Review: Irrational Fear

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Irrational Fear

Directed by Hunter Johnson

Slasher Studios; LAHorror.com; Terror Films

98 minutes, 2017 / 2020

www.slasherstudios.com/

www.lahorror.com

www.facebook.com/irrationalfear2017

Unless someone has a true phobia (aka an irrational fear), rather than just a normal one, even if it is only perceived rather than real, it’s hard to understand the torment that it can play with the everyday living of a normal life. I’m afraid of bees, but if one is on the other side of the window, I don’t freak out and can get close (unless it’s on me or buzzing near my ear). I have a fear, but not an irrational one. This film examines the more extreme form, where it feels like a matter of life or death.

One of my biggest fears is a film taking a really long time to spin its wheels before the action really starts. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but in this case, it’s a full half hour of exposition before the story actually gets anywhere (not counting the mandatory prologue where a woman wearing a Freddy K-style striped sweater reacts to her fear of being laughed at). As a side note here, the opening credits look great.

Charles Chudabala and Baker Chase Powell

Diminutive college psychology professor Dr. Sanders (Charles Chudabala) is the big man on the project presented, and he and his graduate student / assistant, Zach (Baker Chase Powell, who was also great in 2019’s Dolemite is My Name) takes a group of – phobia-ites? – to a lake house at Crivitz, Wisconsin, to do research into curing phobias; but not a cabin in the woods, as you can see the neighboring homes in the distance when they pull up. The group of six (not counting the Doc and Zach) are an odd bunch, including the lovely Taylor (Leah Wiseman) who doesn’t like being touched; child-like germaphobe Jake (Kaleb Shorey) and his anger-prone father with a tooth fixation, Nat (Tom McCarthy); high school jock Cameron (Mathias Blake) who is afraid of “choking” during his games; Kelly (Jennifer Nagle aka horror hostess Malvolia, the Queen of Screams) who is self-conscious about her self-appearance; and bad-tempered alcoholic Helen (Cati Glidewell), suffering from a fear of water… you know the lake right outside back is going to come into being a factor. In other words, there is a nice opportunity for a large body count, and that’s important, am I right? Who out there has a fear of seeing a horror film with a low kill rate?

Leah Wiseman

It’s told right off the bat (so I’m not giving anything away) that Taylor and Zach have a history having grown up a few houses apart, and that this is a group that is angry and, naturally, scared to open up. Hence, phobias. The collection of personalities kind of reminds me of Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House (and it’s subsequent 1963 film, The Haunting) where a scientist gathers some people together who have had strange psychic phenomenon events occur around them into a haunted house to see what happens.

People being tortured by their own fears is hardly a new premise, and has been done a few times before, but because they talk about common fears (times ten), it’s something many in the audience can identify with; thankfully it’s not the cliché tropes like spiders and snakes. Here, wisely, the fears are about more common things like germs, water and being touched. So of course, these dreads are just the lynchpin to the story for when a supernatural element is introduced, somehow reminding me of Thir13en Ghosts (the 2001 version; the posters are even similar, and Wiseman has a Shannon Elizabeth vibe).

There is definitely also an element of Evil Dead (1981) as people start to disappear, one by one. Sure, no one comes back as demons, but the way “spirits” influence what happens around them, indicates there’s malevolence about. Sometimes we see the action, other times it’s off camera (budget constraints is my guess), but as things fall apart, the doctor tries mightily to keep shit together while others are freaking out. Personally, I would be with the latter group, and in fact, would be outta there. Go to one of the houses down the block, call a cab, order it to the local police, and “buh-bye.”

Cati Glidewell

The film wisely plays around with who is good and who is bad, though it’s pretty obvious from the outset if you are familiar with these kinds of things. Still, events and reasons are not what one expects (well, for me, anyway), and for that I’m happy as I love when a story line catches me by surprise; even if I know who did it, the reason why is usually where the big a-ha­ moments come in.

There is no gore in the film, but it gets a bit bloody at times, and all the SFX are practical, rather than digital. And in the out there department of nothing to do with nothing, though I am not sure of its significance, I found it interesting that there is a minor theme of strings of lights that are placed around rooms, both at the house and even in Taylor’s room at home (if the filmmakers want to say in the comments, I’d appreciate it). But that’s neither here nor there.

Despite the slight nod to Friday the 13th (1980), the end is manic and a bit over the top, if not a bit predictable, but it’s hyper fun, and that is the end point for which a film should be going. The story seems to be pulling in a couple of different directions in a form of distraction to what is really happening, but even with it’s slightly amateurish feel, and a couple of lags here and there that could have been cut, it really is a diamond in the rough, and I kinda like that.

Review: One Night in October

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

One Night in October

Directed by Christopher M. Carter

Carter Ink Films / Laughing Dog Productions / Come About Productions / 
Cyfuno Ventures / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment

104 minutes, 2017 / 2019

www.facebook.com/onenightinoctobermovie/

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdb2b.com

While this film does not take place on Halloween, it is about the Halloween season, so this is the appropriate time for this review. This is also fitting because the consistency within this story is masks, both literal and figurative. But more on that later.

