Review: Autumn Road

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Autumn Road
Directed by Riley Cusick
The Last Motel; Gravitas Ventures
95 minutes, 2021
https://gravitasventures.com/

I am the kinda guy who likes Halloween, whenever it appears. If I were to watch a Halloween-themed film in, say the dog days of summer, it would make no difference and I could like it the same. Also, I am willing to guess that will be true for most of those who are reading this review.

The reason I bring this up is because even though this film is opening just in time for Thanksgiving, it is heavily Halloween based, with its central location a “haunted house” themed deconsecrated church. In the extended prologue that is nearly long enough to be an act, it is run by a man and his two twin teen sons, nice guy Charlie and twisted bro Vincent (played by real twins Ranger and Jonas Lerway), with some help from their friend, Winnie (Maddy-Lea Hendrix). After Winnie goes Poof (no real mystery as to how or why since it is telegraphed and then given away in the prologue, but not on this blog), life is different for everyone.

Riley Cusick

A few years moseying down the road, hot-headed, possibly homicidal Vincent and glasses-wearing so you can tell them apart Charlie (both played by the director, Riley Cusick) still runs the Halloween house. While Vincent gets into fights with guests, Charlie is quick to defend him, though both are protective of each other in their own ways. It is not a healthy situation for either of them. The third character in this study is Laura (Lorelei Linklater), who happens to be Winnie’s older sister by three years. An actress who has not found success but has had some recent heartache, she comes home and gets re-hooked up with our odd brothers, both of whom take a shine to her in their own way. Needless to say, she is full of questions about Winnie.

The main focus of this release is the triangle of Laura, Charlie and Vincent. Along the way there will be some blood shed, some other strange characters – such as a diner regular (George Welder) who reminds me of the evil entity Bob from the original “Twin Peaks” series (1990) – and a situation where something eventually has to give way.

Lorelei Linklater

This is not a typical masked killer slasher, though there is a mask and a body count, but more on the direction of the film later.

The film is filled with long, static shots and lots of conversations, not just snippets of dialogue. Rather than it being in the “here’s some obscurities to show how cool I am,” Tarantino way, the talking is used for character building, which is absent way too often in genre films.

There is a nice use of color palates. Not the garish ones of primary colors that tend to be trendy nowadays (I call it the Creepshow factor), but, for example, in one shot, a character is wearing a mustard yellow colored top, drinking from a mustard yellow beer can, and sitting beside a lamp base that is, yep, mustard yellow. It is actually quite subtle rather than loud. The tone of most of the film is on the dark side, but so is the storyline, which is definitely a slow burn tension builder.

The use of technology for portraying twins is a lot easier now than it was when Cronenberg did Dead Ringers in 1988, where he had to physically cut the negative to make “two” Jeremy Irons. Now the studio magic is all done digitally and quite seamlessly with CGI software like Photoshop. Also, Cusick does really well in differentiating the brothers, and not just with glasses, or different hair styles (Vincent combs it in the middle), but also intensity. For example, much like Wes Bentley’s character in American Beauty (1999), Vincent rarely blinks (as with the owl mask he often dons), giving a subtly layer of unease that many people will not catch, but will still subconsciously feel.

While this is obviously Cusick’s film, both behind and in front of the camera, for his first feature (other than some shorts before this one), he has assembled quite the accomplished cast, though the main focus is on the three main characters. Linklater (who resembles a young Janeane Garofalo) holds her own, though she is on some level in a state of shock through most of the story with PTSD, so her emotional range is reigned in significantly, but is still likeable, despite Laura’s role being over shadowed by der twins.

Maddy-Lea Hendrix

Technically a masked slasher film, but much more of character studies than anything else, its pace may be off-putting for those used to the likes of the Halloween or Friday the 13th franchises where there are a certain number of kills per X minutes, but those of us who like some background and development, even when that precludes any major surprises, this is a well thought-out, put together release, and hopefully just the beginning of Cusick’s feature journey.

 

Review: No Reason

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

No Reason
Directed by Olaf Ittenbach
IMAS Film Entertainment, Unearthed Films; MVD Entertainment
77 minutes, 2010 / 2021
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.mvdb2b.com    

Bavarian director Olaf Ittenbach is infamous for his gore films. His previous release, The Burning Moon (1992) was so over the top that it was banned for extreme violence (honestly, I have never seen it). No Reason was first released in 2010, and quickly became an out-of-print collectors’ item, often bootlegged. Actually, that says a lot for his reputation.

Der Anfang dieses Films ist ein Heimfilm, der auf Deutsch, aber nicht ubersetzt ist. Leider spreche ich kein deutsch. It certainly seems benign at this point at the beginning of the credits. But what one needs to keep in mind is that the film is being re-released by Stephen Biro’s infamous gore-gore group, Unearthed Films, so you just know this is just to lull the viewer in, and blood and uncomfortable body horror is to follow. Plus, films from Germany are known for their extreme cinema (think Nekromantik, for example).

Irene Holzfurtner

I guess this review is going to be shorter than usual, because the entire film has no translation in the version I viewed. There is some deep psychological and philosophical shit going down, and basically, I missed most of it. There are long stretches of dialog, sometimes shouted, between the main character, Jennifer (Irene Holzfurtner) and a mysterious person in a Lovecraftian Cuthulu-esque mask (though it is pretty easy to figure out, in the words of The Cramps, “What’sBehind the Mask”). 

We see a number of possibilities of Jennifer’s life, from the wholesome to the – err – not. Is she a loving mother and wife, or a drug-crazed bank robbing insaniac? As Queen said, “is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?” Or perhaps this is all a “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” motif?

