MicroCinema Scene

For many of us, the real fear that the Scream generation of films created had more to do with the simple math executives were using to make the next batch of horror movies: a pretty cast from the latest WB hit [plus] creative ways to kill them off [equals] plenty of box office cash.  Dark Legend takes that equation and multiplies it ten fold–forgetting one little thing: an actual script.

I think I figured out what happened; the people at NoCash Films had access to a number of very attractive male and female models, but instead of asking them to actually act, they just video taped various photo sessions where they’d look pretty - and get killed by an unseen killer.  Because that’s really all this movie is.

There’s somewhat of an attempt to explain what’s happening; something about a “redneck” (even though this movie feels like it was shot somewhere in Europe) killing people, and a modeling shoot scheduled for the house where he used to live.  After a seemingly unrelated prologue where a team of military types are killed off by something “inhuman” (I’m guessing it was the killer, but really, your guess is as good as mine), we’re treated to roughly an hour of pretty people getting killed.  And that folks IS the whole movie.  We meet characters who don’t speak - they simply walk around, are stalked, and get killed.  This happens time and time again.

The strangest part about the film is that outside of one word (”Hello”), there is no dialogue spoken by any of the cast members while they’re on camera.  There are a few lines of voice-over to try and explain things early on, but for the most part this would be a silent movie if it weren’t for the songs on the soundtrack and the sound effects when someone is killed.  At least the songs are pretty good, even if a few of them don’t really fit with what we’re seeing on-screen.  Many of the sequences feel more like music videos than scenes from a horror movie.

The imagery is beautiful at times, although it does tend to have a shiny glow that makes it look more like a surreal art film than a slasher flick.  And then there’s the b-roll of an ant walking on a pink flower and clouds rolling across the sky using time lapse photography, which only adds to the dream-like qualities of the film.

Dark Legend is about as far away from a traditional narrative as you can get.  By me saying it’s about a group of models going to a photo shoot at the home of a redneck killer might actually have people believing there is some kind of story here to be told.  There’s not.  If you’re looking for some stylish images, and some attractive people getting stabbed in various ways, then maybe this is your cup of tea.

There is plenty of gore (no nudity though, despite the extended shower scene where we get to see a female victim rinse and repeat), and the killer does keep coming back to life (at least I think that’s what was happeneing).  And there’s even a kind of clever ending if you make it that far (and can handle the bizarre way it’s told).  But outside of the soundtrack, this is anything but a typical WB slasher flick.  And unfortunately, that’s not a good thing in this case.

One and a half stars.

Another microbudget anthology series, this time from producer David Sterling.  The best thing going for it is the source material - the three stories are all based on short tales from some of the genre’s masters:  H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, and Rudyard Kipling.

There are three stories here, the first actually serving as the set-up for the second and third shorts while acting as a bookend for the entire piece.  “Crystal Gazing” is set in an antiques store, which is a clever way to bring the other stories into the picture - each is set around an antique with its own unique tale.  In this case the owner of the store discovers that a recently acquired crystal is actually a window into an alien world - complete with an alien who likes baloney sandwiches.  When he’s not being bulled by his wife, the owner relates his tale to a fellow science fiction writer, and the two bounce the story around trying to figure out just what the alien wants.  It’s a cute enough story, but unfortunately the acting is a bit too stiff for a short that relies so much on special effects.

The second story, “Cold Feet,” is the meat and potatoes of the piece, and my personal favorite.  An engaged man finds his way into the antiques shop, and walks out with an old post card that features a woman dressed as a dominatrix.  He finds himself obsessed with the woman, especially since his wife seems to be a bit on the traditional side.  (At least that’s what the guy would like us to believe - his fiance’ seems pretty quick to get down and dirty at a local motel.) After a trip to a strip joint the man finds himself face to face with the woman of his dreams, with classic horror story results.  The acting ranges from good (especially Veronica Carothers as an exotic dancer) to theatrical, but the effects are done pretty well and the short actually tells a good story.  A bit too much of it requires the actors to tell us what’s happening, and that makes for awkward moments at times.  But yes, there’s nudity in this short, for those of you who require that with your helping of gore.