There are actually three stories here, but unlike a compilation, they all take place on the same night in the same town, and there is even a small amount of overlap. This is a clever feature not often employed in anthology films. Also, rather than giving three complete stories one at a time, they are edited together nicely over the night, breaking up the suspense in a way that is effective as it keeps rebuilding. It also successfully works as a jump scare.

Kaitlan Renee and Casehy Norman

In no particular order, the first story I’ll discuss focuses on two couples, including a lesbian one (Casey Norman and Kaitlan Renee; the other pair is attractive Sara Jackson and Andrew Kincaid) that I’m happy to say actually looks like they could be a pair rather than a stereotype or a male fantasy (I’m not one of those guys who gets off on that, if you’re wondering). This foursome is playing around in a cornfield on private property, but of course it’s the wrong one to be muckin’ around in, as the title “The Witch and the Scarecrow” will tell you. They are warned to get off the land by the woman (Erin Colleen Marshall) who runs the place, but with a classic dead car and no phone service trope, you know things are going to go into the red as the scarecrow comes a-callin’. Happily, his first victim is the most annoying character.

Rachel Netherton

In another tale, Emma (Rachel Netherton) is permitted to see the man she loves for five minutes every three months. I kept thinking, “Is he a ghost?” “Is she the ghost?” Well, I’m not going to tell you the reason, of course, but there is a man in a mask on their trail. This is the slowest of the three stories, but when it gets to its “Oh, that’s-what-it’s-about moment, it’s easy to be absorbed into the goings on.

The third story – and my favorite of the three – is about Michelle (Jessica Morgan), a woman on her own who has just moved into the neighborhood and is really into Halloween. She meets some locals who are not what they appear to be presenting (again, figurative masks that turn literal); and there are powers around her trying to take advantage of that, It’s reminiscent of one of the stories from television’s “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), also with three tales.

The film takes a while to rev up, but the slow build benefits the storylines because it gives us a chance to be curious about the characters. The first, with the two couples, starts off running a bit faster than the others with the one with Emma taking the longest.

Jessica Morgan

All three stories were pretty satisfying, which is rare for an anthology. But the one I would like to see in a sequel is easily the one with Michelle, which is also the most action-packed. In all the stories there is lots of blood, but very little gore (though the occasional separated body part), and most of the action occurs onscreen (one of which seeming to be a nice nod to a prominent death in the original Night of the Living Dead, that is also playing on Michelle’s television in some shots… gotta love public domain).

The stories are quite well done, the action is strong, the dialogue definitely has its moments (though here and there a bit too much time is spent on explanations, such as the witch giving the back story of the scarecrow), and the acting is occasionally newbie-style (first IMDB credit for many here), but it all works together when you factor in the indie level. In other words, it works, and I would enjoy watching a sequel, say, A Second Night in October?

As I write this, Halloween is just around the corner. This is good fare to be watching on that night. It’s violent (much of it just off-screen) and bloody, but not very gory. There’s a bit of human and inhuman, demons and a witch, and natural and supernatural.

The DVD has extras, giving up chapters, Wild Eye trailers, English captions, and the coming attraction for this film. My one complaint is that while the titles of the three stories are listed at the end credits, it does not identify which is which (though one is quite obvious).

This is a good mid-range horror film with just enough going on to keep the blood-hound at bay, but mild enough that it may be deem playable for those with limited tolerance for this kind of action. That’s a good thing.

Review: Doll House (short)

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

Doll House

Produced and directed by Alan Dillingham

Killatainment

27 minutes, 2017

www.killatainment.com

[To be heard in Rod Serling’s voice:] Imagine if you will a nice family: Jim (Christopher Pike) and Sarah (Elle Doucette Matarazzo) and their two cute girls (Isabella Cottrell and Gabrielle Mudgett) playing an innocent game of Life, when lunacy came to their door in the form of Doll Face (Sheri Collins Lee) and her knife. [Okay, exit Rod.]

When dealing with a slasher motif, or variations of it, many times directors feel they have to take a stab (sorry…) at blood and gore right off the bat to establish the seriousness of the situation, or being afraid of losing the audience. I believe this is underestimating most of those watching, or pandering to those who grew up on the major studios who only want to entice the dollars.

The director here makes a more wise choice and holds off… for a little bit, anyway… but still manages to clearly present the – err – clear and present danger to the family unit. Doll Face is evidently mad as she searches for a family to “join” in a more, well let’s just say rambunctious way (remember, time element of the film) than, say, The Stepfather (1987). Lee plays her with glee and holds nothing back, with a laugh that could chill ice cream.

But there are at least three surprises that I certainly did not see coming, and I will not give them away because it really is worth seeing. Doll Face’s character just keeps getting more interesting, even if it doesn’t get very deep (again, it’s a short). You just know you’re dealing with someone who is creepy, and the superb make-up job on her and the appliance SFX effects around the action are worth paying attention.

