Review: Mermaid Isle

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

 

Mermaid Isle
Directed by Jason Mills
Mills Pictures Studios; World Wide Multi Media (WWMM);
Sector 5; MVD Entertainment
70 minutes, 2020
www.chipbakerfilms.com
www.mvdb2b.com

I know, I know. Even before starting the film, it looks like there is a chance it is going to be stupid as all get-out. But I have a bit of faith, considering how much I enjoyed one of director Jason Mills’ earlier film, The Changing of Ben Moore (2015; reviewed HERE), which is saying a lot considering that one is in the found footage subgenre. 

Evil mermaids seem to be a bit trendy relatively recently, with shows like “Siren,” Killer Mermaid (2014) and The Mermaid’s Curse (2019), but the kind, female tail flopper from Splash (1984) and The Little Mermaid (1989) are long gone as washed-out tropes. These mermaids, as in The Odyssey, are up to no good.

Okay, starting the film now.

The set-up is simple though painful: four friends head off to a deserted island for fun and recreation. Annoyingly needy and insecure Toby (Mark Reinhardt) is in love with cute Amy (Kristina Soroff) and wants to use this getaway to ask her to marry him, but she’s not “there” yet as they started dating recently. Along for the ride is Toby’s bland pal Roy (Samuel Buchanan), and Amy’s goth friend Shelly (Kiana Passmore, who is also part of the film crew). If I may digress here for a second, why are goth characters in these kinds of films sooooo annoyingly bleak, sarcastic and downers? So stereotypical. I can’t even imagine Amy or any of them putting up with Shelly’s shitty ‘tude.

When Shelly is bitten by something (in clear, exceedingly shallow water, I might add), that’s when the trouble begins. The fact that it is Shelly that starts of the contagion train is no great emotional loss for the audience because she is so unlikeable as a character.

 

As they find shelter in a house owned by an older woman whose family was killed by said Merms, this evolves partially into a cabin in the woods genre film mixed with the likes of Cabin Fever (2002). Just about halfway through, and no sign of a mermaid yet. So far, it’s closer to …28 Days Later (2002) with Shelly getting a bit nippy. No Sisters of Mercy to help this gothaholic.

This group is not the sharpest stick in the woods. Bad horror film decisions are made left and right. They know to stay out of the water, so what do they do? Walk through the water. When their friend is hurt, do they head for the boat? Of course not. No sign of a cell phone from these 20-somethings? Hmmmm. If this is supposed to take place pre-phone era, then I missed that cue.

Transformation from human to mermaid is rare in story, though here we only get to see the before and after. And to keep the title accurate, it seems only women get bit and change, with males just getting off’d. So, I guess there are no interest in Mermen? And as a side note, are they air breathers that can hold their breath for a long time, or do they grow gills and live mainly under the water, because some of the off-screen, unseen kills are not in the water per se, especially in the epilogue that doesn’t really go anywhere. And how is the old woman’s son able to live on the island safely when everyone else who goes there gets disappeared?

 

Extras are only trailers. There are chapter breaks, but none indicated on the menu. Also, you cannot go forwards or backwards; you have to click on the previous chapter and wait. I wanted to check something in the end credits early on, and could only zoom to the beginning of the credits, and then hop back to wherever the chapter break was and wait until it caught up. Not very user friendly.

The biggest problem for me, beyond the weak acting is that the story is only about 30 minutes long, with the rest being atmospheric shots of trees and rain, or the beautiful landscape. The film could use some serious rewriting and video editing, such as the long, silent walk through the woods at the beginning could easily have been halved, if not more. Be it the opening music montage or someone’s hand being dragged for minutes on end, for example, all of that could have been excised and this could have been a pretty damn decent short. As it is, it’s not that much longer than an hour as it is, taking off the credits. It takes nearly 9 minutes for any of the characters to actually speak.

Do we really need to spend all that time with Toby standing confused at a literal crossroads? As a 30-minute release, this could have been a real tight story, but it takes too much time dealing with exposition and scenery, and unnecessary and distracting “mood,” that the film self-implodes and self-deflates.

