Review: Quarantine Girl

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

Quarantine Girl
Directed by Nicole D’Angelo, Gregory Hatanaka
CineRidge Entertainment; Cinema Epoch; Mad Sin Cinema
62 minutes, 2020
https://cinemaepoch.com/
www.madsincinema.com

As negative as the COVID-19 pandemic has been for world health, I have oft commented that a flip side to that has been the absolute explosion of artistic endeavors, especially in the cinema realm, that have been launched during the lockdown. Whether it be a Zoom-shot release or more traditional story-based as is this one, this film is a prime example of that – err – outbreak.

A lot of the leading cast is the same as the Gregory Hatanaka release Choke (2020; reviewed HERE), and with it being released around the same time, my assumption is they were filmed either back-to-back, or concurrently. Of course, this film has a limited number of players, considering the pandemic going on around while it was being shot.

Nicole D'Angelo

Ruby (Nicole D’Angelo) is a business woman who is returning from an overseas work trip, just in time for a pandemic to hit. Obviously, the disease in question in the story is COVID or at least COVID-based, but the disease is never mentioned by name, only that it effects the respiratory system, and that it is a Novel Virus. The timing of this filming is perfect, as we see Ruby walking through a supermarket early on, and the shelves are empty, especially the paper goods aisle.

We find out what is going on with her thought processes as she phones her dad (David Marc) and pal Anjie (Craijece Lewis), and on the television there is always alarms, read by the newscaster on KLOL (haha), Wendy (the Lisa London). There are some beautiful shots of nearly empty city streets, some from an overpass, or handheld cameras of city blocks devoid of humans. Her world, like the streets, is empty, but it is not vacant.

Slowly, but surely, the disease is getting worse, and those around her are affected, such as multiple shots of usage of hand sanitizer, even when not leaving the house. For a while, Ruby is still going out on jogs, has her friend Nate (Shane Ryan) over for company and a drink (there is a lot of wine, vaping and cigarette imbibing by our Ruby), a visit from her dad, and lots of conversations via media with Anjie (dammit, I keep hearing the Stones’ song in my head whenever I type her name).

Shane Ryan

Odd things keep happening, such as packages repeatedly showing up at her door (disease or not, Amazon sends its drivers out) with random things inside, and someone has hacked into the camera on her computer (the story does not try to hide who it is, but I will leave it for you to find out).

 While events worsen, and things get tighter and more closed off, it starts to wear on Ruby. Personally, I do not understand this completely. She has the Internet, a cell phone, and a television, though I did not see any books or magazines. Sure, that can be tiring to some point, but all one really needs is a hobby. One of them for Ruby is “deep cleaning,” but that’s not the same thing, nor does it last. I have been indoors for over a year (with four exceptions) and with my hobbies, such as this blog, I keep myself occupied and somewhat out of trouble. But, as always, I digress…

 By the end of the first month, as some unexplained medicines begin to run low or out, Ruby is already losing it. Not in the Gerald’s Game (2017) kind of supernatural way, but she’s starting to put on darker lipstick (for whom?), and talking to whomever is watching her through her computer, playing around with S&M with online dominatrix…Wendy the anchorwoman? Is this real or in her mind? Also, Ruby is contemplating doing some harm to herself in anger and frustration. After a month. Wow. She must be some serious Type A personality. It’s been a year and I’m still quite sane. Wait, who said that?!? Where are you?!?! Err, never mind.

Lisa London

There are some really good musical choices for incidental background, though there is also an odd use of a comical tone. Not quite Benny Hill level, but it sometimes feels out of place, such as with a neighbor peeking in her window.

By the conclusion of this story, which is hardly the end of the pandemic, as we are still in it and this was filmed before the vaccine, Ruby is a woman on the verge. But a relationship may be a change. Personally, I didn’t buy this for a second, and was ready to yell at the writer because it seems improbable, but the writer is also the main director and star of the film, D’Angelo.

