Review: The Tank

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

The Tank
Directed by Scott Walker
Corner Stone; Ajax Pictures; GFC Films; Happy Dog Entertainment; Ingenious Media; Well Go USA Entertainment
100 minutes, 2023
https://wellgousa.com/films/tank
www.hiyahtv.com
#TheTank @WellGoUSA

To be honest, I found the title a bit confusing: an armed military vehicle, or something like a septic tank? Well, it is kinda-sorta more like the second. But what it holds is hardly bodily discards. Remember, this is a horror film. What is more, it is a creature feature, always one of my favorite genres.

After a quick prologue, we meet lizard/amphibian expert Jules (Luciane Buchanan) and Ben (Matt Whelan), who have a young daughter, Reia (Zara Nausbaum), and own a struggling pet shop in Oakland, CA. Much to their surprise, they have inherited a property on the coast of Oregon. What is even more startling is that this was filmed in New Zealand. You would never know it by the lack of accents and the place descriptions, though much of the cast is from there. Cool.

Luciane Buchanan

It would not be revealing anything to say the three head up north to check the place out, to see whether they want to sell the house that has been vacant (of humans) since 1946. I mean, otherwise this film would be about 10 minutes, right? It is right on the Pacific (hence, “the coast”) and the view is spectacular (I drove down the coast of Oregon a few years ago, and can attest to its beauty), but it is surrounded on all the other sides by woods, and it is a long drive up a crap road to get to it (once you get past the fallen tree across the road, so you have to walk part of it and expose yourself to what lies beneath).

Once we finally get through all the exposition of the first part of the film, things begin to get a bit bumpy. They find the lid to the titular buried water tank/well beside the house, which leads to a series of caves (which reminded me of the well at Barnaby’s house in 1934’s March of the Wooden Soldiers…too obscure?). There is something making screaming noises and that creaking sound that has been appearing in so many films since Ju-on (The Grudge, 2002) – or was it used first in Ringu (The Ring, 1998)? – reverberating through the whole house. Speaking of which, and I have said this before because it is such a common trope, someone walking through an environment (in this case house) in the dark with a light, should never be longer than two minutes, or the tension dissipates into annoyance.

The body-suit creature looks great (not CGI, as well), designed by Weta Workshop and donned by contortionist-extraordinaire Regina Hegemann. That almost makes the whole thing worth it by itself. Not too flashy and unrealistic, but a specimen of evolution.

This film definitely has some issues, beyond that it would be a much better 80-minute film than one that is 100 minutes. For example, there is too much projection of what is to come a few times, such as Jules explaining about reactions of amphibians to their surroundings, early on in the storyline; there are at least three or four that I caught.

Buchanan, Matt Whelan

But what I found most egregious, was how many fights with the creature went on underwater. Sure, the camera followed them down and was shot from under the surface, but the liquid was so murky, I could not make heads or tails of what was happening other than movement. Did the human succumb? Did the creature get polished off? Could not tell until the conclusion of the incident when one or the other raised their heads above the liquid level.

A smart aspect was to set the brunt of the story in 1968, when there were no cell phones or computers, though considering how isolated was the location, there probably would not have been service anyway. And since no one had lived in the house for over 20 years, there was no working telephone.

 

Buchanan, Zara Nausbaum

Another plus is the cast: Whelan and especially Buchanan fill their shoes well and have some chemistry. Nausbaum does not really have much to do, other than cry, whimper, and scream, but she does that quite well.

I am fine with the low body count (this could almost be considered more of a thriller than a horror), but for those that are taken over to meet Osiris, the blood and gore look superb.

The release is definitely a mixed bag, considering how I felt about watching it. I love a creature feature film, generally, and was not disappointed by the beastie, nor the basic storyline – despite its many “tells” – but it took too long to get its ass in gear.

The director and writer, Scott Walker (not a member of the Walker Brothers, who sang “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”…I bet he is tired of hearing that), has one other feature under his belt previously, The Frozen Ground (2013), starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, which was well received. I am looking forward to Walker’s work going forward, even though he seems to put out a film every decade or so.

Oh, and stick around for partway through the credits.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Eat the Rich

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

Eat the Rich
Directed by Kermit Merl Key
Frog Lab
www.facebook.com/FrogLabLLC
78 minutes, 2023

Over the past few years, I have seen tee-shirts that read “Eat the Rich.” While not a cannibal myself, I understand the deeper meaning of this slogan. Now let us add a little Covid and some H.P. Lovecraft, whaddya say?

