Review: Smart House

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Smart House
Directed by John Oak Dalton
Midwest Film Venture; ITN Studios
www.itnfilms.net/
76 minutes, 2023

Director John Oak Dalton is known more as a screenwriter (many involving sharks and the Polonia Brothers), but this is only his third directorial effort, after The Girl in the Crawlspace (2018) and Scarecrow County (2019), but both exceeded their budget and are well worth the watch.

Technology has always given way to genres in the arts. For example, the atomic age led to a glut of sci-fi novels and giant creature features like Them (1954) or Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956), VHS gave us a proliferation of giallo and slashers, and the internet the likes of Unfriended (2014). Even Covid led to smaller casts (Quarantine Girl, 2020) or the use of Zoom (Host, 2020).

Now with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a newer genre rises of technology, more personal than the fantastical like the Terminator franchise. For example, recently there was a film called Motion Detected (2022) https://indiehorrorfilms.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-motion-detected.html that dealt with a “smart house,” which still had a supernatural element to it. And now, there is Smart House, which takes out the metaphysical and gives us pure evil AI.

Iabou WIndimere

The focus of the story is Mari (Iabou Windimere), a woman who has been harassed by her violent ex-, Shawn (Joe Kidd). She is now alone in a house run by a Siri type of table device called Cassandra (voiced by the Brinke Stevens in that distinctive, smoky voice of hers) that was designed by her ex-hacker father, Cordell (Tom Cherry). Cassandra has some glitches to it, and is not calling Mari by the name of Clytemnestra, but rather Mary or Murry.

Mari’s profession is as an online influencer, on a very weird show where she brushes her hair and talks in a whisper (which is supposed to trigger an autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR). I have never understood stuff like that; too esoteric for me. I like plain and simple, like punk over prog. As she does her program, be sure to read the scrawl of “live” viewer comments on the left; some are positive and others not so nice, as is probably accurate. And they are humorous in their trolling.

Anyway, Cassandra has been acting weird and not following requests in increasingly annoying ways (vacuums going in the middle of the night, for example). Over a short time, Cass is in control, or rather another hacker has – er – hacked into the system, locking Mari in with specific and every increasingly hazardous requests. What I do not understand on all genre films where doors are locked and they are “trapped”… why not a chair through the window to get out, if you are threatened?

Erin Hoodlebrink, Tom Cherry

Like the documentary “Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer” (2019), can the audience or others help poor vexed Mari escape her doom and save her podcast? Will the trolls win out and reduce her “numbers”?

The film addresses several issues, such as the power of influencers online, and their lack of it in the real world. It also shows the duality of the level of commitment of the audience, and the sheer banality of anger and hatred (trolling). It also examines just how much we give up of our autonomy with the “convenience” of automation. A professor of mine said that every technology eventually does exactly opposite of what it was supposed to do in the first place, such as the internet was supposed to bring us all together, and instead we sit on our butts by ourselves, online, even in the company of others. In some ways, Smart House addresses that.

Mari is trapped not only by Cassandra, but by the image of herself as an influencer, not even being her own self, but rather a whispering hair brusher. Singer-songwriter Christine Lavin has a song called “Prisoner of Their Hairdos.” which addresses this issue, as well.

Additionally, this is what I would also call a Covid-related release, as there are many characters in the film, but in only two instances do two meet face to face. Everyone else is either on the phone, the internet audience, or voices on the Dark Web.

Another side fact is that of the three films Dalton has directed, this is the first one he has not written. Despite the desperation going on, it is not as emotionally deep as the previous two as far as emotional turmoil levels. Mari is strongly put-upon during the night, but the lasting trauma of Dalton’s previous films was palpable. This one was still traumatic, don’t get me wrong, but the cut is not as deep as, say, in The Girl in the Crawlspace.

There is no sex, nudity, or gore, and yet the story line is enough to keep one interested. Obviously, this was filmed in December (2022?) due to the Christmas lights up everywhere, which is never addressed in the events or by the characters.

The computer graphics that are used are fun, but I was especially impressed by those attached to the opening credits. I found it fascinating. Being a low budget release, there is also a nice use of stock footage (some people have the same yellowish glow filter that past – and hopefully future – failed politician Kari Lake uses, which made me laugh).