Review: The Changing of Ben Moore

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet

The Changing of Ben Moore

Written and directed by Jason Mills
Sector 5 Films / Chemical Burn Entertainment /
Reality Entertainment / Gravitas Ventures / Mills Pictures
World Wide Multi Media
85 minutes, 2015
www.chemicalburn.org
www.reality-entertainment.com
www.Sector5films.net

Recently, I had the opportunity to review director Jason Mills’ other full lengther called They Came from the Attic (2009; aka Above Us Lives Evil). Similarly, this new one takes place in Delta, an area south of Vancouver. As I write this, I’m just across the bay on the Saanich Peninsula, British Columbia, but I digress…

Using the time-worn found footage sub-subgenre, we are introduced to a group of mid-20-year-olds who don’t really seem to have much employment or income, though one works overnight hours every other day so perhaps he’s employed at a Mac’s or something; for those who don’t know, Mac’s is similar to 7-Eleven in Canada.  There are three-and-a-half main characters, so working my way up: the obnoxious smart ass who helps out on camera duty occasionally named John (Bruce Novakowski); Derick (Corey Beaulieu) is the foul mouthed but caring best friend whose aunt adopted Ben, and has come up with the whole idea of the filming; the girlfriend is Sara (Shannon Ostrom aka Shannen Melissa), and; the focus of the film, the titular Ben (Umberto Celisano), who generally comes across as a caring, congenial guy who is befuddled about what is happening to him. Everyone else in the cast who parties with them is surprisingly not necessarily fodder for once. But more on that later.

The reason for the filming is to create a record of the strange goings on of Ben, who was adopted after the death of his parents, and now at 24 years of age, lives in what was the house of his adopted aunt, Derik’s mom. Perhaps an insurance claim left Ben enough money to be able not to have to have a real job? Part of the problem of (not with) this story is that we know just about nothing about them, other than that they died, not even how it happened). Now, it seems Ben hasn’t been sleeping, has not been hungry in days yet remains fit, and has the occasional blackout in his memory.

Caught on camera at night by Derik, Sara or John, Ben seems dazed, has killed a pet or two, and his pupils are turning pale blue. He also seems a bit dazed, hostile, and inarticulate other than a roar or two. Oh, and as they mention in all the film’s official summaries, people have started to disappear in part or in whole. Personally, I believe the trailer gives too much away, and I’m glad I didn’t watch it first, though it is quite effective.

Borrowing a small bit from The Beast Within (1982), we don’t really know about Ben’s lineage, and what is happening is not explained because it is obviously not understood even by its participants, but my guess is something innate and primal.

I must say, generally, I’m done with found footage (ff); usually same old, same old. However, this film is actually one of the better indies I’ve seen use it. Most ff takes way too long setting up the back-story, or has too much superfluous nonsense supposedly to throw us off the track (e.g., the first 10-20 minutes of Cloverfield or everything except the last 10 minutes of The Blair Witch Project). Here, yes there is an introduction of the characters, but it’s balanced out well with the action and there is some character development even without much build-up of the actual histories of anyone. Part of the reason for this is the top-quality acting that Mills has found to voice his thoughts. Novakowski’s John is a bit over the top, but personally, I have friends who are like that naturally. Beaulieu’s passive-aggressive friendship, again, comes across as natural, and I can name some acquaintances of mine like that, as well. Ostrom comes across as the appropriate level of concern, affection and anger, without playing it off the scale. She’s attractive without being unrealistically model-ish (I promise you, that’s a high compliment), which makes the compassion factor for her that much higher.

Ben Moore mid-way through his changing

Of course, the film hinges on Celisano’s Ben. Having experience in both high drama and low comedy – heck, he played a hell of a young Capone recently – helps him be believable both as his “day person” and whatever it is he becomes at night, even when they jump-cut from one to another.

As for the rest of the cast, which is mostly seen in a party sequence and the after-effects, the body count is pretty low, but quite effective, especially as the story builds to its gruesome conclusion.

It’s easy to tell this film didn’t cost too much to make, other than a few minor CGI moments here and there. But it definitely kept me wanting more, which is rare for a “Hello!? I’m walking through the dark house with just the camera light on! Is there anyone or thing waiting to jump out at me around the corner?!?” film. It’s effectively done to keep the creepy factor on high. Sure, I would have run to the authorities of some sort (other than the one weak-willed priest they show) as soon as I saw the blue/white eyes the first time to try and seek help for my friend, but hey, that’s (a) not how these genres works, and (b) wouldn’t help advance the story much. Just think of The Exorcist (1973), and how much the parts of Reagan going to see the doctors during the second act slowed down the story flow, even if it was what would really have happened).

