Review: The Supers

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

This is the third of a three-part review series of the films of Yolanda Torres. They are in chronological order, over the past three days. These three films were all written by Joan Alvarez.

The Supers (aka The Supers!)

Directed by Yolanda Torres

aFilm International Film Workshop; Easy Stiges

101 minutes, 2017 / 2020

www.afilm.es/

www.easystiges.com

Recently, comic book superhero films have been mega-gigantic, CGI-driven extravaganzas, with a cast of thousands, a cost of multi-millions, and scenes of destruction left and right. Be it the Marvel or DC universe, it has been mostly the top elite of the super crowd, with the likes of Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, Black Widow, etc.

It’s only been recently that some of the lesser characters have been getting some screen time, with the likes of the Suicide Squad (DC), the Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming The New Mutants (both Marvel), to some success. Well, let me take a step back here, because while that timeline is true of the major film players, the indie films have been busy in that department for years, with varying success (story-wise, not financially). For example, there is the joyous and raucous Kick-Ass (2010), and just on this blog alone, I’ve reviewed some outrageous ones (The Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes, 2004), the humorous superheroes (The League of Superheroes aka The ABCs of Superheroes, 2015), the and then the downright dour and ludicrous (The Rise of the Black Bat, 2012).

Sarah Tyler Shaw and David Chevers

Actually, I find the minor releases more interesting than the X-Men and Justice League superstars, because usually they are shown as more “human.” That is where The Supers comes in. We are introduced into a world where both DC and Marvel characters exist and mutant powers are somewhat culturally normalized, though we never meet them, of course, thanks to copyright laws.

Among those who we do encounter are our three leads, who all live in the City of Justice: first, there is Paul, the Atomic Avenger (David Chevers), whose power is Telekinesis (he can move things or people with his mind, or pop them out and then in where he wants) but suffers from a severe fear of the dark; Tyler, the Restoress (Sarah Tyler Shaw), has the power to heal but is OCD and has a fear of germs; and then there is Stan Kirby (great name that’s a mix of combo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which is – err – Marvelous) who is Pulseman (Ross Ellis), and whose power is EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) and has debilitating claustrophobia.

Heading it off is Dark Ness (Claudia Trujillo), who can use mental control but has narcolepsy, and whose costume looks a bit like Darth Vader’s (or perhaps Dark Helmet’s, from 1986’s Spaceballs), who has dreams of being a supervillain instead. Her lone henchman is a security guard named Frank (Marco Dollenz), one of my two favorite characters in the film for some reason.

Marco Dollenz and Claudia Trujillo

The essential premise is that this threesome’s minor powers are overshadowed by their weaknesses, so their Superhero licenses are rescinded, and they are forced to take the most menial of jobs (e.g., telemarketer), which even with that they struggle for various reasons.

But, of course, there is an assignment given to them by the superhero Powers That Be through Bob (Ian Breeds), to join together and retrieve a stolen object that is important to those Powers. Are they up for the task? We find out starting with the Second Act of the film.

This is both a simple story and a complex one, because of the human element (i.e., very Marvel-esque in that way). The characters are all likeable, even Dark Ness and Frank. Everyone is trying to live their lives with all its foibles, and yet most still do some good in the world. This mix of simple comic book-level story with a tendency not to talk down to its audience or complex characters gives the viewer a sharp new look at a (especially recently) well-used theme of superheroes; yes, even the complicated and conflicted ones, like Batman and Spiderman.

There is a very sharp and dark sense of humor and self-awareness that flows through the veins of the story, without it being – dare I say it – too comic book-ish. Even with the comic book framework of “cells” that separate scenes, this is more story and heart than bang-bang (though there is some of that, as well). Barcelona is a beautiful city, and we get to see some angular buildings that fit well into that “cell” framework, though I wonder about all the empty streets that we see; I found that kind of interesting and distracting at the same time, but that’s just me.

Oh, and by the way, my second favorite character is the Pizza Guy (Marc Dennis), perhaps for his involvement in anchovy pizzas, which happens to be my favorite kind (seriously). Meanwhile, I really feel it would be cool if this would continue and there could be sequels, but kept at this level, not as a mega-film.

The Supers trailer HERE.

Review: The Forsaken

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

This is the second of a three-part review series of the films of Yolanda Torres. They will be in chronological order, over three days. These films were also written by Joan Alvarez.