Next up is “Beastiality,” which also appears in Kevin Lindenmuth’s Werewolf Tales.  Here the story makes much more sense, as Randal Malone leads his gangster cronies into the shop and ends up with a ring that turns them all into werewolves.  While the reasons behind the short are much more logical for inclusion in this collection than they were in Kevin Lindenmuth’s Werewolf Tales collection (and I believe it was originally shot as a part of Dead Time Tales), it’s still just an average genre outing - and the werewolf mask still looks too fake in the daylight.

Ron Ford wrote, directed, and produced all of the stories in this anthology, and it’s easy to see his fingerprints all over the final product.  He’s an old school director, preferring to let the actors and the script take center stage.  At times that works well, at others it makes for less interesting viewing (especially when the story and cast aren’t really up to the task).  The shots are well-framed and the audio, for the most part, is acceptable.  The music (by Jay Woelfel, who’s better known as the director of movies like Iron Thunder) is fitting and very Full Moonish, and it helps set the right tone for the different scenes.

Unfortunately, having already seen “Bestiality,” and with the wrap around and postcard stories being the only other shorts, this feature feels like it’s missing something.  Another short would have been nice instead of the extended end credits where everyone gets their own title card and video moment.  Instead this is just an average anthology, with enough genre goodies to make the average viewer feel like they at least got something for their time.

My only question:  why did the crystal look so much like a turtle shell?

Two and a half stars.

MicroCinemaScene sits down with Slava Siderman, the man behind the camera of such outstanding micros as Y2K:  Shutdown Detected and The New Chapter.

Who are you and what do you do?

I am an aspiring filmmaker with a tool belt for every occasion.  The last 10 years I spent going to film school and shooting my own films.  I received a Bachelors Degree in Motion Picture from Brooks Institute of Photography.  In the process winning the prestigious “President’s Award” which at the time I was the 51st student to win in Brooks’ 50-year existence.

But before all that, my parents and I journeyed across the world on our way to the United States in 1979 during the Cold War.  I spent many months accompanying my parents to night school as they learned the language.  My nights were filled with foreign accents and my sketchpad.  I loved Spider-man (still do) and used my time to hone my artistic skills drawing the web-slinger.  In High School I continued my goal of becoming an artist.  After a few years at a Commercial Art College and a Local Junior College’s film program, I was accepted to Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.  While at school I worked on over 55 projects ranging from student shorts to Hollywood features.  By the end of my education, my address book and resume was filled with enough folks and experience to hire me in most any film crew position.

Upon graduation I quickly jumped into back-to-back features, Cinemax style (Andy Sidaris type of film without the guns).  The connections I made while in school led me to many television shows, working as a video utility.  To this day I continue doing freelance work to pay my bills and fund my filmmaking ventures.  As any hopeful filmmaker, I keep pursuing that carrot on a stick of getting paid for what I love to do.

But for now the last seven years I have spent almost every weekend shooting or doing post on some sort of project.  My partners and I made Y2K: Shut Down Detected, which was a short horror film with a feature length documentary.  A bit backwards but it was a budgetary decision.  This short was a big success earning high praises from people such as John Landis to numerous festival screenings and awards.  Currently I am working on many open projects while trying to find distribution for our feature length psychological-action-thriller (The New Chapter).  For more information you can definitely get an idea of what is going on by going to http://www.BlackRussianFilms.com as we have fun film facts, a newsletter, and a variety of informative news on many old, current, and future projects.(cheap plug)

For people who are new to your work, which project of yours would you recommend?

That is a hard question to answer since each project is like my baby, my spawn, my life … each one has it’s own unique style and sensibility.  For the best cinematography I would suggest my student portfolio film, My Brother’s Keeper and Jason Fenton’s Shining On which also has a great story and performances, for the coolest horror-monster effects our award winning short, Y2K: Shut Down Detected is a must, and our latest feature The New Chapter is for your action-sci-fi-horror-loving fans.  Each of the movies I have done, I gave my entire life up for…personal and professional.  Filmmaking is my passion and what I live for.

