
the direction of that old stalwart, Arsenic
and Old Lace (1944; if you haven’t seen it, you are missing one of the great horror comedies) or Spider Baby (1967). Mama Boyd is well on
her way to dementia, but enough is left to leave some fear in the viewer and an
understanding of the family history and dynamics. Carole Monferdini does a
stellar jobs shifting from one mode to another, like a light switch, and
keeping her character genuine.
Her
kids are also deranged, such as the youngest, pretty, wide-eyed and not bright
Aubrey (Liv Rooth); her eldest brother is sociopathic (look at those intense
and finely manicured eyebrows!) cop David (David C. Wells). We don’t get to
meet the middle kids, one a sister who has already died mysteriously, and the
titular Henry (ironically named after 1986’s Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer, perhaps?), aka Hank. The other
main character is Ray (Michael Rogan), who is David’s sexual degenerative PO partner.
Papa
Boyd is also long dead, but the apples don’t fall far (etc.), and in fact, each
generation seems to – er – degenerate, or de-evolve. Are we not men? We are
Boyds. As more than one member of the clan is known to say, which in olden days
would be put on a shield in Latin, “It’s what my family does” (Quid mihi est familia, FYI). This is
especially true as the film continually gears up, eventually going past the
tipping point and into ever deeper violence.
All
of the acting here is stellar, and not just for an indie, mini-budget
production. The reason is that the cast is part of the theater scene in New
York (though filmed in Edison, NJ). Pooling the talent of a troupe that has
practice working and thinking on their feet, ready to meet the story head on,
works well for this production.
There
is no nudity, and the blood is kept to a “reasonable” amount, but holding back
actually works for the film because
it doesn’t become a distraction. Rather, it is more effective due to its use
when necessary, rather than “look how many gallons I can use!”
Most
of the filmmaking is pretty straightforward, which is a compliment these days. There’s
a story and they stick to it. That’s not to say it’s not creative, though. Throughout
the film, there are clips from old 8mm family footage and “educational” ones.
While some appear random, others mirror what is happening at that moment on a
more abstractive level. Other are thrown in so fast and seemingly subliminal,
that it’s startling.
I
have no problem calling this a black comedy, but it delves into a deeper, more
murder thriller than horror. Perhaps noir comedy? Obsidian comedy? One of the
problems I have with many horror comedies is that they are rarely story-driven
as much as goofy, such as Scary Movie
(2000; the first one was smart, the rest, well, not so much), A Haunted House (2013) and any one of a
dozen other spoofers like Vampires Suck
(2010). When the mix is both comedy and
horror or dread that follows a decent plot, that’s what gets my attention more
than cramming in as many references as one can because that’s what passes as
cool to these hackneyed filmmakers (I’m talkin’ to you, Wayan Bros).
Fortunately, this one falls into the comedy/dread category rather than spoof
humdrum.
As I
said, the film never lets up, but does not weary the viewer with undo tropes. For
example, there are no long shots of someone walking down a corridor while we
wait for something to eventually leap out at them for a jump scare. What we are
presented with, instead, is a taut dynamic that doesn’t pander, and doesn’t let
go, right to the end. Plus there are some really unexpected moments. Considering
this is the director’s first full length feature, that’s quite impressive.
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