The Forsaken

Directed by Yolanda Torres

aFilm International Film Workshop; Easy Stiges

86 minutes, 2015 / 2020

www.afilm.es/

www.easystiges.com

Tales of kidnapping for ransom gone awry are certainly not new. Even back in 1907, short story maven O. Henry wrote an iconic one with a comic bent called “The Ransom of Red Chief,” for example.

Of course, this account takes itself quite a bit more seriously, if not with a profound sinister and possible supernatural tone. Five British and Spanish kidnappers for hire, with Tarantino-eque names like Mr. Blake, Mr. Quartermass, Mrs. Peel (who wears tight leather pants; what, no Mr. Steed?) and Number Two (Alberto Esparza), have grabbed schoolgirl Sara (Claudia Trujillo playing younger than her years, but looks well in the part) under the orders of an unknown and unseen contractor, aka Number One. The goal is to extract a tidy sum from Sara’s well-to-do businessman father.

Alberto Esparza and Claudia Trujillo

The place they take Sara is a beautiful old stone house (shot at Casa Felix, Olivella, near Barcelona) in the middle of flippin’ nowhere, where she is tied up. Except for Mrs. Peel (Sarah Tyler Shaw), no one really takes any time to try to connect to the rightfully scared bound and blindfolded girl, which is understandable considering the circumstances.

But, being a horror film, if you can’t tell by the title, there is more afoot than meets the eye in the creaky abode (man, I really love what we see of this house!). We get creaky sounds from the locked basement, enough creepy atmosphere to figurately blow the doors off with, and five criminals who do not trust the others in their own group.

In the first half, at least, there seems to be a heavy reliance on The Haunting (1963) where you don’t actually see anything other than objects hinting at evil, such as a key twisting in a lock over some highly dissonant music to set the appropriate mood. That and the fact the people in the house cannot physically bring themselves to leave (a nice way to keep them around without damaging the house).

Sarah Tyler Shaw

More meat’n’taters than Torres’ previous release from the year before, The Afterglow (2014), but this still keeps up the artistic level, applied with more as an emphasis than a hindrance. There is a strong use of shadows (showing off, among other things, Shaw’s amazing cheekbones), dark filters, and angles that are just skewed enough to be off-putting, often without being conscious. Plus, there is that deep, mysterious bass sound that occurs to jangle the viewer’s nerves.

Without trying to give away too much, there is definitely an Evil Dead (1981) vibe going on here, with a malevolent force emanating from – well, it’s pretty apparent right off – that possesses the kidnapping krew one by one, in some way or another, often through the visual as a theme (eyes, mirrors, etc.). Instead of a Necronomicon, there is a box of notes written in diary form. A cool aspect is that the next victim’s name appears in blood somewhere, but you don’t know who that is because they are all using pseudonyms. That is another great touch.

While filmed in Spain, it is an English-spoken film (with Spanish subtitles). For me, the only drawback was the accents, which are quite strong in some of the players, from both the British and Spanish actors. Speaking of which, I wonder about Sara’s eye make-up: while raccoon-eyed style, it does not seem to smear, even though she has been crying profusely and is blindfolded. Ah, the magic of movies!

The gore, however, is infrequent and all the more shocking because of it. Sometimes gore can enhance a mood, but here it’s the moments of it that tie the tone to the story.

The acting is all amazing, and the characters are nicely fleshed out in terms of personality even without much of a backstory, considering they are anonymous even to each other. That being said, by far the women have the strongest fortitude.

As possession films go, this one is actually quite good, with a creepy, crawly overall mood, in part thanks to the lighting of the stone interior, the soundtrack, and bass that rumbles through numerous scenes and the off-set camera that I discussed earlier. Any one of those things could work, but Torres manages to mash them together into a terse and tense piece of genre cinema that is a beauty to watch.

The Forsaken trailer HERE.

Review: The Afterglow

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

This is the first of a three-part review series of the films of Yolanda Torres. They will be in chronological order, over three days. This particular film was also co-directed by Joan Alvarez, who wrote or co-wrote all of them.