This was filmed in Indiana during the Covid crisis (yes, it was real), and right away during the b-roll’d credits, lots of people are wearing masks. Cool cloth types, not the n95 medical ones. I still wear mine in crowded places, but I digress…

Senator Jim Richardson (Raymond Kester) is a right wing racist, homophobic, and misogynistic jackhole Congressman who harasses wait staff in a restaurant (for example) and uses words like “cuc” about people wearing masks, even if it is mandated. Total DeSantis-ville mentality. Less than five minutes in, and I hope some comeuppance is in store for this yahoo, as I feel about any of these morons going around annoying workers who have no say in policy and especially if they put it online. But again, I digress…

Statuesque Evie Elkins (Morgan Bow), a single mom, works in a dead-end job as a waitress for a tyrant boss and lives with her parents. Money is tight for her and her friends as well. They are Joey (Dakota Bruton) and her level-headed boyfriend Mark (Evan Lahee), and Evie’s new boyfriend Adam (Cody Alexander). They all hang out on Zoom playing Dungeons and Dragons, and complain about their fates, the mandates, and having to deal with MAGAs in the workplace, as Joey states.

Adam’s politics are as far Left as Richardson’s is to the Right, spewing a Marxist-kinda vibe and jibe, saying things like “plutocratic oligarchy.” And now he has done gone and kidnapped Richardson and taken him to a hideaway house (cabin in the woods?) with a hot tub, dragging the other three into danger with the law, and so much more. As we see in the very opening, there is something “different” about Adam. Thing is with kidnapping anyone, especially politicians, someone must end up dead, either the kidnappers or the kidnappee. Way of the world, and especially genre films.

Yes, there is some deep shit politics going on here, but it takes the side of the people who are struggling, which thanks to the Trump tax cuts for the one percent, high costs of medical care in the middle of a pandemic, and just trying to survive, this is not about power – well, perhaps it is for Adam – but more about the desperation of the working class in a country in which those in the money and power (usually the same) spew hatred towards society’s base. I do not mean for this to sound like a screed, though it is plain which political side I am on.

This is obviously micro-budget (for which I support) and it could have easily have just been a tale of a kidnapping, a la Death and the Maiden (1994), but more like SheepSkin (2013), this takes it to a horror level with a beastie (the title kinda gives it away, as does the prologue, but I will not reveal the details).

This makes me think of the flip of the attempt to kidnap Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, where in this case it is Lefties doing the deed rather than the Right’s attempt. Perhaps that almost-taking inspired this story?

When the film starts, what confused me is the added visual glitches and (sometimes literal) noise added to the film, without it being found footage. But it is not just a stylistic choice: as things become clearer, the more unnerving it gets (a good thing), the more it becomes a character, representing chaos and entropy.

Once the social strata commentary stops and the woo part of the story begins, the action certainly picks up.

The film looks good, employing some filters to give moods, or a deep blue one to represent night. It all works together well. The digital SFX are, honestly, quite cheesy looking, such as some electric flashes looking like it came from a 1980s low budget sci-fi film. Again, this is a micro-budgeter, so it is more the meaning than the demonstration.

This is the director’s first feature, and while it has some issues here and there, such as being weighed down a bit by philosophy and social commentary, the story itself is enjoyable, and just from viewing this, I can tell that there is some good work coming out of Key going forward. This is definitely a solid start.

Can be found free on Tubi HERE

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Mad Heidi

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

Mad Heidi
Directed by Johannes Hartmann; Sandro Klopfstein
Swissploitation Films; A Film Company; SRF (Swiss Radio and Television); Raven Banner Entertainment
92 minutes, 2022 / 2023
www.madheidie.com
www.facebook.com/madheidimovie
www.instagram.com/madheidimovie/

Before there was Pippi Longstocking (1945), before Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie, 1932), and previous to Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables, 1908), there was Heidi, first published in 1880 by Johanna Spyri. In this story, Heidi has gone from an innocent and yodeling 5-year-old mountain girl into a strong, angry 24-year-old woman. She is a badass.