As I have said before, Dalton is part of the Dayton, OH film group, who often use the same actors and cast, with varying degrees (e.g., Iabou has been in all of Dalton’s films, and many in Henrique Couto’s as well). It is nice to see familiar faces as well as some new ones. Of course, some are just voices here on the ‘net.

I am always happy to see a John Oak Dalton film, even if it is just a screenplay, especially when collaborating with Couto (who produced Smart House and was cinematographer), an excellent filmmaker in his own right. I will be happy to see what comes next for Dalton.

IMDB listing HERE

Trailer HERE

A Brief Interview with Screenwriter and Director John Oak Dalton

 A Brief Interview with Screenwriter and Director John Oak Dalton

Introduction by Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films
Films reviewed on this blog are linked to their titles
Images from the Internet

John Oak Dalton

Ohio-based John Oak Dalton has directed two films, both of which prove his worth in this field: The Girl in the Crawlspace (2018) and Scarecrow County (2019). But what Dalton is mostly known for is his screenplays, for films such as Alone in the Ghost House (2015), Jurassic Prey (2015), Amityville Island (2020), and recently Shark Encounters of the Third Kind (2020). It was for this latter film that he was interviewed by “The Schlock Pit,” who did not use all of Dalton’s quotes, which he recently published on his email blog, “I Was Bigfoot’s Shemp," on August 13, 2021 (Johnoakdalton.hotmail.com). With his permission, as a fan, I am printing what was left out of the blog interview below, written by John Oak Dalton. I have made minor editorial changes. – RG, 2021

* * *

I was as surprised as anyone when my new film, Scarecrow County, hung on for four straight weeks in the Amazon Hot New Releases in Horror. Thanks to everyone who picked up a copy or has seen it on some other platform.

And I was extremely flattered by this interview and review of a film I wrote, Shark Encounters of the Third Kind, by the British Website “TheSchlock Pit.” I am appreciative that the people there give thoughtful attention to the B-movie world, and are good writers to boot.

They used just a few snippets of an interview about the writing of Shark Encounters of the Third Kind, so I thought I'd share the whole of what I wrote back when they asked a few questions via email, probably more than they wanted to know.

* * *

(Director) Mark (Polonia) had asked me to write all the scripts for a three-movie deal with Wild Eye (Releasing) that all already came with titles and basic descriptions; the caveat being is that he needed all three in six weeks. I'm to the point in my career where if I write something for somebody, there has to be a reason; and I have always been interested in director Thomas Carr, who once shot six B-Westerns in 30 days, which I think not enough has been made of. So, I thought this might be a neat challenge.

I had never written this fast in my life; typically, I can write a full script in three weeks, if I'm pushing it. I think I worked on these an average of 10 days each. They were written at a fever pitch and honestly I didn't remember a lot of detail until I saw the final product, and even then wasn't sure what I thought up and what Mark added.

Rewind to when I wrote my first movie for Mark, Among Us (2004), and he had a three-picture deal afterwards and asked me to write all three in a year, and I wasn't sure I could write three movies in one year! In that case I rewrote two and then wrote a third from scratch.

The first was Psycho Clown, which was turned into Peter Rottentail (2004). I took John Polonia's handwritten script and rewrote it as I was typing it into a screenwriting program. Next I did a rewrite of Razorteeth (2005), then my original script was Demons on a Dead End Street, which remains one of my favorite scripts, but didn't get made.

Peter Rottentail has been rated one of the worst horror films of all time by “Nerdly,” and Fangoria did a whole podcast dedicated to it; as well as all the people who watch it on Easter every year. Razorteeth disappeared almost without notice; and frankly, which is worse? To me, at least, it's the latter.

