BARE BONES: TORN HEARTS (2022)

TORN HEARTS (2022)

Collaboration from Blumhouse Pictures and Epix finds country singer wannabes Jordan (Abby Quinn) and Leigh (Alexxis Lemire) performing under the name Torn Hearts and seeking to hit big. They gain an opportunity to visit reclusive country music legend Harper Dutch (Katey Sagal) at her home, and try to convince her to perform with them, as a way of getting the attention they seek. Harper Dutch, however, turns out to be something quite unexpected…and possibly quite dangerous.

 

Flick is directed by Brea Grant from a script by Rachel Koller Croft. Grant has a good cast to work with, as Lemire and Quinn play well the wannabe rising stars, and Katey Sagal does strong work, as usual, as the unstable Harper. The flick gets a bit unsettling the moment the girls arrive at Harper’s home, Brea Grant quickly establishing that something is wrong with this former star and our ambitious duo may have bothered the wrong country music icon. Even when a night of partying with their idol seems harmless enough, the following morning things start to get weird. It does take a while for the flick to get going, but it is still fun to watch veteran actress Sagal gradually bring Harper to a psychotic boil, without ever descending into camp. Harper’s behavior goes from eccentric to unhinged and she takes her young guests with her. Sagal’s costars also do a nice job keeping up with her, as Harper plays them against each other, and things get a little nasty. It’s the last act where things get a bit disappointing, though. Torn Hearts is like a tense fuse that never leads to the explosion. It does have the situation finally descending into secrets revealed, emotions boiling to the surface, madness and murder, though doesn’t really get nuts like we want it to, until literally the last few minutes, and even then, it seems to be holding back. The ending doesn’t have the impact or resonance it needs to, either, as it simply comes as no surprise. Grant also could have given the film a snappier pace, as it starts to drag just when it should have been ramping up. She does have a nice visual eye, though, especially in Harper’s old, music paraphernalia-filled house, and the setting works very well to establish some atmosphere. Not a complete success, but not a total failure either, flick is still worth a look, especially for fans of Sagal. Torn Hearts also stars Shiloh Fernandez as Caleb Crawford, a country star who gives Jordan Harper’s address and Joshua Leonard as the girls’ manager, Richie.

-MonsterZero NJ

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: DEPRAVED (2019)

DEPRAVED (2019)

Modern day Frankenstein tale has former army medic Henry (David Call) suffering from a traumatic tour in the Middle East and wanting to use his talents for a good purpose. He teams up with pharmaceutical exec Polidori (Joshua Leonard) to combine a new drug and Henry’s medical skills in the creation of a human being from spare body parts. Adam (Alex Breaux) is the result and at first seems like a naive child, but as in all such tales, the combination of the harshness of the world around him and the truth of his existence turns Adam’s curiosity and innocence into anger and rage.

Larry Fessenden is one of the hardest working people in indie horror and here he returns to write, direct, produce and edit this New York set modern day Frankenstein. He does so very well and presents an intriguing and effecting updating of the oft told classic tale. Fessenden has updated the players. His Dr. Frankenstein is now an emotionally disturbed combat veteran, who thinks he can bring his healing talents to the world through Adam. The manipulative Polidori represents big pharma and wants to promote his new healing drug and will go to any lengths, even murder, to do so through Henry’s work. Their “creature” Adam is a bandage for Henry’s emotional wounds, while to Polidori, he is a marketing tool to be exploited. Adam himself, is a conflicted being trying to deal with his “new” and complex emotions, the vague memories of a past life and find his place in this sometimes “depraved” world. His anger and rage over wanting to be loved and treated like a human being sets-up a tragic and violent last act much like in Shelley’s classic. Fessenden tells this new slant on the story well and might be one of the few filmmakers who could successfully transport Mary Shelley’s gothic tale from Victorian England to the warehouse loft apartments and sometimes mean streets of modern day New York City. Fessenden’s script presents Adam as sympathetic and we do feel for him, as he is manipulated and taught about being human by possibly the two worst choices in Henry and his partner. Only Henry’s girlfriend Liz (Ana Kayne) shows any true compassion for Adam as a person and not a thing. It’s an interesting and involving telling and possibly the freshest take on the classic story in quite some time.