The Afterglow

Directed by Yolanda Torres and Joan Alvarez

aFilm International; Easy Stiges

101 minutes, 2014 / 2020

http://www.afilm.es/

www.easystiges.com 

Despite being an English-language film from Spain, the accents are definitely on the British side, so this has a continental feel but still remains familiar throughout. Originally designed as a web series, it remains nearly episodic and we are presented with a series of scenes, or set pieces, usually broken up by the main character, English professor and writer Oliver Price (Paul Coster), moodily staring into space by some body of water while smoking a cigarette and seeing visions of spirits.

Paul is in the process of mourning his brother, David (Charlie Anderle), who died of a mysterious degenerative disease. He projects his missing of him on being protective of David’s girlfriend (wife?), Laura (Claudia Trujillo, appearing in most of Torres’ films), who is suffering from memory loss after a fall from the window of the apartment she shared with David. Now Oliver is taking care of her for his own reasons.

Claudia Trujillo and Paul Coster

Meanwhile, as the story continues, the mood swirls around them in minimalist style. The soundtrack is a soft and dissonant plunking of the piano in a redundant theme that is used throughout the entire endeavor, there are many atmospheric shots which are supported by the fine editing, and it does take its time. Jump scares are nary to be seen, future information is hinted at through shots of a woman beaconing underwater, and mysterious people standing around in sunglasses. The dialog is sparse, and the tone is quiet. You know all of these are hints of things to come, and that it is going to take its time getting there, but you know there will be some kind of bomb of awareness down the road. Meanwhile, it feels like the film is on cruise control, and that is quite great, actually. I love the lure of a story.

Smokin' by the seaside

Laura is a bit of an enigma going in: is she a siren, a wraith, a psychic energy vampire as in Lifeforce (1985) who lives off the energy of others, or just misunderstood? How much of what is happening around Oliver is in his mind? He certainly keeps seeing others who silently pop in and out around him, including David. His ex-girlfriend and ex-student Helena (Sarah Tyler Shaw, another Torres regular), who is battling cancer, and David’s landlord, are mistrusting of Laura while David is fighting his feelings for her. Meanwhile, I am a bit cagy about Paul himself, being a Woody Allen-type who seems to pick vulnerable, younger women when he is a position of power, as professor or provider/caretaker. A scene of him watching Laura sleep really creeped me out, though I don’t believe that was the intention.

While shock scares are not the theme of the film, certainly tension is, as the shadows and mysterious goings-on increase over time. Many of the hints are literally literary, which is interesting as Paul is a English prof, such as “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (though I’m not clear if it’s from the Ray Bradbury novel or the Macbeth quote), and number mentions of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw (as a quick digression, James was one of the worst classic writers of the early 20th Century; learn how to finish a damn sentence, sir!). This motif lends itself well to the film itself being broken up into acts (i.e., chapters), complete with title cards.

If you are looking for an adrenaline rush kind of horror film full of chainsaws, machetes and mayhem, well, look somewhere else. This is an introspective one that fares even better on a second watch, to get some fine points that may have been missed (I did that, and was glad I did). It certainly isn’t the feel good movie of the year, nor is it sparked with humor. However, if you are still interested in a decent body count that does not rely on copious amounts of blood, and like a good brooding mystery along with some great acting, a good looking cast and a well-shot film, have I got one for you!

Review: A Knight’s Tour

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

A Knight’s Tour

Directed by Marvin Choi

Fugitive Frames; Terror Films

77 minutes, 2018 / 2020

www.facebook.com/aknightstour

www.aknightstourmovie.com

Perhaps it’s a post-Covid 19 world, or maybe even a zombie apocalypse. Whatever brought our two characters into proximity to each other in the middle of nowhere, we are there with them.

Humorously, the joke is the “Black guy” is the first to get killed in genre films, yet here we have a two-person story, both of whom are African-American. This is the first feature I can remember other than Sleuth (1972) to consist of only a duo of actors.

Darnel Powell and Joseph Price

Injured, Joseph “JD” Dauber (Darnel Powell) stumbles upon the humble abode of elder Henry LaMoe (Joseph Price) in the middle of some mighty hills (filmed in California). Like 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), the homeowner is suspicious of the newcomer, and promptly locks him in chains less than 5 minutes into the film, so hopefully I am not giving a spoiler to anyone. The irony of a Black man chaining up another Black man is something that can be discussed at length, obviously, but I am not going to go into that right now. Needless to say, this is more of a psychological drama than an action-packed shoot-‘em-up.