So, for this new trilogy of scripts: Amityville Island (2020) was the easiest of the three for Wild Eye; I had written a movie for Mark a few years before called Doctor Zombie that had not been made, but I noticed had a lot of similar beats as the Amityville premise. It was heavily influenced by Mark's love for Zombi 2 (1979) and Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972), with my own interest in Lust for Freedom (1987) thrown in. So, I knocked that together quickly and it has been noted by reviewers that it has a little of everything, and all of it crazy, as I intended. I wrote another one whose title I will hold back as it hasn't come out yet, but it was full of time travel and dinosaurs and alternate timelines, and I had a blast with it. My favorite script of the three. I hope it streets yet this year.

Aliens vs Sharks (the original title of Shark Encounters of the Third Kind) was the hardest to get my mind around for some reason, so I saved this to write last. But once I got going, it started cooking, and again, I don't exactly remember writing it. In fact, I went back and read the outline before responding to this email. It came with a four-page outline with a lot of the beats, mostly the effects that were going to be made or on hand, and a little bit of story. I made the Jenni Russo character a therapist when she was a photographer in the original, because I wanted to include an alien abduction storyline; I think the other characters were pretty much as presented in the outline. I thought the treasure hunters were a neat touch in the original. I thought the movie was very ambitious, but especially the third act, which I thought was going to be too much to get on screen in a workable way, so I toned it down quite a bit. My ending, which featured a group of teens on the beach Frankie Avalon-style inadvertently re-starting the whole mess, was not used, and I think the whole part with Dave Fife was created so that Mark could work with Dave before he moved. I think I had somebody quoting a lot of Shakespeare, which was cut out, understandably enough. Otherwise, by and large, what I wrote is up there, for better or worse.

It's funny now, but I can see the seeds of my own later movie, The Girl in the Crawlspace, in this script, including the therapist and the character obsessed with Westerns. I always try to hang my stories on things I was interested in, and one in this case is a lawman who is basically on his last day on the job and isn't going to be a lawman any more, and what that means. Honestly, I had also buried a family cat in my back pasture and thought it might be a good set piece for a movie, and that's in there, too. Just all the flotsam and jetsam you pick up through life, interest in culture, interest in other people. Whether people see it or not, I try to put in elements that might resonate with someone besides aliens shooting rayguns or whatever. I think Jennie Russo and Titus Himmelberger are both enjoyable in this. I thought Titus gave his lines an especially eccentric read and it turned out like I hoped. Jeff Kirkendall is good as always. I try to write for the people I know Mark is going to use, but sometimes he changes it up or introduces somebody new, so it's always a nice surprise.

I think when you have a movie titled Aliens vs Sharks, you are either in or out when you hear the title, and the rest doesn't matter. You are going in it to have a good time. So, for this kind of movie, or all three of these movies, I like to try to make them funny, with a lot of nods to horror fandom, lots of energy and outlandish situations and characters. I'm not sure every viewer is in on the joke, but that's what I hope. I think the biggest thing to note is that I have never been involved with a movie that comes from cynicism; these kinds of movies are made by people that love the genre for people that love the genre. Horror fans, by and large, are the most loyal and devoted, and will follow you where you want to go, whether you have the money to make the trip or not.

 

Review: Scarecrow County

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Scarecrow County

Directed by John Oak Dalton

Midwest Film Venture

75 minutes, 2019

www.facebook.com/Midwest-Film-Venture-622094804959383/  

I firmly believe that one day, when we are looking back at John Oak Dalton’s film career at a retrospective, people will comment that either his early films were better, or this was just the start of his career and he’s grown so much. Directors like David Cronenberg and George A. Romero go through this all the time. No, I’m not comparing this film to theirs, but the philosophy is the same.

Andrew Britt

Oaks started off strong with directing his first feature, The Girl in the Crawlspace (2018). I also believe, in part, that this strength comes from three places: the first is that he has written a number of scripts before and has had the chance to initially grow in that way; second, he has been involved with the filmmaking process for a while with various directors so he’s had the opportunity to learn the craft; and third, he is under the mentorship of his producer, Henrique Couto, who has been making films in the Midwest for at least a decade (much as Gene Wilder did with Mel Brooks). This release was mostly shot in and around Farmland, Indiana, though filming was done as far as Dayton, Ohio.