From the moment I saw the trailer for Mad Heidi, I knew I wanted – perhaps needed – to see this. Filmed in Switzerland, this is apparently a new subgenre being referred to (by its producers) as Swissploitation. Gotta love it. Mostly in English, there is minimal Swiss German, as well.

Alice Lucy

So, this grindhouse release cannot – and should not – be taken seriously, as it is an extremely broad and violent comedy. Just what the doctor ordered. Films of this nature tend to be called “cheesy,” and in this case, it is quite purposeful, as I will explain later. The film goes out of its way to give it a 1980s release feel (a good start!), right down to the opening credits, and relying on a bunch of different genres throughout, some of which will be noted below in brackets.

Through the prologue and credits, we learn that Switzerland is taken over by Nazi-esque (right down to the Swiss Cross red armband) regime of President Meili (Casper Van Dien, of 1997’s Starship Troopers, sporting a comically-German accent) – aka, “Our Very Swiss Leader” – a cut-throat dystopian dictator who is not afraid to quash a protest through armaments. He also owns the only permissible cheese factory in the country, with the slogan, “Strength through Meili’s Cheese.” Any other brand is illegal, and burned, while the sellers are executed in the street. He is brutally aided by Kommandant Knorr (Max Rüdlinger) – sometimes the “K” is not silent – who says, as he is torturing someone in a dairy-related way, “I love the smell of cheese in the morning!”

Casper Van Dien

There is an interesting mix of Nazi-ism, and what is going on in the States right now. For example, there is a negative “other” branded on the lactose-intolerant who cannot eat cheese, reflecting what is going on with the LGBTQ+ and Trans communities. Republicanism is reflected a lot here, not to mention Meili’s tendency to wear all red clothing. His plan is to take over the world…cheese market.

Meanwhile, there is a grown-up Heidi (relative newcomer Alice Lucy), living in the Alps with her grandfather, Alpöhi (David Schofield). While Heidi seems to be unaware of what is going on in the village, gramps is more conscious. Part of Heidi’s distraction is her love interest [sexploitation], the godfather of illegal cheese, Goat Peter (Kal Matsena). He is pimpin’ his goat cheese in bricks in his white fur coat [blaxploitation] to underworldly figures. See, purposefully silly and smile worthy.

David Shofield

After some tragedies, our feisty heroine is arrested, and sent to a stern prison with Klara (Almar G. Sato), run by an even sterner warden, Fräulein Rottweiler (Katja Kolm) [women in prison] and her sadistic right hand who really enjoys giving a cattle prod, Lutz (Rebecca Dyson-Smith). In the Mengele-ish role is Dr. Schwitzgebel (Pascal Ulli), the Chief Cheese Scientist, out to rid the world of the lactose intolerant (reminiscent of Scott Atlas, Trump’s anti-vax COVID advisor). Naturally, the only food there is cheese (reminds me of a line said by Maude on “All in the Family”: “It’s Cream of Wheat and cheese; it’s light but it binds”). His goal is to form a “perfect” cheese to create a cheese army (think of zombies or Orcs).

Of course, after Heidi escapes and does some kung fu training, she becomes a warrior that is bound to influence a whole bunch of Halloween cosplay outfits. And rightfully so. I will not go into any detail about the fight to save Switzerland, but man, it is bloody and fun. And I mean some really nice albeit cartoonish gore that will have any gorehound cheering.

Max Rudinger

While there is a timeless feel to the film, such as “the new,” Goat Peter referring to Heidi as “Babygirl,” and “the old,” dial phones, it is definitely steeped in the ‘80s, with cassette boom boxes, mad scientist laboratories, explosions, bizarre opening animation and CGI, and everything being excessive.

The scenery is nothing short of stunning. Mountains, switchback roads with enormous drops, green valleys, bridges, and the like. So beautiful.

Kal Matsena

Goofy, but smart and obviously made by a group that are hardcore cinephiles, with influences and reflections of the likes of Scanners (1981), Cool Hand Luke (1967), High Anxiety (1977), the subgenre of The Big Bird Cage (1972), The Human Tornado (1976), Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns (including some of the score sounding like Ennio Morricone), Star Wars (1977), Crocodile Dundee (1986), Spartacus (1960), and, of course, The Sound of Music (1965). I am sure there are some I missed.

