Review: All Your Friends Are Dead

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

All Your Friends Are Dead
Directed by Ricky Glore and Nicholas Hiance
NKY Films, SRS Cinema
92 minutes; 2023
www.thenky.com/
www.srscinema.com/
www.rickyglore.com

It can be really interesting to see a debut directorial effort (which tends to be in the horror genre), but double the pleasure, double the fun because this is true for both of those who helmed this slasher project.

Ricky Glore

Mixing a few subgenres, such as masked killer, cabin in the woods, and social anxiety, the story wraps around the lead character, Matt Wilbee (co-director Ricky Glore), who is suffering from a severe case of depression. Once a star athlete in high school, he’s now let himself “go,” including having a drinking problem (in the first 7 minutes, he drinks more than I have in 7 years). Though working in a lowly position in a bar cleaning up, he is about to be homeless thanks to drinking his money away.

Despite his present destitute status, Matt was once part of an exclusive group in high school known as The Pack, who he has not been in contact with in years. Deciding to end his life, he inadvertently assembles The Pack one last time in a secluded campground around Bellevue, Kentucky (the filming location), where they last met around graduation, consisting of the imaginatively named perky Sarah Sunnrae (Eileen Earnest), bully Derek Pummel (Jason Ervin), now rich, buff and obnoxiously narcissistic Greg Neighsayer (Patrick M. Johnston), gay Larry Cochran (Chance Kilgour), and Larry’s lonely bestie, Lorie Blotter (Kira L. Wilson). Another good name for The Pack might be The Fodder.

Kira L. Wilson, Chance Kilgour, Patrick M. Johnston

Whereas the first Act introduces the protagonist, the second fills the viewer in on The Pack, and what a pack they are. There is no problem in distinguishing one personality from another, they are all their own beings, be it good or bad. There is also a truer level of angst between them and Matt, as well as between each other. Sparks fly (not necessarily the fun kind) as they stake their egos on their presentations.

I also enjoyed the certain level of meta going on, with discussions about how this would be the ideal setting for a slasher film, which of course this becomes in the third Act when the masked killer comes a-callin’.

Eileen Earnest

There are some nice red herrings to who is behind the mask. Honestly, I figured it out early on, but it was still worth sitting through the film to confirm. Lots of nice slice and dicing going on, with both decent practical effects and over the top CGI (as usual, mostly the splatter).

This is a dry comedy (with some out-loud laughs), dealing with both dialogue and characterizations. The actors give some credence to the parts they play, though sometimes reach a bit over the top. However, Glore seems to be in his element, ranging from sympathetic depression to maniacal.

Of course, as with most slashers – especially micro-budget ones – the instruments of death tend to be long and sharp albeit sometimes gas-fed. Speaking of budgets, the overall tone of the film is not quite minimalist, but definitely has a low-key flair that suits it well. You can tell they got every penny out of their budget. What I like about that is that the film – particularly the story – does not try to be more than it is; in other words, it does not pretend to be artsy or have too deep a meaning, but is out there for the fun of it, as well as getting experience for both first-time directors.

While the release is fun to watch, despite the somewhat depressing life of Matt, it is also worth sitting through the credits for a few reasons that I will not give away. Just ask yourself, “What hath Marvel started?!”

Fans of limited run special edition horror movies will have the opportunity to pre-order the film at the SRS Cinema’s Website (see eAddress above). The disc will include extras, such as a “Making Of” featurette, a commentary by the Director and Producers, the film’s trailer, and a host of other SRS trailers.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: To Your Last Death

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

To Your Last Death (aka Malevolent)
Directed by Jason Axinn
Coverage Ink Films
91 minutes, 2020
www.facebook.com/ToYourLastDeath 

 Animation sure has changed since I was a kinder, watching cartoons at 24 hand-drawn frames per second, like Bugs Bunny (my childhood hero, but I digress already…). In the late 1960s, it went down to a clunky 18 frames per second, with cartoons such as “Scooby Doo,” “The Jackson Five” or “The Nanny and the Professor.” Many of these cartoons looked alike due to it’s cel framework (the medium is the message, posited Marshall McLuhan). 