It’s easy to tell that Dalton’s strength, at this early part of his directorial career, is in the screenwriting more than the helming of it, but that will take some time and practice to catch up the two together. What I particularly like about the script is that the characters are more fully developed than most indie films, the dialog doesn’t talk down to the audience, and the plot is both simple and nuanced at the same time.

Small town librarian Winnie (Chelsi Kern, coincidentally a perfect last name for a character dealing with text, may I add) gets ahold of a diary of a gay teen who had died, which of course leads to a series of events related to that occurrence. Meanwhile, there is the mysterious titular scarecrow that is going around killing people. While you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know these events are related, it’s how it all works out that is the focus of the film.

Tom Cherry, Chelsi Kern, Rachel Redolfi

Scarecrows are certainly not new to the horror audience, but Dalton has taken a common trope and played with it enough to make it interesting with the story’s own psychological drama.

The film is populated by a large and complex cast, including Winnie’s schizophrenic and agoraphobic cartoonist sister Zoe (Rachael Redolfi) whose drawings speak to her (using the very identifiable voice of Erin R. Ryan), Zoe’s promoter with the multicolored hair (Manic Panic?) Marlys (Erin Hoodlebrink), the pent-up angry Prentiss (John Hambrick) who has recently returned to town after a two-year service in Afghanistan, and lots of the character’s dads and friends (few moms involved that are living, apparently, despite the female-heavy cast).

Erin Hoodlebrink

Being an independent film director, Dalton wisely uses his budget in many ways, such as going to where the particular actor is rather than bringing them necessarily together in a room, and much of the interactive dialog is done over the phone: Zoe talks to Marlys and Winnie often using the device; most of the dads connect that way, including one to his girlfriend / sponsor (up-and-comer Joni Durian who stars in Couto’s latest, Ouija Room). 

Another way he wisely saves some money on the production is holding off on prosthetics and digital SFX. In other words, as this film is strongly story-oriented, all of the killings are done off-screen. I commend this, even as I like some blood in my meat, but again, if the story holds up as this one does, it becomes almost unnecessary (even if noticeable).

That being said, the scarecrow looks kind of cool. It’s mostly in the background, and often when a kill is about to happen, it and the area around it are filled with blue smoke and lights. It telegraphs what is going to happen, but honestly, it’s pretty obvious, even with a few good jump scares.

If there is anything I would to complain about, it’s the cheesy and stereotypical electronic music. Just does not work for me, as it was a bit of a distraction from what’s on the screen.

Much of the cast of The Girl in the Crawlspace has returned for this new release. The acting is mostly decent, especially among the female leads and the occasional male ones, but most of the wooden portrayals are from those with the Y chromosomes. Again, this is still in Dayton’s early stages. Have you seen some of the performances in early Cronenberg’s work? Makes this look like Best in Show in comparison.

Henrique Couto and John Oak Dalton

What compels this film especially to be worth watching – beyond the editing, which is quite good – is the writing. Sure, there are some really cool nuggets, such as the mention of the band the Dead Milkmen (saw them play at Maxwell’s, in Hoboken, NJ, opening for Salem 66; but I digress…), and even some dark humor thrown in here and there.

For a second feature, it’s pretty obvious that Dayton can have a solid future in both writing and directing. Let’s support that, and check out his films as I’m sure they are bound to be floating around the festival circuit. I know The Girl in the Crawlspace is about to get a wide circulation on various media, and it probably won’t be long before this one will, as well.

Review: The Girl in the Crawlspace

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet unless indicated

The Girl in the Crawlspace

Written and directed by John Oak Dalton

New Dynamic Pictures

76 minutes, 2018

www.facebook.com/thegirlinthecrawlspace/

One of my favorite aspects of centralized indie cinema is how a local scene forms and then spirals into growth for everyone, much like a music locale. In the Indiana area where this film takes place, there is a group of filmmakers whose work strongly overlaps. On the director side there is Henrique Couto (who produced this and was Director of Photography) and Dustin Mills (who, as far as I know, has nothing directly to do with this one); as for John Oak Dalton, he’s written a few of the films directed those I’ve just mentioned, and this is his own directorial debut. There is also an acting pool that tends to overlap as well, especially the centerpiece of The Girl in the Crawlspace [TGitC], Erin R. Ryan, whose fan base is growing.

