Review: Safe House 1618

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Safe House 1618
Directed by Calvin T. Shepherd
Outsiders Film Company; Black Sparrow Media; High Octane Pictures
102 minutes, 2021 / 2022
www.facebook.com/calvintshepherdfilms
www.octanemultimedia.com/

There is no question the three Holt sisters are badass, possibly the most I have seen since the trio in House of Bad (2013). They are on a mission for revenge, which is how we are introduced to them in the prologue. Even with full masks and not speaking for this part, you start to get a feel for their personalities which are sure to come up though the story.

For identification purposes, Joelene (Jasmine Day) is the short, gothy black haired one. Lee (Matison Card) is the redhead who assumes leadership. The last is the rebellious blonde Jamie (Brittney Carpenter), who listens to music via a headset in the shower (who does that?!). The last “fourth wheel” is their male driver, Craig (Jesse Davis), who is a bit of a dick who is not the sharpest stick, and not to mention a pill addict. After the hit that opens the film, they are given a safe house (guess the address?; filmed near Ft. Collins, CO) for forty days. Also, their go-between betwixt the world and a way out of the country and the assassins is (again, male), The Doctor (Randy Rochford in a cameo).

There are a lot of issues facing the crew, including a lack of cohesiveness between the sisters, each one isolating in their own way (not to mention the contraband against the rules of the house, which they are warned about by The Doctor), and a heavy dose of cabin fever. However, that all is the least of their problems, as their victim was the son of a (assuming Republican) nasty politician, Senator Kelly (Andrew Hook), who is withholding evidence to the police to take care of his own revenge-for-the-revenge problem – even though his son was an abusive and violent Matthew Cawthorn-type) through his own dubious connections. The hit man dispatched is the evil, methodical, and soulless No. 1 (Ryan Fredericks).

Brittany Carpenter, Jasmine Day, Matison Card

The question is, who will be the weakest link of the house’s occupants? Mentally unstable with PTSD and vivid nightmares, some of which we get to see? Jamie, who misses her boyfriend and takes risks to express that? Lee, who is suffering from a case of concussion? Or the slacker, horny and stoned driver? Which ever it comes to be, it’s inevitable that No. 1 will show up at the house, and the games will begin (my guess is in the third act)

Through a sheer case of stupidity (mixed with cabin fever), sure enough, No. 1 finds the place (will not say how but you can see it coming a mile away), and that is when the tension escalates, and the killing begins. No. 1 has a reputation, as is explained earlier, of being unkillable. Is this a supernatural touch added to the story, or is it that he’s just too damn good at his job? Either way, I am curious to see who walks out of this alive (I have my guess, that again, I will not share).

An opportunity lost here is that the house itself could have been made more of a character. Sure, the red light in the bathroom, newspapers on the wall, all help you know where you are, and some of the secrets they reveal that will be exploited later, but it is just there, when it could have been made so much more, especially since they are trapped in there for so many days. It really is neither here nor there for the storyline, just a musing on my part. However, I believe it was a wise choice to only show No. 1’s face once in the whole film, with lots of POV shots to represent him; other times, he is disguised.

Matison Card

The film nicely builds upon itself using layers of tension and violence, but even so, it could use editing, such as the step-by-step shots of making a packaged salad (which I am certain is to show a purposeful methodology of the killer, but is not interesting), or the driver’s psychedelic revelry (while it is cinematographically interesting, it does not add much to the story). Sometimes, and this is true of other films as well, the tension of an action about to occur that is obviously coming, lasts too long to the point of either annoyance or boredom, and that happens at least once here. Again, it is in the editing.

That being said, once the violence starts with No. 1, and I do not believe I am giving anything away since that is the direction in which the film is going from so early on, it really kicks into high gear with both violence and bloodshed, making it worth the wait.

Jasmine Day

While I have said a couple of harsh things here, but please understand that this is an enjoyable film. While I was right about the survivor of the ordeal, that did not take away from the action. The characters were consistent, which I always like, and the acting was well played. As for the storyline, in the long run, it was well done, even those times I yelled at the screen as a character did something ridiculous, though it moved the plot along.

It is also beautifully shot with some fine artistic moments, even some I kvetched about for length, by ace cinemaphotographer Eli Solt. As a crime drama, with ramped up violence, it was worth the watch.

Available on iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Video, VUDU Fandango, Google Play, Xbox, YouTube, and RedBox Digital.

IMDB listing HERE