While there is a lot of general violence scattered throughout, the centerpiece of the film and what will be discussed the most, is Jennifer’s trip through…hell? It’s sliced (pun intended) into four sections represented by primary colors. Each is slightly different, and to get from one to another, Jennifer must make some physical sacrifice.

While in each of these rooms, they represent different “sins,” such as sexual deviations/extreme S&M, or drug-related. Everything is excessive, from close-ups of genital mutilation, a whipping scene that is reminiscent of a part of Irreversible (2002), and yet another “Jesus wept” type SFX from Hellraiser (1987).

There is a lot of thematic playing with time, changing the order of events, sometimes showing events that seem to occur at the same time in another multiverse of Jennifer’s life. There is definitely some confusion on my end, but I honestly do not know because the film was unclear or that I just could not understand the literal language.

Speakers of the German language have a history of really complex philosophies, such as Kant, Heidegger, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Schlegel, and there’s nothin’ Nietzsche couldn’t teach ye ‘bout the raisin’ of the wrist… Even in English, the title of the film has at least a double meaning (as in “someone having no reason to do that” or “not making sense”). Both work, but show the possible intricacies of meanings. Much like Jennifer’s degradation in the story: is it her own, or was it thrust upon her?

Jennifer spends most of the time roaming around full-naked, and there is male frontal nudity, as well. As for the gore, well, it is hyper-realistic. After all, Ittenbach made his name as a practical SFX person, and he proves he is certainly in his element.

I have read a few reviews (hoping to get an inkling of the story that I may have missed), and many of them, even from hardcore horror fans, were uncomfortable with this level of violence and torture porn. In some instances, I agree with them. Please know that I am not trying to restrict Ittenbach’s art in any kind of way – more power to him – but I also believe the viewer needs to know what they are getting into.

Note that the trailer below does have English subtitles, as does the DVD/Blu-Ray release, but, again, not the version I saw. The full release also contains an interview with actor Timothy Balme, a Making Of featurette, a photo gallery, and some trailers. So, if you are anywhere near squeamish, you may want to pass on this coming attraction, but if not, this is an exquisite package for you.

Review: Wretch

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

Wretch

Written and directed by Brian Cunningham

…ThoughtFly Films

89 minutes, 2018

www.thoughtflyfilms.com/wretch

www.mvdvisual.com

 

Right from the start, this film hits a number of interesting buttons on many fronts, including psychological, paranormal, a creature feature, and a few hikes in the snowy woods around Louisville, KY.

 

Riker Hill, Megan Massie

At a party, we are introduced to the three leads, who have been friends for years. The couple is Abby (Megan Massie) and Caleb (Spencer Korcz), and the third wheel is Riker (Riker Hill), who also obviously has a thing for Abby. They are Millennials who like to drink and drug, and are spiritually holding out for something better, be it between each other or through mind-altering substances. One thing they don’t seem to feel assured of is their sense of self-being. This plays a sharp dynamic in the story.

 

With a slow burn and languid pace, we get to know these three and their conflicts between themselves and each other as they cling to the same old ruts and conflicts they seem to be drowning in, rather than to explore new avenues of change. This is where most of the tension of the film arises, but of course, there is so much more.

 

Spencer Korcz

Each of the three is flawed in their own way, as are we, I suppose. Riker is a “morose drunk” who has anger issues dealing with his unrequited passion for Abby, and living with his mom and sister. For Caleb, well, I don’t want to go into too many details because it would be a spoiler alert, but being faithful is not one of his strong suits. As for Abby, she’s lost and confused, and afraid to make big changes even though it’s pretty obvious the reasons she should.

 

The three spend a night in the woods imbibing on a hallucinogenic substance, and Abby claims to see something in the woods, which may have followed her home. Is it real? Is it in her mind? Is it the drugs? That is the direction the film takes, and brings the viewer along with it.

 

There is a lot of angst in the film, but not necessarily because of killing sprees or copious amounts of gore, but rather digs into the psychology of these three, while still hinting at something more, and if you haven’t been wrecked by the joy-ride pacing of most releases these days and still have the patience to take in what is happening, it’s actually quite well done. Don’t get me wrong, there is sex, blood and violence, but it’s kept somewhat in check by the story (and rightfully so).

 

The acting by the three leads is well done, with much of the strength being with Massie, who is essentially the lynchpin character of the action. This is especially interesting as the film is filled with local Louisville underground theater actors who are relatively unknown outside of their home turf… so far.

 

As for the creature feature aspect, real or not (and I’m not giving any spoilers), it looks pretty cool. We rarely get to see much of it, again for the better, but what we can glean makes on appreciate what makes it the “underground theater scene.”

 

Another stylistic tactic that works for well for the film is that the narrative is not straightforward, but jumps around in its timeline; under Cunningham’s choices and sharp editing, however, the viewer is never lost on where the characters are at any time, even though it seems some wear the same clothes most of it time (gotta love low budgets!).

 

One might consider this a found footage film, but it is quite modified in its approach, which I believe the experience of viewing it benefits. What I mean by that is, yes, there is a lot of handheld cameras by the cast filming the action, which is key to one of the sub-stories, but the single camera is also focused on the trio when they are by themselves, as if someone is filming who is not acknowledged within the story and essentially making the viewer the camera-holder, being in the scene, as it were. This style is way more interesting than just the usual found footage fare. Yes, there is the obligatory walking through the woods with flashlights, but Cunningham avoids the cliché tropes merely by walking in a steady gaze rather than running all akimbo with the damn image bouncing all around. He also keeps it to a few select shots, not to tire us out. Totally appreciated, dude.