Reviews

This had some incredible acting, amazing set pieces, impeccable technical credits and an astounding talent behind it all. So what the hell happened? And what the hell did I just watch? Was it just overblown wanna-be Lynch? Was it so deep no one can understand it? What the hell did I just witness?

Wildly Uneven barely describes this mind blowing movie. I have watched it 3 times and I still have no clue. Almost as crazy and hard to understand as the latest Twin Peaks rebirth. Some of that was brilliant and some, like an episode of squiggly lines and horrible sounds was Lynch just playing a bad overly pretentious joke on the Hipsters. Admit it, I'm right.

This feels similar. I wonder if director Kelly is sometimes putting us on, playing a joke on the audience. No one would do some of this crazy stuff on purpose, right?

Mind is numb. Must stop writing.

Hi-Death is a sequel to HI-8 and right off the bat I will say it is better. Mainly due to the quality being better for the most part. As an anthology some works and some doesn't. Lets get into the meat and potatoes:

The wrap-around story is lame, it is poorly structured and disjointed and while I liked the base idea, the execution is painful.

The first story is pretty fun. Death has a Conscience is the name and there is a few cool stylistic touches. It's too talky, and maybe a few minutes too long, but it's a good story and the idea is solid. They certainly put some work into the lighting, reminding me of the SOV movies from the 80s and 90s such as Catacombs or Killing Spree.

2nd story is Death Dealers. Tim Ritter directed it and once again I am stumped as to what the hell is happening. Poorly shot, bad sound, painful acting and honestly just a major letdown for me. The basic idea of a person who deals in actual serial killer items is interesting, but it is overlong and people talk and talk and talk. And WOW that editing! Continuity be damned! People don;t even have the same props from one shot to the next. It's obvious no real care went into this story. And that is sad. Maybe Tim is burned out?

Thankfully the next story, one of the best, redeems things. I almost shut it off during segment two. But I pushed through and really liked Night Drop from Amanda Payton. It's as if I woke up and a real movie was playing. Good atmosphere, decent acting and some quality lighting and camerawork highlight this story of a poor guy all alone in a video rental store who ends up with a very strange disc, full of really disturbing and awesome images. Some have said it is kind of like The Ring, and I can see that argument, but it reminded me more of an urban legend. It's kind of short, but it gets to the point. A nice surprise.

Nest up is Brad Sykes story about an audition that goes horribly wrong, Cold Read. It was interesting and I liked how it got more intense as we went along. The lead in it could have been a bit tighter, but the twist was fun and I did enjoy it overall. The camera was a little pedestrian for this effort and I thought it could have used a bit more style, especially as it got wilder and things went sideways. And it was VERY quiet in spots. Too quiet to really hear everything. Minor quibbles. It gets rather messy and disturbing and I liked it.

Last story takes us right over the edge and into some other dimension. Literally bring us Hell on Earth is The Muse, the segment directed and written by Todd Sheets. Obviously inspired by Lovecraft, this is the most stylish of the bunch and also the most crazy. It's the perfect way to end the film as I am not sure any of the other stories would pack the same punch after this one. It was surprising and original. Twists and shocks are thrown with reckless abandon. Pretty damned good practical effects, impressive lighting and camerawork as well. The sound design is intense, pushing the visuals along and creating a thick, disturbing atmosphere. It's my favorite of the lot, but both Night Drop and Cold Read are admirable follow up favorites.

It all ends with the wrap-around twist but there was no way to follow the last 3 stories and it kind of fell apart for me. Brad did this segment as well. Maybe a different director should have done the connecting story??? Just a thought. It may bring something unexpected to the table.

Overall a better film than Hi-8, with fewer directors and more focus.

Technically it looks pretty good. The effects are damned good for a low budget movie and I liked the music and the sound was very well done. I wish the stories had been better written. The first story just goes around and around in circles. "I have it! NO, I have it! You have it!" You'll understand when you watch it. It was pretty long feeling and I was screaming "Can we move this along?"

