BARE BONES: SACRIFICE, KRÜEL and TREEHOUSE

SACRIFICE (2016)

When Dr. Tora Hamilton (Radha Mitchell) moves to rural Scotland to live with her husband (Rupert Graves) in his ancestral homeland, it’s not soon after that she finds the body of a woman buried in her backyard. With the victim’s heart removed and strange runes carved in the flesh, it has all the markings of a ritualistic killing. The local officials seem to want to brush it off as a relic of the past, but Tora feels the corpse is far fresher than implied. As she begins her own investigation, she discovers not only a conspiracy, but the possibility that ancient ritualistic killings are still being conducted. Worse still, someone doesn’t want the truth revealed and Tora might be the next victim to silence her.

Written and directed by Peter A. Dowling from Sharon Bolton’s book, flick plays like a Lifetime drama with a female main character battling a dangerous conspiracy that may include someone close to her. It’s well done and the actors do adequate work, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before and many times. It adds nothing new to the ‘stranger in a strange land uncovering evil’ scenario and as thrillers go, is very routine and by-the-numbers. It’s never boring, but is predictable and lacks any real energy or innovation to keep it fresh. An OK diversion if there is nothing else on.

-MonsterZero NJ

KRÜEL (2015)

Pretty teen babysitter Jo (Kierney Nelson) has an unsettling run-in with a creepy ice cream man complete with clown face-paint and inappropriate advances towards her. Soon after, one of her charges, little Elliot, disappears on her watch and is thought drowned in a nearby lake. While Jo is devastated, she also believes the creepy ice cream man had something to do with the little boy’s disappearance. She starts her own investigation with her ex-boyfriend Ben (Dakota Morrissiey) and soon finds that odd loner Willie (J.T. Cinn) maybe be the suspect. As she investigates the strange local man further, she realizes she might have put herself in mortal danger.

Dull flick from writer/director Robert Henderson puts too much emphasis on the soap opera relationship between Jo and Ben and the sappy personal dramas going on, than actually trying to generate suspense or scares. It’s slow paced with some wooden acting from the cast and even peppers it’s soft-lit melodramatic scenes with cheesy piano music. Add in some awful dialog and every cliché you can think of and this is a tedious flick at just over 90 minutes. We know from the start who the creepy clown is, so its no surprise and we also know he will eventually get his mitts on the Nancy Drew-like Jo. It’s also quite obvious that this town has the laziest police force on the planet, who won’t investigate even when it is apparent that the plucky babysitter is in trouble. There actually is some creepy life to the scenes with Jo held in the backwoods campground that is Willie’s home, but it is over too soon and blows a chance for a daring ending by wrapping everything up in a neat and pretty bow. Dull, unoriginal and ends just as it was starting to be effective. Actress Kierney Nelson also produced.

-MonsterZero NJ

TREEHOUSE (2014)

Despite there being a curfew in town due to some recent disappearances, two brothers, Killian (J. Michael Trautmann) and Crawford (Daniel Fredrick) sneak out to join friends in shooting off fireworks in the nearby woods. When their friends don’t arrive, the brothers explore the area and discover an old treehouse. Inside they discover one of the missing teens Elzabeth (Dana Melanie) who is hiding there from some deranged individuals who have now set their sights on all three of them.

Film is directed competently by Michael Bartlett from a script by Miles Harrington and Alex Child. It’s a mildly entertaining entry in the psycho redneck sub-genre and has some suspenseful and effective scenes, if overall nothing new. The acting is decent enough with pretty Dana Melaine showing some potential as the strong-willed country girl Elizabeth. There are definitely some questions left unanswered, such as to why the trio of vicious rednecks don’t just go in the treehouse and finish them. There are also some conveniences that stick out, like the crash of a police car that enables our young protagonists to become armed. Add to that a very sudden ending that doesn’t quite complete the story and the film could have been more satisfying. There is some good stuff, too as the film is visually atmospheric and our villains are effectively sadistic and we do get hints as to why they have suddenly been unleashed upon the surrounding area. Overall, an amusing enough diversion, if not derivative and forgettable.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: APRIL APOCALYPSE, DRACULA UNTOLD and PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL (2013)

APRIL APOCALYPSE (2013)

I try to champion the indie filmmaker whenever possible but found very little to like about this incredibly derivative little movie. In a plot we’ve seen countless times, a dork (a bland Reece Thompson who also produced) falls in love with the hot girl next door (Rebekah Brandes from Midnight Movie) but, is too afraid to let her know how he feels. A horrific event…in this case a zombie outbreak…gives him the opportunity to find the courage to find and rescue her and be a hero. The film is just so familiar and is trying way too hard to emulate so many better movies, it’s annoying…and not to mention a bit smug. It’s like the makers saw Zombieland one too many times, as that’s the film it blatantly copies in it’s style most of the time. I wouldn’t mind the familiarity, though, if it was done inventively or in a refreshing way but, it’s not. And even at barely over 80 minutes the film stops dead…pun intended… for long dialogue scenes that go nowhere and don’t further the story. As directed by Jarret Tarnol and written by Brent Tarnol (who also stars as the stereotypical stoner Stevenson) this flick is sadly a chore to sit through, even though well under 90 minutes. At least Brandes is cute to watch as April. A disappointing effort that somehow got Aliens’ Mark Rolston and comedian George Lopez involved in small roles.

DRACULA UNTOLD (2014)

It’s not that Dracula Untold is a badly made movie, it’s just that it’s a ridiculous one. Director Gary Shore movies things along well enough and the film looks good but, the story by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless is just plain silly. Tale takes the true-life character of Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans) and thus the fictional vampire that is based on him and turns him into a superhero. Vlad’s kingdom is threated by the Turks who demand a thousand of his people’s children, including his own son. He seeks help from an old vampire (Charles Dance) living in a mountain cave to bestow him with his power so, he can save his people. He has three days with this power but, if he gives in to the blood thirst, he will remain a vampire forever. Vlad then goes up against thousands of soldiers like a gothic X-Man with the powers of bat control. It’s ridiculous. It takes one of literature and film’s greatest villains and turns him into Batman…literally. As an action movie it passes the time but, as a telling of the story of Dracula, it’s a silly movie that sadly had an interesting concept at it’s core with it’s origin of the legendary count.

PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL (2013)

On one hand, Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett’s found footage film is inventive in using a real life location  suspected of occult and paranormal activity, the ruins of St. Mary’s Church in Clophill, England and real interviews from witnesses. On the other hand though, they forget to make the film the least bit scary. The flick comes across as some random episode of some random ghost hunting show and as in those shows, very little actually happens amidst all the talk and conjecture. The film is only 88 minutes long and it isn’t until the 1 hr 17 min mark that something that could be considered even remotely scary happens. Seriously! Then the film climaxes ominously and quite open for a sequel. It’s a long-winded build-up with no real pay-off. Technically an 80 minute wait for the last 8 minutes which seems to only exist to set-up another movie to come. For the most part, an interesting idea squandered on a boring movie. Too bad. The mix of real-life history and paranormal thriller could have been fun if the makers knew what to do with it.