The acting is also reflective of the period it is honoring, with over-the-top dialogue infusing the over-emoting and facial expressions (Van Dien, especially and purposefully). Plus, there is one speech that sounds like it could have been pointed directly to the information deprived MAGA followers.

Katja Kolm

One of the notable aspects of this film is that it is completely independently funded, shot, and distributed. The contributor section of the acknowledgements is almost as long as the rest of the end credits.

Damn, this is a fun film. I highly recommend it to those who like ‘80s cinema, Tarantino, well-written action comedies, and just a need to let it all loose. Very satisfying from beginning to conclusion. Or is it not really the end of the story?

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Smart House

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

Smart House
Directed by John Oak Dalton
Midwest Film Venture; ITN Studios
www.itnfilms.net/
76 minutes, 2023

Director John Oak Dalton is known more as a screenwriter (many involving sharks and the Polonia Brothers), but this is only his third directorial effort, after The Girl in the Crawlspace (2018) and Scarecrow County (2019), but both exceeded their budget and are well worth the watch.

Technology has always given way to genres in the arts. For example, the atomic age led to a glut of sci-fi novels and giant creature features like Them (1954) or Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956), VHS gave us a proliferation of giallo and slashers, and the internet the likes of Unfriended (2014). Even Covid led to smaller casts (Quarantine Girl, 2020) or the use of Zoom (Host, 2020).

Now with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a newer genre rises of technology, more personal than the fantastical like the Terminator franchise. For example, recently there was a film called Motion Detected (2022) https://indiehorrorfilms.blogspot.com/2023/05/review-motion-detected.html that dealt with a “smart house,” which still had a supernatural element to it. And now, there is Smart House, which takes out the metaphysical and gives us pure evil AI.

Iabou WIndimere

The focus of the story is Mari (Iabou Windimere), a woman who has been harassed by her violent ex-, Shawn (Joe Kidd). She is now alone in a house run by a Siri type of table device called Cassandra (voiced by the Brinke Stevens in that distinctive, smoky voice of hers) that was designed by her ex-hacker father, Cordell (Tom Cherry). Cassandra has some glitches to it, and is not calling Mari by the name of Clytemnestra, but rather Mary or Murry.

Mari’s profession is as an online influencer, on a very weird show where she brushes her hair and talks in a whisper (which is supposed to trigger an autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR). I have never understood stuff like that; too esoteric for me. I like plain and simple, like punk over prog. As she does her program, be sure to read the scrawl of “live” viewer comments on the left; some are positive and others not so nice, as is probably accurate. And they are humorous in their trolling.

Anyway, Cassandra has been acting weird and not following requests in increasingly annoying ways (vacuums going in the middle of the night, for example). Over a short time, Cass is in control, or rather another hacker has – er – hacked into the system, locking Mari in with specific and every increasingly hazardous requests. What I do not understand on all genre films where doors are locked and they are “trapped”… why not a chair through the window to get out, if you are threatened?

Erin Hoodlebrink, Tom Cherry

Like the documentary “Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer” (2019), can the audience or others help poor vexed Mari escape her doom and save her podcast? Will the trolls win out and reduce her “numbers”?

The film addresses several issues, such as the power of influencers online, and their lack of it in the real world. It also shows the duality of the level of commitment of the audience, and the sheer banality of anger and hatred (trolling). It also examines just how much we give up of our autonomy with the “convenience” of automation. A professor of mine said that every technology eventually does exactly opposite of what it was supposed to do in the first place, such as the internet was supposed to bring us all together, and instead we sit on our butts by ourselves, online, even in the company of others. In some ways, Smart House addresses that.

Mari is trapped not only by Cassandra, but by the image of herself as an influencer, not even being her own self, but rather a whispering hair brusher. Singer-songwriter Christine Lavin has a song called “Prisoner of Their Hairdos.” which addresses this issue, as well.

Additionally, this is what I would also call a Covid-related release, as there are many characters in the film, but in only two instances do two meet face to face. Everyone else is either on the phone, the internet audience, or voices on the Dark Web.

Another side fact is that of the three films Dalton has directed, this is the first one he has not written. Despite the desperation going on, it is not as emotionally deep as the previous two as far as emotional turmoil levels. Mari is strongly put-upon during the night, but the lasting trauma of Dalton’s previous films was palpable. This one was still traumatic, don’t get me wrong, but the cut is not as deep as, say, in The Girl in the Crawlspace.