The cast are really good here. David Call as Henry, much like his namesake, is also a bit sympathetic as his original intent is good. A skilled combat medic who has discovered ways to revive the very recently dead and Adam represents all the soldiers he couldn’t save. He is sometimes overprotective of Adam till he, like Shelley’s doctor, realizes he may have made a mistake, when Adam starts to grow frustrated and uncooperative. Blair Witch Project’s Joshua Leonard is solid as the scheming and somewhat flamboyant Polidori. He sees Adam as a showpiece to demonstrate a new drug and even somewhat of a toy. His idea of introducing the world to the “creation” is to take him to strip clubs and introduce him to illegal drugs, sleazy women and alcohol. Alex Breaux is very impressive and sympathetic as Adam. Adam must learn to handle his emotions all over again. It’s no surprise he is conflicted with such bad examples to teach him and being haunted by memories and people from another life. Finding out who he really is and how he came to be, pushes him over the edge. We sympathize with him and never see him as a “monster” even when he causes harm. Ana Kayne is good as the sweet and caring Liz, as is Addison Timlin as Shelley, a playful yet ill-fated girl Adam encounters in a bar. A good cast.

Overall, Fessenden has given a very intriguing and sometimes intense update of a time worn classic. He puts a contemporary modern day New York spin on Mary Shelley’s legendary tale. The heart and soul of the original story are here, but woven in with more modern day themes. Adam, the “monster”, is sympathetic and we understand his growing frustration and eventual anger. An intriguing new take on a classic story by filmmaker Larry Fessenden.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) Adams.

 

 

 

 

 

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HALLOWEEN FAVORITES: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)

The Blair Witch Project is now regarded as a bit of a modern horror classic and while it has it detractors, I think it’s a wonderfully spooky and clever minimalist horror. The premise is simple, in 1994 three college students travel to Burkittsville, Maryland to film a documentary on a local legend, The Blair Witch. The witch is said to haunt the woods surrounding the town that was once called Blair and may be responsible for some bizarre deaths such as the murder of seven children whose killer claims she forced him to kill. The three students disappear and a year later their footage is found and the film is an assemblage of that footage. The filmmakers cleverly promoted the film as real and at the time, did have many fooled such as the teenage girls sitting by me in the theater back in 1999. The documentary style flick follows college film student Heather (Heather Donahue), cameraman Josh (Joshua Leonard) and sound tech Mike (Michael C. Williams) as they head into the small town interviewing the locals about the legend and some of the strange deaths that go along with it. They then hike into the woods to find and document some of the locations these horrid events were said to occur. But, something supernatural may indeed haunt these woods, as soon the three are plagued by strange noises in the night, disturbing constructs of stone and stick found about their camp when they awake and the sudden inability to find their way back out to their car. The incidents become increasingly intense and the longer the three stay lost, the more afraid they become that something is following them… and the more the three unravel and turn on each other. Is this some kind of malicious prank by some of the locals?… or are these three truly destined to become part of the Blair Witch legend.

From the premise of writers and directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s film, we know the three aren’t going to make it out of these woods and the suspense is more going along for the creepy ride to find out what happens to them. Will they fall to some supernatural horror or will they be the victims of some malevolent and very human element. It’s the anticipation that makes this work along with the increasingly strange activity that follows our doomed trio. Sánchez and Myrick give us simple noises and voices along with some unsettling found objects and let’s our imagination concoct the origin. And our imaginations can come up with things far more horrifying then anything the filmmakers could give us. The fear and increasing terror our three leads feel also draws us in. The actors successfully create the illusion of three real people and by letting them improvise a good deal of their dialog, they say things real people might say in a weird situation like they are in. This helps create the illusion that we are indeed watching actual footage and it lures us in and we share their fear while creating some of our own. By the time the film climaxes in an abandoned house in the middle of the woods, we are so on edge, that it’s simple conclusion becomes very unsettling and we leave the film shaken despite it’s subtlety. And that’s the whole aspect I like about Blair Witch is that it achieves a lot on some very subtle trigger events making our imaginations work against us. Having been in the woods at night and done some  exploration of abandoned structures, I know how it feels to hear things whose origin cannot be determined and what your mind imagines as it’s cause. The film maintains an atmosphere of dread even before things start to get weird because, the premise let’s us know before the film even begins that our young protagonists are doomed and as the opening credits appear, our minds are already imagining their fates.

The film is not perfect. The acting is weak at times and the bickering can get a bit annoying and so can the characters. We do like them but, Donahue’s over confident wannabe director can be a bitch but, that is part of the character and Williams’ Mike can be a bit too much of a whiner. Leonard’s Josh is the more laid back, level headed one and the fact that he is the most likable of the three, makes it all the more effective when the unseen force seems to target him first.

All in all Blair Witch is a very spooky and effective film that gets under your skin with very little effort and while it’s not perfect, it is a damn creepy little movie if you go with it and let it convince you that what you are watching is real. It also had one of the greatest promotional campaigns in horror movie history which had you creeped out before you even bought your ticket. Sadly followed by an interesting but, very flawed sequel (click here for my review) which ditched the found footage format for a straight narrative. Another favorite of mine to watch during the Halloween season!

A solid 3 and 1/2  horrified Heathers!