With computer animation, it opened up a whole new world to what was possible, Whether extreme detail or simple line drawings, the field burst open. That is where this film comes in. The animation here looks a bit like a cross between anime (e.g., Akira) and Britain’s 2000AD comic line (they do Judge Dredd). It is minimalist when it comes to movement, but that gives it more of a comic book look, which I really liked. Some of the backgrounds tend to be pretty amazingly detailed here. 

 The storyline is basic, but with some unusual twists that elevate it quite a bit. An evil billionaire arms manufacturer, Cyrus (voice of the Ray Wise), who is a cross between Donald Trump and Lex Luthor, calls his four estranged adult children in for a meeting.

There’s the hero of the story, Miriam (Dani Lennon) who has gone the charity route for peace in diametric philosophy from Cyrus and has had mental issues in the past, Ethan (Damien C. Hass), an aspiring musician into sexual asphyxiation, Kelsey (Florence Hartigan) that has a sad life of a trophy wife to Cyrus’s biggest rival, and Colin (Benjamin Sieman), a mini-version of Cyrus’s business ethics, but is rejected by dear ol’ dad because he’s gay. 

Perhaps inspired by the short story or films, “The Most Dangerous Game,” hired mercenaries – one voiced by Bill Moseley – turn this shindig into a battle royale in a life or death struggle. The implements used sometimes are reminiscent of the later Saw franchise, where the victim is asked to complete a horrendous task, or dum da-da-dummm. 

But there is a whole ‘nother layer added to the story. Some interplanetary gamblers are betting on who will live and who will die. Like the gods in Clash of the Titans (1981), they sit around a table and watch the goings on below. The busty being running the room is the Gamemaster (Morena Baccarin). She can manipulate time and influence the players. It’s kind of like a video game gone gore. 

 Yes, there is a lot of blood and gore in this one (and one bit of nudity), and even for animation, it looks pretty decent. Lots of cool weaponry are used, including an armored glove and a long sword. And don’t get me started with the elevator…

And to give a “Star Trek” opening-like voice over in a nicely done though over emoted cameo is none other than William Shatner, himself. He uses a similar tone as when he “sang” Elton John’s “Rocketman.” 

As for extras, their press release states, “Each Blu-ray purchase will come with a redemption code to over 4 hours of digital extras, including: an audio commentary with director Jason Axinn, a Zoom panel with Axinn, star Dani Lennon and others, an interview with star William Shatner, interviews and behind the scenes with stars Morena Baccarin, Ray Wise, Bill Moseley, Dani Lennon and Florence Hartigan, a behind the scenes reel, comic con panels, an animation demo with lead animator Mohammad Ali Sharifpour, unused artwork and animation, crowdfunding highlights, featurettes on the development of the film, and more.” As what I watched was a screener link, I cannot comment on these, but they sound interesting. 

 I quite liked this film, from the comic book-style animation to the quirkiness of the story, in which time is played with, including a few Groundhog Day repeating moments. The recurrence of history with different choices is a trope that has been used a bit recently, such as Inoperable (2017), but director Axinn makes it feel fresh by not just repeating, but mixing up the storyline (or as Miriam puts it, “They keep changing the goal posts”). 

Because of these time shifts, people are killed and/or they aren’t, or die multiple deaths. And all of them in different means of disposal. The unpredictability is part of what makes this even more intriguing. The whole gameplaying with these super-being gamblers was a nice touch, and luckily, they only interfere with the story on occasion, so it doesn’t break the tension. Of course, the Gamemaster pops in and out frequently throughout to work her malevolent magic, which enhances the story, because it is hard to really predict what’s going to happen next. 

 What I do know is going to possibly happen is that, given the ending, this can be a franchise and the gamblers face new murderous stories to play the game. I am so okay with that.

