Review: The Long Dark Trail

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

The Long Dark Trail

Directed by Kevin Ignatius; Nick Psinakis
Four Eighteen Films; El Jean Pictures; Cleopatra Entertainment; MVD Visual
78 minutes, 2022
www.Cleopatra-Entertainment.com
www.MVDVisual.com

More than just “Acts,” this appears to be two different films strung together into one story. It is an interesting idea, to say the least.

The backbone of the tale is teen brothers Jacob and the older Henry (the O’Donnell siblings, Brady and Carter, respectively). Stuck in poverty with their abusive alcoholic father, Duane (Michael Thyer), they all live in a one-room cabin in the middle of the woods in Northwestern Pennsylvania, isolated from anyone. In the pre-credits prologue, like the real-life Menendez brothers, they take actions to break away, leaving on their bicycles.

Brady O'Donnell and Carter O'Donnell

The brothers set off to Pithole City (yes, it is a real place; many towns in PA have odd names) to find their mom, Hannah (Trina Campbell), long gone due to Duane’s abuse. The first part of the film is their “coming of age” travels, a quest theme that is classical. There has been, and rightfully so, a comparison with Stand By Me (1986).

Broken up into numerous chapters, we follow the brothers as they obtain (steal) supplies and travel through various landscapes on their journey, from the natural like rocks and woods (filmed in Warren County, in the Allegheny National Forest), to man-made like rusted metal graveyards. The scenery is interesting in its ever-changing views. Through it all, Jacob keeps having supernatural visions, such as a reflection in a river smiling back at him (it is in the trailer).

For the most part, there are a lot of tense moments, such as ultra-violent flashbacks of daddy, but generally it starts as a very slow burn as we get to know the brothers and experience their lives through their eyes. And the occasional dream. The words haunting and moody come to mind in the first section, but that can also result in overdone artiness that is nice to look at, but does not necessarily move the story along or help with short attention spans. Honestly, in some parts, I watched at double speed with the captions on.

Michael Thyer

The deeper they get into the greenery, the more ritualistic symbols start showing up (think 1999’s The Blair Witch Project). The closer they get to Pithole City, the more the vision become gruesome and extraordinarily gory and bloody (thankfully). Images of a cult killing performed by a hooded Zeke (co-director Nick Psinakis) show that the brothers may be in for more than they bargained for, than just mommy dearest.

Speaking of which, it comes to a question of be careful what you wish for (or, in correct grammar: for what you wish; but I digress…). When they meet up, mom is in a vicious cult (Satanic? Other god[s]?) of all women, with Zeke at its head. And why are there no males? Well, that is where the violence comes in.

Nick Psinakis

I will not go into details here, but needless to say, in the final act, things get a bit dicey for the brothers dos. I understand how people can get sucked into cults (e.g., the Manson Family, the Heaven’s Gate, Jim Jones’ The People’s Temple, Scientology), but why this group exists and how scarred Zeke keeps control, is a mystery to me. Maybe that is why I am an Agnostic Atheist?

There is also an interesting soundtrack, including Bluegrass banjo music soundtrack, which I personally really enjoyed as a fan of the style since forever, but seemed oddly out of place for the northern-based film. Other music is off-beat singer-songwriter and, yes, moody and haunting dissonant instrumentalizations. Nearly all of the music is the output of the co-director, Kevin Ignatius. In fact, this is majorly a family affair, since there are a lot of Ignatiuses and Psinakises scattered through the credits. I respect that.

There is also some playing with time, with jumps of minutes, hours, or even days. On occasion, especially near the end, this is a bit jarring, but it is not hard to follow, so that is a strong plus.

Briefly, there are some extras on the Blu-ray. The first is the “Behind the Scenes/Blooper Reel” (4 min); it is okay, but nothing spectacular. Next is a featurette with “Artist R.L. Black” (2 min). Narrated by co-director Psinakis, he describes how Black’s work illustrated part of the end credit. Black’s work, by the way, is fantastic. Then there is the mostly behind the scenes Slideshow (3 min), this film’s Trailer, and a number of Cleopatra Entertainment brand trailers.