There is no sex, nudity, or gore, and yet the story line is enough to keep one interested. Obviously, this was filmed in December (2022?) due to the Christmas lights up everywhere, which is never addressed in the events or by the characters.

The computer graphics that are used are fun, but I was especially impressed by those attached to the opening credits. I found it fascinating. Being a low budget release, there is also a nice use of stock footage (some people have the same yellowish glow filter that past – and hopefully future – failed politician Kari Lake uses, which made me laugh).

As I have said before, Dalton is part of the Dayton, OH film group, who often use the same actors and cast, with varying degrees (e.g., Iabou has been in all of Dalton’s films, and many in Henrique Couto’s as well). It is nice to see familiar faces as well as some new ones. Of course, some are just voices here on the ‘net.

I am always happy to see a John Oak Dalton film, even if it is just a screenplay, especially when collaborating with Couto (who produced Smart House and was cinematographer), an excellent filmmaker in his own right. I will be happy to see what comes next for Dalton.

IMDB listing HERE

Trailer HERE

Review: Day Zero

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

Day Zero
Directed by Joey De Guzman
Reality MM Studios; Regal Entertainment; Well Go USA Entertainment
82 minutes, 2022 / 2023
https://wellgousa.com/films/day-zero
www.hiyahtv.com
#DayZero @WellGoUSA

This release is not to be confused with Night Zero (2017), as Day Zero also goes for the almost-zombie throat.

Remember back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s when the Philippines was a place that released numerous “B” horror releases (many starring John Ashley; d. 1997), be they cheesy, such as Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968) and The Twilight People (1972)? 

Well, this has shown the quality has quite improved for Filipino fright flicks (presented in Tagalog, Filipino, sign language, and some English, with easy to read English subtitles) over the years, and are still cheesy fun, but a lot more sophisticated, professional looking, and relatively make more narrative sense (relative to the topic at hand).

Brandon Vera

As the prologue tells us, there is an outbreak of dengue fever “also known as break-bone fever, a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people” (paraphrased from Wikipedia). But like Covid, for this imagining, it has mutated into turning people into (fast) flesh-biting zombie-ish creatures; they are not into eating as much as biting and infecting, sort of like Korea’s Train to Busan (2016). While they are merely hyper-infected, they look like classic zombies; the make-up is incredibly well done. Though they can run, they move quite spasmodically and only communicate through screams. It can seem a mix of [Pick a time of day] of the Living Dead and …28 [pick a timeframe] Later, with a bit of [*REC] (2007) thrown in for good measure. And of course, we cannot forget the granddaddy of all violent bite infection flicks, Rabid (1977).

Our central character is the heavily tattooed former U.S. elite soldier Ramon “Emon” Marasigan (Brandon Vera, aka “The Truth”; retired Filipino-American World Kickboxing Association [WKA] Super Heavyweight Champion, ONE Championship Heavyweight World Champion, WEC 13 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, and inducted in the Grappler's Quest Hall of Fame). He is in a Filipino prison for aggravated assault. Hell, he is so big, he could cripple me with a strong stare.

Mary Jean Lastimosa

His estranged wife, Sheryl (Mary Jean Lastimosa) and young, deaf daughter, Jane (Freya Fury Montierro) wait in what looks like some overcrowded poor area at a seven-floor walk-up apartment building. Due to the outbreak, Emon breaks out (see what I did there?) of prison with his friend Timoy (Pepe Herrera). Meanwhile, Sheryl gets separated from Jane in the apartment melee. It was pretty obvious that the story would be the quest of the three finding each other again.

Also understandable, thankfully, is that there will be a lot of fighting by Emon, be it prisoners, zombies, or what all. And it certainly does not fail in that regard: MMA-style moves, crude objects (e.g., boards), and eventually tactical armory (see the trailer).

Pepe Herrera

The cinematography by Mo Zee is quite well done, with some camera effects that work well with the storyline and keeps the eye on the screen. This is a gross generalization, but Asian cinema really does present action scenes with pizazz.