Considering how much I groaned at the prospect of seeing another ff flick, I sure am glad I stuck it out, because it really was fun, with very little drag to it, even with all the open questions. Perhaps this will lead to a sequel? Yeah, I’d watch that, as this is the rare film I saw and thought, hmm, I wonder what happened after the film concluded. Nice work.

Review: Above Us Lives Evil

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet

Above Us Lives Evil [aka They Came From the Attic]

Written and directed by Jason Mills
Sector 5 Films / Chemical Burn Entertainment /
Reality Entertainment / Gravitas Ventures / Mills Pictures
World Wide Multi Media
75 minutes, 2009
www.Sector5films.net

Can you get spookier than Delta, British Columbia? Well, probably, but they make some interesting work with the place that is home to the Vancouver landfill. Obviously, a Canadian production, the second largest country in the world successfully makes this film feel claustrophobic by focusing in on a house, the lawn around it, and the mysterious woods just beyond.

In a preamble that seems kind of superfluous considering the rest of the story, which could have still been successful without it (though every piece of publicity mentions it), a young boy is run over, and the guilt hovers over his family, the Hoopers, who was supposed to be watching out for the boy. Those that remain are the boy’s tween twin brother, Ben (Leon Bourikos), his teenage older sister Jen (Nicola Elbro), and his parents Richard (Robert L. Duncan) and Susan (Marina Seretis).

Robert is a workaholic who ignores his family and drags them along according to his work needs (4 houses in 2 years). At one point early on and they travel from house 3 to house 4, Jen says, “It’s taking forever to get there,” and then we learn it’s merely an hour away. For Canada, that’s the same neighborhood, practically. Oh, sorry, I should say neighbourhood. They move to the new house which, well duh, has something(s) in the attic, indicated by the film’s original name, They Came from the Attic.

Despite a somewhat annoying first half in spite of a couple of good moments, it starts to pick up around halfway. Y’see, the Hooper parents have gone to a work function that will last all night, and Jen has invited her dick of a boyfriend to drive all the way over. Asshole that he is, he bets that he will finally bed her with a bunch of his mates who secretly follow to make sure. Why? Easy: body count.

If you turn off your brain, the second half is a lot of fun with creatures chasing and chomping on, well, nearly any- and everyone. Because they can’t take the light, all the interesting scenes occur at night, and being shot pre-HD, some of the scenes can get a bit murky at times.

An annoying aspect is that the first time you’re introduced to anyone, there is a jump scare introduction (people come out of left field, as it were). In the beginning, it happens three times in a row in relatively short progression, and by the third I was getting irritated. It happens a couple more times in the film, and I found myself saying, to the screen snarkily, “Enough!” I’m going to chalk it up to it being director Mills’ first feature.

There are also some smile-inducing moments as well, if you catch them, such as a creature getting his photo taken accidentally (on film!), and then we see the development envelope has the “Mills Pictures” logo. If that is the only reason to have mentioned film rather than digital, it was worth it.

Without even complaining about the obvious voice overdubs and one place where someone talks and no sound at all comes out (oops, too late!), what I found disturbing was the many holes in the story. For example, and this is the only one I’m going to choose, there is a mostly annoying (purposefully) family living close by, and even though no one has lived in the residence that is the locus of the story for years, the creatures go for animals rather than the people next door, who only come into danger when there is plenty of human food around. This Newfie family (judging by the patriarch’s accent) knows what is going on there, but still chooses to stay there: “Hey honey, there’s a bunch of cannibalistic creatures next door who need to feed at night, so let’s go roaming around one by one, okay?” No local teens have used the empty house to have beer parties, or gone there on dares (or hook-ups)? Canadians are nice (usually), but I’ve been in deserted houses in the middle of flippin’ nowhere, and the ever present cans of Labatt shows the place is known to local kids.

And even though Canada is never mentioned once in the film, it’s kind of easy to tell, as we hear people say things like “Check out the hoouse,” “There’s something in the house, mum,” and at least one says the infamous and nefarious, “eh?” (the Northern version of “yknowwhadimsayin?”).

As these kinds of films go, it was actually a bit of a pleasant ride once it finally decided to get past the exposition and build-up. Decent body count, no nudity, and some blood, but the creatures actually look pretty good, especially the close-up of the one outside the closet door (it’s in one of the trailers below). This is a fun film to watch in a group more than to analyze in detail, so grab some friends and a flat on a Sat, and feast.

Oh, one last P.S., this film only goes to show one thing I have felt all my life: never trust a house that has a staircase with no railing. No good can come of it.