Even though I generally liked the film, the dad character felt a bit underdeveloped, and there were definitely some cringy moments, which especially includes the wind-up. I did read someone who said they found it “sweet.” Huhwha? I am assuming that in real life, in those circumstances, that would not really happen. More likely someone would end up at the worst physically hurt, at the best, never talked to again. D’Angelo does an overall good job in presenting her material, and she is a good enough actor to pull it off, and I have seen her in several roles now, but that ending…

The overall film is a perfect hour-length for its story. Any more would make us all a bit restless considering the topic. Hopefully, you will get to see this film in a nostalgic way, as in “Oh, remember that pandemic; wasn’t that sumptin’?” Bet there are going to be people (me) who will miss sitting around all day in their pajamas, watching television, scanning the Internet, and shopping online. All the things that are driving people like Ruby a little bit cray-cray.

Review: Sinful

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Sinful

Directed by Rich Mallery

CineRidge Entertainment; Cinema Epoch; Napalm Love Productions

75 minutes, 2020

https://cinemaepoch.com/

www.madsincinema.com

For a pandemic, the gay community is the one to look for when it comes to dealing with it day to day. Their experience with AIDS has – er – grandfathered them (sorry about that term) into being years ahead of most. While sure, it more directly killed gay men, it was their lesbian sisters who often were the caregivers, so they still experienced that loss first-hand.

Why bring this up for this review? Two reasons: first, the film is based on the occurrences around a newly-married lesbian couple, Salem (Nicole D’Angelo) and Remy (Christine Lo), and that it was filmed in the middle of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There has been a lot of art that has come out of the isolation the disease has brought, and cinema is certainly included.

A pandemic calls for a small cast, and this one consists of a trio, including the two mentioned above and a mysterious masked man (Chris Spinelli) who shows up on occasion, and disappears just as fast. These three actors have been working on films together for a while now (e.g., Choke and Acrylic), so they are comfortable around each other and feeding off the other’s energy. This is important in creating cinematic synergy.

Salem and Remy are recently married and on the run from a bloody, “horrific” (as the film’s descriptor states on IMDB) crime, waiting in a house for some new identification to beat it on the lam. But their paranoia is deep and their distrust for anyone, including each other on occasion, tends to get the better of them. This is especially true with high-strung Remy, who is on the verge of a breakdown (or appears to be), while Salem is trying to hold it all together and be solid, but even she is having the heebie-jeebies (wishing she were at CBGBs?).

The film is essentially a character study of these two women, and how they are either coping – or trying to – with various levels of success. The tables often change and the dance around each other and their situation ebbs and flows.

This is a psychological drama more than a “horror thriller,” though there are hints to support both classifications. Sure, they might be in a multi-dimensional space where things repeat or change, it may all be in their increasingly paranoid minds, or perhaps this house is like a The Twilight Zone episode and they actually are in purgatory (hell?). It’s often left up to the viewer to decide.

Nearly everything is sparse, from the walls to the hallways, to the fact that you can’t see out the windows, giving the film a bit of claustrophobia and paranoia to the viewer as well. The skewed angles also throw us off a bit as I try to put it together with the two protagonists. And what’s with the pop-up man in a mask? The personification of guilt? Well, I am certainly not going to tell you.

As I said, the two leads play off of each other’s energies really well. Lo may get a bit shrill at times as Remy tries to sort out what she’s doing and what is happening, and D’Angelo does well to show emotion on her face as Salem is torn between her love for Remy, not wanting to get caught, and trying to find patience while the new IDs are out there somewhere. While Chris Spinelli doesn’t do much other than stand around in a mask, I have seen him in other works recently, and I have no question the man can act.

The film is emotionally draining, between the pent up fear of the characters, the shifting of the plot line to match the tilting of the camera angles, and even the complexity of the story against the starkness of the setting. We are thrust into a situation of panic, fear, and varying levels of trust, and we just have to hold on for the ride.

It is a well-scripted story, the acting is at times breathtaking, and the direction by Rich Mallery shows a sense of style that makes me want to see more.

The film is available on various media platforms, and will soon be available on Blu-ray.