Vera acts his role well, albeit mostly stoic or angry (though there are some emotional moments), but most of the major cast, including Herrera and especially Lastimosa, project their fear and angst well without it being cartoonish. Most of the action, once Emon and Timoy get out of prison, is set in the apartment building (hence the [*REC] reference), giving a feeling of grime, purposeful bad lighting (no electricity) though easy to see for the viewer, and a sense of claustrophobia. The single location helps with the budget, and I respect that, as well as “locks” the viewer into the locale. The set design for these scenes is excellent.

So is the SFX, which uses great prosthetics, and while there is some CGI, most of it is practical. For those interested, like me, there is a lot of it spread throughout the film. Technically, there are three acts, but each is ruthless.

While this is a relatively serious film, there is some subtle humor that occasionally crops up, almost like easter eggs, such as one zombie wearing a tee that says, “Vin Scully is my homeboy”: baseball is huge in the Philippines. Also, as with most sidekicks, Timoy is a bit of a comic relief, but hardly a stereotypical screw-up.

There is an underlying premise that not all monsters are – er – monsters. While the band of survivors get picked off one by one, there is also brutality brought by grief and anger. Who needs to be infected to become violent when someone has lost a loved one? I believe that characterization is a real side of humanity sometimes. It is not really cynicism, if you just look around at the attitude of some televangelists and members of the US Senate about the LGBTQ+ populations.

On a side note, I wonder about films like this: if one can escape from the crowded apartment building, in a heavily populated neighbourhood, how would one get away, even in a vehicle? There are 114 million people living in the Philippines. Would it not be more realistic to pull a The Mist (2007) in that situation (but have enough ammo)? I would definitely want a quick out.

Once the action starts, which is right at the beginning, it is rare that the action lets up. We see our main group and others fight the transformed and infected. In a world where zombie (relatively) films are a dime a dozen, even though there are some formulaic moments, this is a good watch, full of action, violence, practical SFX, gore, and so much more.

IMDB listing HERE

Horror Animated Shorts of Jason J. Cross

Horror Animated Shorts of Jason J. Cross

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

A nice thing about animation is that you can do things that cannot be done on a small budget. Created in the stiff but “humanesque” iClone software, the shorts are entertaining to look at. While the movement is a bit boxy, the faces look sharp. All these films were written (with one exception) and directed by Jason J. Cross, and are available in links at the bottom of each review. They are released by Four Sides Cross Productions. These are not in a ranked order, but rather how they were sent to me.

What is consistent in at least three of these four releases is that the central character is a strong woman. That makes me happy.

 

Got to Eat
6:41 minutes, 2020
There is a masked serial killer on the loose, and he has chosen his next family. They are transient and a bit oddball, but can they handle this young murderer? The results are quite humorous and bloody. Very simple and to the point, which is nice. And what is with the very end? Is there going to be a sequel?; I ask because many of Cross’ releases are serials. This is off to a great start.
Full film HERE

 

To Do
3:11 minutes, 2023
A serial killer ponders over a bound and gagged woman. We hear his internal monologue of what he plans to do, which the viewer gets to viscerally see. His thoughts are a poem including such things as biting off her nose. Creepy and gruesome. Nice.
Full film HERE

 

A Mother’s Love
13:15 minutes, 2021
A woman is on a first date at her home with a nice man, and they are just starting to get to know each other, when her daughter gets into some physical trouble. The crux of the story is how the mother takes care of business and how far she will go to protect her daughter. It is certainly not what one might expect. It was cool and she is hot. As with the first story above, there is a nice self-referential to Four Sides Cross.
Full film HERE

 

Wanted
2:44 minutes, 2021
This is the only story not written by Cross, but rather his 11-year-old “Daughter (Victoria) and staring my other daughter (Samantha), my wife (Carla), and myself,” the director explained. Short and simple, a mother and her two young twin daughters are being questioned at a police station, where the coppers are looking for her ex-. But there is more going on than that. This may have been written by a child, but it has a nice twist element to it.
Full film HERE

Review: Supercell

Text © Robert Barry Francos / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Supercell
Directed by Herbert James Winterstern
Thomasville Pictures; Bay Point Media; Short Porch Pictures; Streamline Global Group; Volition Media Partners; Highland Film Group; Strike Media
101 minutes, 2023
www.strike-media.com

Natural disaster films are hardly new. The first I remember is Earthquake (1974), but it goes back at least until The Hurricane (1937), or arguably even Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928). In recent years, cheapie weather-related knockoffs have been prolific on cable. It is worth mentioning, and I certainly will not be the last, that the bar to beat, especially in the “wind” category, is Twister (1996). And rightfully so.