Review: Don’t Look

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Don’t Look

Directed by Luciana Faulhaber

Enuff Productions / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment

71 minutes, 2018 / 2019

www.facebook.com/DontLooktheMovie/

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

Let me start off by acknowledging that I made a lot of notes watching this, so bear with me. It’s gonna be coming from both sides of the fence.

Let’s start with some cool stuff. First of all, it’s rare that the lead actor, Luciana Faulhaber, is also the director. And the fact that she’s a relatively young Latina is all the better. This is her first feature and relatively speaking she does a great job. I definitely had some issues with the first half, but in the long run, well done.

Filmed in Plowville, Pennsylvania, the standard prologue sets up the ending, but we don’t really get why for a long time, which is also quite unusual, and for which I’m grateful. When the story proper starts, we meet five friends who are on their way for a vacay in what was once one of their parents’ house, before the whole prologue thing. There are two relatively new couples and the gay guy. I’m happy to say that they do not pretend to be teens, but man, they sure do act like they are. They are supposedly in their early 20s, but physically that is still hard to buy.

My biggest issue with the first half of the film is that there is no single likeable character for the longest time. I believe a big rookie (and sometime seasoned) mistake is thinking the audience will react positively when an annoying character gets it, but there’s more emotion and connection in killing a likeable person than the douche; it feels more personal thereby making a better story. For example, the one guy I thought was sensible ends up being an idiot, too: a female characters is covered in blood and she just saw a body, and he’s not believing her (he can see the blood on her clothes and face), telling her to calm down and ignoring her by not taking it seriously.

Speaking of plot, with the exception of Nicole (Lindsay Eshelman, who was actually born in Plowville), whose backstory is loosely shown in the prologue, there is no interest to explain who these people are, how the know each other (unless I missed it during the car ride sequence at the opening), or what they do when they aren’t going to the cabin of someone where people were killed in the prologue. Also, again with Nicole, why would she go back to that place?

It’s easy to tell early on that Lorena (Faulhaber) is the man character, and this film is the debut director’s showcase for herself. If you’re wondering, no, that’s not a criticism. I see it all the time and it makes total sense to me. Lorena has the most screen time, close-ups, and widest emotional range. As a director (with Eshelman as producer), another wise choice is to have the central cast mostly made up of Latinos and an African American; the token white dude is the biggest douche of the batch, expressing white privilege left and right.

Another questionable scene for me is when one of the first couples goes off to some shed to, well, have sex. It’s great that we get to see some male nudity first before female (yay, women directors), including a couple of sly peeks at the peck. For me, what was weird though, was it is in a shed with halved pork meat hanging around the barn; she touches the pork, but no one in their right mind would do that with unknown meat, especially pork, which infamously smells bad when left in the open. This does lead into what I believe is a homage to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

This brings us to two interesting characters that use and live near said shed, hillbillies Kelley (Jarrod Robbins) and busty Sherri Baby (Hailey Helsick; named perhaps after Sheri Moon Zombie?). While they are attention-grabbing, they’re a bit over the top and cliché with highly violent and sexual overtones.

Okay, here’s a question that is meant in a non-critical way: when did killers start wearing baby masks? Was it The Purge (2013)? The Strangers (2008)? Thanks to some red herrings, the killer’s identity was not as easy a pick as I expected. This was a really fine direction to go. This was just one of the good choices Faulhaber makes.

The first half of the film, as is typical these days espically when they include the road trip as character introduction, takes a while to get a fire under it. At about the halfway point when one of our intrepid quintet starts going all Rambo and loading up, the pace picks up and the rest of the film becomes… better. The pace picks up and the excitement level rises. If you are not interested in any character per se but want some action, you can start it here.

The only extras are the trailer and a literally just-over-a-minute “Making Of” that’s kinda bizarre and pointless.

All-in-all, it does look like they had fun making it, which comes across to the audience.