Unlike John Goodman’s modern and spacious underground lair, Henry’s home is more of a wooden shack, with no running water (and though unseen, I am assuming an outhouse). It’s a backwater hovel that is probably way more realistic to the situation than the big budget Goodman sci-fi film.

The story takes place with enough years after “the outbreak” (sounding scarily familiar to our modern times) that JD, I’m thinking in his mid-20s, pretty much grew up in the post-apocalypse to the point of where it has become somewhat the new normal for him. Old school Henry is not as sure of his footing in this abandoned world of understandable paranoia and clings to the cabin and his past. Everyone he has cared about is gone, and he faces the world alone. That’s when JD comes into the picture.

Naturally, there is suspicion at first that slowly builds into a necessary friendship between the two, though trust is harder to come across in this world of short supplies and roving gangs. As much as the game of chess is a central motif, including the title, Henry and JD try to figure each other out while keeping their own “king” on guard against being hurt, or worse. For them, it’s a game of literal survival.

This is an odd choice to be reviewed on this blog, because despite its internal time period, technically the film is not what one would normally place in a horror or thriller genre. It’s more a psychological piece of two strangers who are trying to survive their surroundings as things change from what has become the routine. JD’s world changes more often as he is roaming, but for Henry, it is much harsher, like the lick of a cat: it’s something you may crave, but the roughness does not always make it easier.

Both Powell and Price fit their roles well, with JD being curious and almost casual about what is happening around him (sort of a personification of the look Willem Defoe gives Amy Madigan when she bursts into his room with a gun in 1984’s Streets of Fire). Henry is more intense and tightly wound, having spent years on his own with no one to share his thoughts. His humanity is on the line, and JD willingly or involuntarily has the ability to shine some reflection on that area. Or, perhaps, he has some other nefarious aims that come to light when Henry finds out just how JD survives.

This is a first full-length feature film for director Marvin Choi, who also wrote and edited it. Man, if this is his first, I can only imagine where he can go, say, by 10 years from now. Again, if you are expecting a “The Walking Dead,” change the channel. Sure, there is some serious tension here, but if what you seek is an intelligent dance between two lost souls who are seeking out any hint of humanity left in the world, I strongly recommend this release.

Review: Lycanimator

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Lycanimator

Directed by Sébastien Godin

C-Word Productions; Melting Man Films; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment

41 minutes, 2018 / 2020

www.facebook.com/Lycanimator

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdentertainment.com

Just going in, merely by the title, I’m going to predict this is about a (green) formula that turns people into werewolves. That’s what the combo title seems to imply, mashing lycanthropy and the title of the 1985 Stuart Gordon (d. 2020, RIP) classic, The Re-Animator.

First off, it is important to know that this film is short. I mean, the story part clocks in at just over 30 minutes, with almost eight minutes of slow crawl credits, stills with the actor’s names, and a brief Marvel Universe-esque tag at the end. It probably could have been cobbled together with three others to make it a feature-length anthology. But y’know what, that’s okay, it’s the story that counts, and let’s get on to it.

A bunch of friends take a trip to stay at a secluded house. We don’t get to learn much about the history of these two couples and the third wheel (classic trope), but we sure get an idea of their personalities.

Jonathan E. Smith

First off, there’s milquetoast Jeff (Jonathan E. Smith). I don’t know about this guy, as he looks pretty young, wears a lot of eyeliner, and his hair is dyed black while his scrabbly beard is either blond or red. Mostly, he is a buzzkill, seeming always negative. His girlfriend is May (Cayt Feinics… wait, pronounced cat phoenix? It's probably Kate). She is a tattooed gal who is mostly in control of the relationship, but seems to put up with Jeff’s nonsense. The second couple is Brian (Kii Hornick) and Nikki (Briana Wyman). Brian is a tall, thin and violent bully and a total douche tough guy to everyone, especially Nikki. Oh yeah, you hope from early on that he will be part of the body count. Nikki is a cute, multi-pierced redhead who for some reason also puts up with her boyfriend. The last is Allie, who organized the get-together; we never see her sober, so I know nothing about her except, “Oo-hoo, par-taaay.”