Another aspect worth mentioning is that there are occasions where an A or B-plus level actor will appear in an independent film, usually in a cameo or as a favor to someone associated with it. Here, there are three who are main characters: Alec Baldwin, Anne Heche (in her next-to-last film; d. 2022), and Skeet Ulrich. This is rare for an indie flick.

Daniel Diemer, Skeet Ulrich

Tornado alley is where the film is situated, such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas; the former has recorded more tornados than anywhere else in the country (it was actually filmed in Montana). The often-sweaty High Schooler William Brody (Daniel Diemer) has lost his storm-chaser/scientist father, Bill (Richard Gunn), to a cyclone. But the big Bill has passed down his fascination with the storms to his young’n.

Much like “Dorothy,” the weather reader thingamabob from Twister, here there is a machine in a nascent stage made by Bill that can read the possibility of tornados by soundwaves that William now works on. That is when he is not hanging out with love interest, Harper (Jordan Kristine Seamón).

Alec Baldwin, Ulrich

William wants to understand about tornados and about what it meant to his dad, much to the chagrin of Quinn (Heche), his scientific genius mom who now makes a living cleaning other people’s houses. He takes off solo and phoneless in search of Oz…I mean wild weather. In this day of climate change, it is a topical – er – topic. He goes to see “Uncle” Roy (Ghostface himself, Ulrich) who drives for a bus tour to see tornados that uses the Brody name that was bought out during bankruptcy when big Bill was blowin’ in the wind. It is run and led by the antagonist of the piece, Zane (Alec Baldwin) – as in “inzane” – who is more interested in the bucks of his passengers than their safety.

Let me address this for a second: the women in this film (Quinn and Harper) are reasonable and level-headed, when it comes to the danger level, but the men (e.g., Bill, Will, Roy and Zane) are like the videos on social media of macho ubersports proponents who risk their lives for a thrill (and perhaps some clicks).

Anne Heche

Naturally, Quinn and Harper set off to find the testosterone-filled tornado chasers, thus bonding (road trip!!) going from Florida to the west. Wait, so Quinn moved William away from the Tornados after his father’s death to Hurricaneville? Hmm.

With a ton of exposition that fills the first act, the wind…I mean the pace does not pick up until about half way through, when the first tornado for William comes into the picture while on the tour bus. You know each tornado experienced is going to get more and more intense, cinematically, as is the paradigm. Again, an observation, not a criticism. Building up is the way it is supposed to be, otherwise it would be anticlimactic.

Jordan Kristine Seamón, Diemer

There are some nice cinematic touches, like never seeing Bill’s face other than family photos, or going from a storm to watching clothes going around a washing machine. Another is Quinn asking Harper “Have you ever been to Kansas, Dorothy?” as Harper has twin ponytails. There are some cool Easter eggs, as well, such as William looking up Bill on the computer, and for just a brief second, Bill Paxton’s (d. 2017) name comes up in the search engine.

The soundtrack is – and really should be for this type of topic – orchestrated and swelling, when need be, especially reflective of the weather situated on-screen. It is lush and beautiful, like a rainstorm.

Baldwin and Heche share no scenes together, but they did in an earlier film, The Juror (1996). While Baldwin is arguably the biggest current star here, and Diemer is the central character, it is Ulrich who steals the film with his complex reading of Roy, who is torn by past occurrences and taking care of the son of the person he most admired.

There are a lot of Twister moments, such as one with a car van (though no cows), but at least no one shouts, “It’s here!!” I will say that the CGI is better, and the storms look more realistic, as they slash through the countryside. While I found the survivability in Twister a bit unrealistic, here is it more real feeling, even though the excitement level is a bit less. Do not get me wrong, there is lots of relatively scary weather moments, and it is beautiful to watch. My only real issue with the film is its length. There are lots of exposition moments that could have been edited down and still arrived at the required destination. I get the feeling it is so the star power have their own monologues and scenes. Again, understandable.

If you like big storms, like me (though I have zero interest in storm chasing any more than, say, paragliding), there is a lot to like about this: adrenaline, rain, hail, and fast paced weather.

IMDB listing HERE