John Hambrick, Erin R. Ryan, Joni Durian

When we approach the story for TGitC, the horrific events of Jill (Ryan) are in the past, and she has escaped from the Crawlspace Killer after 7 years of captivity. Now, to paraphrase the Dusty Springfield song, “She just don’t know what to do with herself” thanks to a heavy and understandable dose of PTSD This is the spine of the story, but actually, Jill isn’t even the central character.

More than a “horror film,” this is an intense, tight psychological drama focusing more on Kristin/Kitty (Joni Durian), a psychologist who had moved from this same small town to Hollywood, and has now come back after inheriting the family home. She has set up a therapy practice based on the families of the serial killer’s victims, who were mostly young boys and Jill.

Kristin has brought along the other main focus of the film, her husband Johnny (John Hambrick, who co-starred in Couto’s 2017 Devil’s Trail) who has quite the history on his own: he’s a semi-successful screenwriter with writer’s block since he’s joined Narcotics Anonymous, and is not exactly what one would call a reliable partner. Okay, he’s a douche nozzle that either can’t or won’t grasp what is socially acceptable living in a small town.

The last major character is the Sheriff, Woody (Tom Cherry, who also was Casting Director). He’s a bit slow and a good-hearted, and actually quite likeable. He’s also the guy who killed the Crawlspace Killer, so Kristin worries about his First Responder PTSD.

This is a sharply written and directed first feature, and it bodes well for possibilities of the shapes of things to come. Dalton plays with the experience for the viewer, keeping the viewer off balance with red herrings and working the psycho-trauma tropes that we fans are so used to, and adding something new all the time. At least four times I thought I figured out the ending, and three times I was wrong, but my errors were also addressed within the storyline. How cool.

There is also a bit of social commentary that doesn’t hit you over the head with self-righteousness, but rather keeps it in the public eye. For example, there is a slight focus on the fragility of Mexican migrant workers and how they can easily be exploited, as they have been; it’s ironic talking about taking kids from families and then the government starts to do it to reinforce the notion.

Working with an experienced filmmaker like Couto also brings out some really nice moments, such as Kristin and Johnny arguing in near yellow silhouette in a living room, in front of lamps and a curtained window as the camera rolls back and forth between them. There are little gem moments like that throughout.

The weak point to me in the film’s story is the fluidity of lack of patient/doctor (psychologist) confidentiality. For example, Kristen is too willing to share her own narrative with her patients, even if she grew up with them in her life; you talk about it in social gatherings, not during paying sessions, which is a serious breach of trust. She also talks way too much to Johnny about Jill, especially considering the couple’s relationship. I work in a not-for-profit, and I would never discuss my clients with anyone other than getting advice from my boss – and that’s without p/d legalities. However, in cinematic poetic license, I understand talking to someone onscreen is the equivalent to telling the audience what a character is thinking.

One of my favorite aspects of this film is that it delves into the Tarantino-esque trivia knowledge of a film fan (not just horror, though there is especially that), with different characters spouting actor’s roles in specific films. Note that if you are not one of these encyclopaedia-level nerds (like me), this aspect is not overwhelming and doesn’t take a single thing away from the story or events, but if you are… well, for me, my find was racing to answer my own list. The moments of RPG (role playing games) is similar in that while it’s somewhat key to the story, it actually does not matter if you’ve ever played one (I have no interest), it’s just a cool shade to the film.

Another commentary I want to discuss is a group rant about Hollywood’s somewhat “sucking at the dry teat” of horror sequels. Yes, that’s a direct quote from the film, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Ryan, photographed by Henrique Couto

The last thing I want to bring up is how much I was impressed by Ryan’s performance. I’ve seen her in a few indies now (and as usual, dressed in red), and I do believe this is one of the more nuanced acting I’ve seen from her, and I want to acknowledge that. Though not the not the main focus of the film, as I said, she’s its shadow, coming in at moments to change the direction of the story.

I love it when a film surprises me in its subtly among the mind games. There is no gore and very little blood, an implied body count, a generally attractive cast, and an ending that is quite satisfying.