Essentially what this film does is it takes the usual first act, where we are introduced to the characters, and truncates the standard first 20 minutes or so into about 5 minutes. In that time, we are also presented with the standard “warning older man” character, Niven (Scream King and filmmaker Joel D. Wynkoop, who has been in films like Clownado, Dreaming Purple Neon, $kumbags, and the classic Creep, most of which were reviewed on this blog) who in this case, is more of a key to the story than just an ignored sideman.

Joel D. Wynkoop

The secluded house (as opposed to a cabin in the woods) that our jolly travelers have rented to spend the weekend has a dark secret past concerning a Herbert West-ish scientist who has invented the (yes, green, albeit not florescent) formula for, well, you know, and has conveniently left some of it in a jar in the basement (rather than a book that raises demons). When one of our intrepid quintet meets up with the goo, we go to act two and body-count city.

The creature looks both cool and silly at the same time. We’re definitely dealing with miniscule budgets, and it’s so obviously a person in a mask with a costume cobbled together, but because the filmmakers just accepted it for what it is, I believe so should we in cases like this (one of the joys of non-$$ filmmaking, in my opinion). I mean, the beastie is no An American Werewolf in London or Dog Soldiers creature, but you get what you get, if you get what I mean. There is a decent head-only version (for biting) that looks cool, designed by the one-and-only puppet master, Dustin Mills.

Lots of cameos abound in this short piece, most of them literally phoned in. In other words, they appear merely as voices usually on the telephone, such as filmmaker James Balsamo, actor Michael O’Hear, and 1980s Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice (who appeared in films by Argento and Fulci, among others).

There is some interesting editing and visual FX thrown in, such as the gratuitous cameo scene with Niven and truck driver Ben (cult director Todd Sheets) – despite terrible sound quality – as Niven grabs hold of a Bowie knife. The gore, however, is all practical SFX, rather than digital.

There is also a bit of subtle humor that runs throughout, such as when the werewolf thingy is chasing one of our campers, it stops to close the pocket door to the room. Wait, what? My fave though, is a line from Officer Tony (Alberto Giovannelli): “Sweet Christmas Jesus on toast!”

The extras are few, but nice. There are selected trailers (though not for this film), a 4-minute Making Of that focuses in on the director that is short and sweet, and the inclusion of one of Godin’s 13-minute shorts, “Fleshflower.” In it, a young woman is dying, I am assuming, as she is bleeding out her mouth profusely. She eats from a mysterious flower with dire effects. It’s a nice piece with some really artistic editing and minimalist sound.

Review: Catch of the Day 2: You Die at Dawn!

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Catch of the Day 2: You Die at Dawn!

Directed by James Balsamo

Acid Bath Productions

90 minutes, 2020

www.facebook.com/youdieatdawn

www.acidbathproductions.com

Man, in some ways, going Hollywood has changed James Balsamo. He usta put out lots of films that were independent of each other, but since he has moved Coasts, this is his fourth sequel (i.e., Cool as Hell 2; Killer Waves 2; and the soon to be released I Spill Your Guts 2). Plus, this is his first feature I can remember seeing without Frank Mullen. What’s the fuck is going the fuck on?! Okay, while all that is true, I kid because I both like James and his films, as odd as they tend to be, especially recently. But I miss ya, Frankie boy. But I digress…

One of the genius moves of Balsamo (yeah, I’m using that term and I’m going there some more) is that everything he does is technically or socially (these days) wrong, or at least not PC, and yet that’s what makes it work, much in the way that “All in the Family” and Blazing Saddles (1974) did decades ago. His films are examples of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” And I admire that.

James Balsamo and Mikaela Moody

There is a lot you are going to have to accept to get into this, and possibly change your mindset. You will have to get beyond the sexism (use of terms like “chicks,” a focus on horny fratboy-style sex, and lots of bare boobage), infantile humor (usually sexual snickering), bongs (a consistency in a Balsamo production), and plots (when he gets around to them) that make as much sense as the song “A Whiter Shade of Pale” or “On Top of Spaghetti.”