The ending is a bit unsettling for me, and not the direction I would have gone if I was in the shoes of the participants. But it is possible that this has been left as a cliff-hanger, either opening up the possibility of a sequel, or leaving it open ended for the viewer to decide. If there is a part two, I would be interested in seeing it.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Pink Rabbit

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Pink Rabbit
Directed by Zetkin Yıkılmış
Yikilmiş Filmproduktion; Gravitas Ventures
105 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/pinkrabbitthemovie/

Somewhere in my head, I hear Sly Sylvester Stone’s voice singing, “It’s a family affair…” That is hardly surprising as the star of the film, as Martha, is the director/writer, Zetkin Yıkılmış, her husband is played by her husband, Dominic Yıkılmış (who is also cinematographer), and her kid is played by her toddler son, Emil I. Yıkılmış. Zetkin also fills many other shoes, such as make-up, editing, and art direction. Something tells me this is going to be a micro-budget film. I am truly excited.

From a Turkish background, Zetkin filmed this in Germany, but it is done entirely in English, so for those who are subtitle-phobic, there should be no issue in this department; sometimes heavy accents prevail, though.

We are introduced to the “Pink Rabbit” (Roland Bialke) during the credits – well, his feet anyway – as they stomp on a bunch of flowers. Right from the start, we are told the rabbit is up to no good. And what exactly is the rabbit? It’s an adult male in a bunny suit and exaggerated make-up.

Even from the first five minutes, the film has the feel of a fairy tale. Remember, Grimm’s Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm (1812) also came from Germany, and if you had the chance to read the original (or early translations), as I did, they are incredibly disturbing, often containing physical torture, dismemberment, and death to men, women, and children (for example, you didn’t think Hansel and Gretel were the first children in the witch’s house, did you?). It’s this feeling of “magic” that permeates the story.

Zetkin Yıkılmış

Martha is a harried office worker who has done so much overtime that she has not seen her husband and child in days. But on her way home, on a lonely road, the real journey begins as she is zapped out of her car by the Rabbit (using ‘80s style CGI), and into the dark woods, where she is held captive by a hunter and his father, and covered in white mice (tell me, that does not sound like a fairy tale to you). But like Dorothy Gale, all she wants to do is go home.

The style of fairy tale includes a chapter where a cabin is run by two bad hunters and potential cannibals, Caleb (Jakob Suchentrunk) and his grizzled father, Kain (Claus-Peter Seifert), where they are holding Martha captive. It is almost like they are in the Middle Ages in dress and house interiors (really good set designing), though in actuality, it takes place just after the end of the American War Between the States; what is odd, though, is that they have a huge Confederate “Stars  and Bars” flag hanging in their living room. Is that some kind of political commentary? There is also an odd conglomeration of American Indian/First Nations culture and one bit of modern technology all thrown in the mixer. The language is also purposely stilted to give it a fairy tale ambience (to paraphrase, “Oh, good sir, I just want to go home”).

Roland Bialke

All of the dialogue is spoken slowly, as if being read to children, though profanity prevails, and very carefully enunciated, though the “Rabbit” is over-the-top in facial expressions, and sounds more like Snidely Whiplash as he emotes by gnashing his teeth (would that make Martha “Nell”?). Did I mention that the “Rabbit” also has an alarm clock around his neck like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland?

In other films, the over exaggeration in emoting and movement would be the signs of amateurism, but as a purposeful stylistic choice, it covers a lot of bases, and because of it being consistent throughout rather than one or two actors trying their best, it flows quite well into the fairy tale narrative and motif.

A wise choice is as the scenarios change as she “kills all enemies” (Rule 2 of 3 given by the guy in the pink rabbit suit), the film nicely plays with how much is outside the scope of Martha, and how much is in her head, a manifestation of a possible psychic break after an alleged tragic event (again, real or Rabbit manipulation?). This is nicely exemplified in the character of Police Detective Fox (David Ketter, looking like he just stepped out of a Beach Boys’ cover band).

The SFX (the killings are practical and the titles that pop up on occasion or flashes when there is movement from scene to scene are digital) by Zetkin are extremely cheesy and are as cartoonish as the rest, which is appropriate. However, the set design and lighting are incredibly well done and are a spotlight, and yet still fits into the overall tone of everything else.

I have, quite honestly, not seen any of Zetkin’s other films, such as Planet Zee (2021), so I cannot compare them, but as a standalone, I was impressed by the level of the mixing of mediums of film and fairy tale. Despite sometimes having a bit of an issue with the accents (as I said earlier), especially with Bialke’s teeth gnashing, overall, I had fun with this accepting it as it is and what I feel like the mood it was going for, which I believe was achieved. This is indie filmmaking at its most basic level, a family affair, and I ended it with a smile. It feels like it was left open for a possible sequel, which I would look forward to viewing.

IMDB listing HERE

Trailer is HERE