My one complaint is sound-related, in that the music that is used (actually, a perfect soundtrack for the action) tends to overshadow the dialog a bit, but not enough to drown it; it’s more a mild distraction.

The film has no compulsions to go hog wild bloody, without being overly clinical about it, which is something I like as it’s a fine line in a cinematic world that is filled with the dreaded “look what I can do!” mentality. Sometimes just presenting the violence as what it is, is all that is needed to get the mood set, and this release has just the right touch.

Review: Inoperable

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

Inoperable

Directed by Christopher Lawrence Chapman

Zorya Films / Millman Productions

85 minutes, 2018

www.zoryafilms.com/inoperable

It’s wonderful how Danielle Harris turned a cutesy television acting career (for example, I first noted her as a regular on the 2000-2002 show That’s Life, where she played someone named Plum) into becoming one of the top of the current scream queens. Sure even back then she was doing a horror turn now and again, but it’s in the indie horrors that she really took off and reach her fan base.

The reason I bring this up is the very diminutive in stature but equally big in style Harris is the star of this new straight to DVD/VoD film. She plays Amy in this play on the repeating Groundhog Day theme from hell that also has just a shade of Grave Encounters (especially the sequel). Mixing the events of a day stuck in the middle of a traffic jam with continually waking up in a hospital of the damned, she slowly starts to put pieces together. An interesting aspect that extrapolates from the now-classic Bill Murray comedy is that every time Amy awakens-like-the-Force, while there are some repetitions, the scenarios change drastically, such as either not being seen by those around her to her being attacked by them. We (and she) quickly learn that the staff running the place has no compulsion on using scalpels, drugs or electro-shock “therapy.”

With each reoccurrence, the violence gets more severe (and usually in close-up), either to her or those she views around her. As all this is happening, the well-chosen and  presciently named Hurricane Sybil is looming in on her locus, centered in Tampa Bay, Florida. One constant is the blonde woman who wanders the hall sloooowly (Crystal Cordero), popping in and out at will.

                             

In one incarnation, she meets two people: a cop, Ryan (Jeff Denton), and the dressed to the nines Jen (Katie Keene). They are also part of the repetition on the side of the prey, as well as giving Amy some chance to work out what is going on (and for the audience as exposition, as well). They suspect that there are a series of timelines that are being affected by the hurricane having done something to an army base experiment. Honestly, it’s not very clear and seems farfetched, but so what. It’s what is going on in this story that is germane more than why.

To keep if further interesting, the time shifting progressively happens faster each time, so there is no reason to feel the same-old-same-old, even with the repetition. Speaking of the temporal, I was wondering either when this story was actually filmed, or perhaps when it was supposed to take place. For example, Amy has a flip phone, the computers are all desktop and the monitors are cathode tubed with the big backs. Honestly, the flat screen televisions in the hall that keep us all updated about the hurricane’s location feels a bit achromatic to the rest of the technology, even if their images look more analog signal than HD digital.

All these different time scenarios give the chance to present the audience with increasing levels and reasons for gore since characters can be sliced and diced more than once, so that’s not a bad thing, right? And why is all this happening? Aye, that’s the question of the day, ain’it?

This film plays with one of my favorite devices of speculating how much is in the mind and how much is in the reality of the characters. From early on, I had a theory of what was going on, and the reasons for it. I was 90 percent wrong, I’m happy to say, and that says a lot about the film.

Of course the cast is strong, as most of its players have a long list of credits. But there are some other aspects of the film worth noting. For example, the camera and dolly work is superb, and of special note is the editing. Working in the repetitions by seamlessly cutting out the recurring actions though editing is a good way to support of the story without annoying the audience. There is also a lot of motion in the physical sense as well, as we watch Amy do a lot of running down long hospital hallways. I was exhausted just watching her.

The gore is thick and rich throughout, including (but not exclusively) by use of needles, surgical saws, and scalpels. There is a lot of body cutting (etc.) that definitely falls sort of torture porn but can probably be considered body horror. Add the psychological twists and turns and it’s a pretty full package.

There is also a very subtle and dark humor that occasionally pops up, such as a comment Amy makes upon waking up for the umpteenth time (I’m not going to give it away). There were a couple of moments here and there, though, where I thought the film lagged a bit, mostly around phone calls. Mostly, though, it’s a pretty taut thriller and the cast is certainly up for that. Harris and Keene (most of the time saddled with some horrendous shoes) are up for the task, and both have their moments to shine, throughout.

What really keeps this film from being like any other time looper is that every time it happens there are some repetitions (especially around those damned phone calls), but as I said, the story changes enough each time that even though there are familiarities, it morphs enough to keep the suspense going.

There are also the rare plot holes, and certainly I have a few questions (though most of them I can’t ask here without giving away too much), but one of the nice things about this kind of story is that because of the overlapping and forever shifting timelines, it’s easy to lose and explain away the holes in the different directions.

That being said, this is only the director’s second feature (the first being non-genre), and he handles it exceedingly well for such a complex story. That’s pretty exciting.