But he is also extremely self-depreciating, with his characters being a force of ego, narcissism, and ultimately getting insulted by just about everyone, especially in cameo segments (I’ll get to that in a mo). For this film, Balsamo again plays the central character of police detective Rod Davis… hell, let’s face it, it’s the same “character” that he plays in all his films, but it is such a joyous train wreck of a human, it’s also a ton of fun to watch. Anyway, Rod – like Balsamo – has moved from Long Island to the sunnier climes of Cal-eye-for-nigh-yay. He has left behind his sister and ex-partner (who are now married, as seen in flashbacks), and has recently joined in copper partnership with Mark Kahn (Ash Kahn; I am assuming that a pseudonym), who he treats badly without even a second thought.

James Balsamo, Tim Dax, Ash Kahn

The pair are on the trail of a machine-wielding female serial killer who has a skull face mask and wears a Nazi uniform or purple KKK robe and hood. Well, that’s the essential backbone, but it certainly is not the whole skeleton of a story. In pure Balsamo style, what we are presented are a series of set pieces that tend to not have much to do with the narrative as much as a chance for Balsamo to show his muscle, both figurative and literally. They are held together by his character’s narrating, shots of Davis’ girlfriend Beth (Mikaela Moody) exercising or eating, some b-roll including images of the ground taken from an in-flight airplane, and lots of cameos (yeah, I’m getting there; wait for it). It’s almost like a series of short stories of a few minutes each strung together like an anthology. Again, this really works well for Balsamo’s style of sharp-shooter comedy. It never waits around on any particular bit to get boring.

As for the killer behind the mask, well, that is pretty easy to figure out, but it does not matter, because the story is pretty secondary to the action (including two long clips of Sarah Michelle solo twerking in a bikini) and especially the humor. You see, with Balsamo, the humor is the lynch-pin. Sure, most of it is middle school level, but look at the success of such fare as the American Pie and Porky’s franchises. This is both on that level, but is self-reflective and blatant about it, not pretending to be something else, so I actually respect this more.

The three main cast members are rather good, though Moody doesn’t really have much to do on her screen time other than jog and stretch, Kahn is mostly just angry albeit looks funny in the banana suit, and as for Balsamo… His acting skills (at least in his own films) is extremely gung-ho, purposefully without hardly any shades of subtly, but that is the character, so it is successful. Davis is about as deep as Trump on meth, so Balsamo plays it to the balls.

Then there are the cameos (told yaz it was comin’). Ah, yes, that is Balsamo’s shtick, his bailiwick, his wheelhouse, his raison de vivre. His passions are films and music, and he uses legions of participants from both in cameo roles, including the likes of Kreskin, John Amplas (the lead of Romero’s 1977’s Martin), Bill Weeden, Katherine Pegova (winner of Miss Russia), the omnipresent kameo king Shawn C. Phillips, tattooed bodybuilder Tim Dax, American Idol contestant VolKillz, professional wrestler Jake “The Snake” Roberts… and I’m only scratching the surface.

As I said above, there is a lot of gratuitous female nudity (and Balsamo’s bare/bear arms), ample cleavage and booty shakin’ for those who appreciate that sort of thing. There is also gore galore, much of it slimy and stringy like your mouth when it’s snotty. Yeah, it’s gloriously gross.

                                                                                             

Despite all the outlandishness that is here, and it comes in buckets, there are also subtle moments that I found hysterical, such as the blink-and-you-miss-it ending of Moody’s eating of a strawberry. It makes me wonder what I may have missed, and want to watch it again, which I will do after I finish writing this.

Catch of the Day 2 trailer and film HERE.

Review: Beyond the Shadows

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Beyond the Shadows

Directed by David James Gustafson

Great Gus Productions

93 minutes, 2020

https://www.greatgusproductions.com/

There is an entire subgenre on the topic of a collective of ghost hunters, ranging from the big budget ones like The Haunting (1962), The Legend of Hell House (1973),  Poltergeist (1982), and The Conjuring (2013), to mostly indies like Grave Encounters (2011), Todd Sheet’s Ouija Death Trap (2014), and this one. The major differences are the smaller funded releases tend to be in the found footage (FF) style; this one is a mixture of both FF and linear (though it all appears to be hand-held camera action).