The other stories were also a bit hit and miss. As I said, pretty well made but the scripts needed to be refined. Anthologies are all the rage these days and I did enjoy this one a bit. Just keep in mind it is low budget. It's better than many anthologies out there, but just needed to be tighter.

The artwork is astonishing. There's articles about it out there, even one from Forbes saying that it is a huge Cult hit. Of course the articles were written before the film was even released. How can it be a hit when no one has seen it? I should have known at that point, but I help on, waiting until I grabbed a copy. First let me say there are a few very inspired moments that would have made a cool and funny 10 minute short film. Unfortunately it plods along for much longer than it should. I never want to give these kind of low budget films a bad review, but with a budget of $35,000 I want to ask where it was spent. Shaky camerawork, clumsy choreography and no money was even spent on effects. There's a scene with an explosion that just says "Explosion Here." See how clever that is? There's more humor like that until it spreads a bit thin.

The creative masterminds behind this film obviously THINK it is the biggest cult film ever made, that's for sure. But why not go out and MAKE that big cult hit? As I said there were some laughs and I actually really enjoyed the lead performance from Gregory James Cohan. He is actually very at ease in front of a camera and provides the one spark of energy this movie needed to hang the ridiculous ideas on. He plays it straight and that makes the jokes and gags work. And the music is pretty well done for a low budget movie as well.

The film REALLY slows down in the middle. Pacing issues abound and there are some bad choices made that pretty much put the brakes on the fun of that first 10 or 15 minutes. There's a flashback that made no sense and also went on too long and a love scene that simply stopped the movie in it's tracks. At least most of it was offscreen. The ending was inspired but went on too long and the jokes didn't always land. Still, even with the technical flaws, this has potential and at least it seemed like the cast and crew had some fun with it. I've seen much worse, some from Wild Eye Entertainment who put this out. Good for a diversion, but doesn't fulfill the premise fully.

I loved the original Truth or Dare back in my youth on VHS. It was crazy as hell, pushed the boundaries of good taste and even though the effects were not so special, they gave it their all. But THIS?

Damn I want to love ALL of these as I am a big fan of Joel Wynkoop. And I have enjoyed a few of Tim Ritter's films. But this series has continued to disappoint me over the years. Tim has been doing this long enough that he should know better. Technically, it is about 10 levels removed from anything he had done in the past. Just no merit. I mean, even with no money people should be able to frame a shot. Not really much in the way of actual lighting. Poor sound. I was struggling to understand what was being said. This has been an issue for some time. Even Truth or Dare 3 and 4 were miserable to get through due to similar problems. But it's worse here. Composition is not even a thought. Hell, WATCH other movies!!! Pay some attention to how a shot is framed. I get sides and backs of heads talking away from the camera. Forget line of action or traditional dialogue over the shoulder shooting. And with the bad sound, it REALLY makes it hard to care.

I wanted more Wynkoop and I kept getting Tepperman whose name is all over this vanity project. That guy likes his own face on screen. It's like the Kenneth Branagh of zero budget movies. So while I LOVE many micro-budget films, I just feel no one here had a care about making a decent movie. Why do it at all? If someone tries, and their project shows ambition and passion, I am willing to forgive about anything. But lets play a game, shall we? TRUTH is this sucks and I DARE anyone to get through it.

Booksmart could have been a John Hughes film for this generation. The story was one we have seen before, but the writing had enough twists and the cast was energetic and believable. It was almost derailed by the intrusive, nonstop hiphop music that simply did NOT belong on this film. Maybe the producers loved that style of music or something, but none of the characters even mentioned such music. As a matter of fact two main characters make a point about how much the love classic and Broadway musicals. But every few moments we had to endure this ridiculous music. This film would have been better suited with high energy pop, some classic new wave, maybe even 80s tunes. The girls are funny and have genuine chemistry and it's better than it really has any right to be. Look forward to seeing more from the people involved, just hold the hiphop next time.