Brianna Piage Dague, Tyler Roy Roberts, Tyler Ryan

During the extended eight-minute prologue before the opening credits, we meet the ghost hunter crew who host a cable television show called, of course, “Beyond the Shadows.” Led by the dashing family man and aptly-named Drexler “Drex” Faust (Tyler Roy Roberts), they include his assistant and “ladies man” Jonathon Coxman (Sam Olive), and their cameraman, Sammy (Westin Hedin), the latter of whom talks in an annoyingly profane, “bro” and “dude” language that gets on the nerves quite quickly. You may notice that name of the roles are easily identifiable with traits related to the film; it’s a fun game to connect the meanings and the characterizations.

You can see lots of shows like this on cable, as well, such as “Ghost Hunters,” “Ghost Adventures,” and so many others. Where’s James Randi when you need him, eh? We are getting there...

Like many of those programs, “Beyond the Shadows” is a bunch of entrepreneurs (i.e., fakers) trying to cash in on peoples’ fear of the unknown, death and the afterlife. Their next gig, and the major portion of this film, deals with the Chetco River Lodge, Washington State, where a couple of white settlers apparently killed a large number of Native Americans in the mid-19th Century. And, Drex is filled with hubris that you know, if you follow these kinds of films, is going to bite him and the group in the ass.

Gabrielle Malate

For this new venture, they are bringing others along (collectively known as the body count). Of course, there is the detractors and debunkers, in this case Dr. Calvin Harding (Cameron Lee Price) in the Great Randi role, with his assistant Dr. Emma Bright (Stevie Mae), and his own cameraperson and younger brother, Keith (Alex McIntire), to give another angle for editing the film I am assuming; smart move. While most of the film crew are worried about bringing the doc along, they are to be joined by psychic Phantasma Spectre (Gabrielle Malate) and “superfans” hot-for-Drex Ashley (Brianna Paige Dague), hot-for-Drex Rooster (Tyler Ryan) who is an amateur taxidermist in his “gay-rage,” and stoner Lou (Apostolos Gliarmis), who is apparently really into deli-meat sandwiches. Also joining along are the crew’s friend, producer and on-air talent Bryan (Derrick Woodrin), and “groupies” (as Coxman calls them) Holly (Ella Anderson) and Eve (Lindsay Gustafson).

While a dark comedy, bits of it is pretty broad, such as the characterization of Monty (Ty Boice), who runs the Lodge. He is neat, tidy, particular and peculiar. You know he knows more than he is letting on, as he is quite joyous about the hauntings.

Despite the comedy, there is a serious element in here as well, and that is the European/Settlers treatment of the Native Americans. Bryan has a concentrated speech about some of that, which I’m sure will just go over the heads of many stoned and drunk viewers of the film who may consider this part a downer, but I really am glad they are addressing it. This will be a key, underlying theme to the film that will tie everything together.

About the half-way point, the film kicks into a new gear as the group convenes at the lodge, and we get to meet all the new and relevant characters at once. It is a large group of nearly a dozen, so there is a chance for lots of bodies to pile up.

Alex McIntire, Cameron Lee Price

There is tension in the four groups, between the film crew who is trying to put one over on the skeptics, the scientists who not only disbelieve in spirits but are quite perturbed about it all, the uber-fans who are excited to be there in creepy fanboy (and girl) ways, and the psychic (a group of one).

Throughout the film there are flickers to indicate video “noise,” which I am going to guess are subliminal images, but I’m watching this online and my computer doesn’t do frame-by-frame; that’s something you may look forward to doing.

The effects are… well, the physical SFX look good, but thanks to budgetary constraints, most of the killings are done out of camera sight. However, the after-effects look great. There is one major digital FX that looks kind of cartoonish, but being a micro-budget release and the fact they only do that once that I can tell, I’ll let it pass as it did not ruin the experience of the whole film for me. Most of the acting is rather good, with Roberts, Woodrin and Malate coming off the best.

This film is truly a Gustafson family affair, with a few actors and a surprising number of the crew carrying the surname. Kudos for that, as I’m sure that cut the costs enormously (if it was done right).

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows that I am not necessarily a fan of FF films, but combining it with a more standardized format (though handheld), makes it more palatable. As for the story, it was surprisingly interesting and even though there is easily 10 minutes that could have been excised from the final cut (such Racoon’s taxidermy story in the driveway), this kept my interest, especially during the second half. So, dude, if you are a bro and want to see some better-than-Paranormal Activity action, this may be your slice of pie. Shall we put it on in the gay-rage? You can see the full film for free on YouTube HERE.