But I guess as any parent, deep inside they do have their favorite child, so I guess to answer honestly it would be a toss up between Y2K: Shut Down Detected for the editing-action-effects aspects as well as the door-opening it gave us and my new project Angel for Hire for the subject matter.  But how can a parent recommend only one of his or her children?  They all have something special about them.  And I love each project for it’s own unique reason.

What’s it like spending months, even years, trying to bring a project to completion?

You have to be very optimistic.  You constantly have to tell yourself it’s worth it … motivation is a big key.  Of course the number one factor is loving what you do.  After spending months and years on a project, it becomes more like a job away from your real job.  So if you don’t love what you do when there is no monetary gain in sight, you might quit or slack off.  You know, like going to play sports with buddies rather then spend that extra few hours working on the project even if it feels like menial work.  Anyone with a passion or love for something does it for the love and that dream of one day seeing his work succeed.  Give respect to the art and artists that preceded you.  Don’t take things and people for granted.

Sometimes, though, times do get rough as you wonder if it ever will be completed.  Just take, for instance, Y2K: Shut Down Detected.  The movie is about the Y2K computer scare and we completed it December 17, 1999.  A whole 14 days before the “Y2K!” (Insert: sarcastic frown) The film was hashed out in 1997 and had a deadline of March-April of 1999.  Our Audio/Music guy gave us a run-around for months…every time pushing the deadline and never meeting it.  Finally in late September he quit, simply saying that he saw no potential in the film and was moving on to another project. When we received our audio from him we noticed he didn’t even touch our work for months.  We scrambled to find a new sound and/or music guy.  We pulled all our resources together with John Gonzales (co-director) finding Jeff Menke and Jason Gile to do our music and Tommy Watt (associate producer) saving our filmmaking lives getting us sound work and mixing.  Culminating in a December 17th, 1999 final sound mix.  That same night John took the final film to a Film Festival running locally in town.

Needless to say, believe in what you do … be persistent and always look for that light at the end of the tunnel.  As I always say, “It’s a big rock, start chiseling and after a while you will not only see a dent but will create what you worked so hard for.  It might take time but it will get there.”

Can you share any behind the scenes war stories?  Any moments where you wish you could turn back time?

Well besides the one I told earlier?  There are always war stories, on every set.  Each crew, cast, or filmmaker comes off a shoot with a luggage of goodies.  Whoever is reading this can vouch for that as they are probably sitting right now reminiscing over such memories

One war story I will never forget was during the late stages of shooting for The New Chapter.  We were shooting massive amounts of inserts, effect shots, green screens, etc. at Trent and Tommy’s work’s underground garage.  There was equipment, props, lights, blood, guts…all over the garage.  We spent one weekend doing all our big green screen shots (not including the van chase).  After a long day and another coming the next morning I volunteered to sleep within the massive heap of equipment and props…rather then clean up and reset the next day.  I slept in my car with the window rolled down, listening for people and possible thievery.

I slept maybe three hours that night.  I just wound up setting up equipment for the next day of shooting.  It was one of those memorable sacrifices one makes for the love of the game.

Turning back time?  Yeah, ever letting the original sound guy on Y2K: Shut Down Detected get his grubby yet very talented hands on the movie.  But hindsight is 20/20, and everything is a learning experience you can benefit from in the future.  Any horror story or setback always teaches or prepares you for next time.  So truly turning back time would mean turning back real-life experiences I learned from.  I rather have the awful memories with life-long lessons then never have experienced what can truly help me in the future from project to project.

One more short but funny moment that sticks out came during the shooting of The New Chapter.  We were shooting at night at the back of a warehouse.  Being the camera guy, the shot called for me to run up to the back door with the cast as Leonard Clifton (who played Morris Spivey) jimmies open a locked door.  This particular shot was his POV, so when I got down to the door handle level, I braced myself on one knee.  Well, that knee was jammed into a concrete block with the edge of it deeply pushing into my flesh.  After a few seconds my knee gave as the camera took a nose-dive into the metal door, fixing the eyepiece into my eye.  The huge thud scared the rest of the cast and crew inside the warehouse, and after inspecting the lens and camera for damage we had a nice laugh knowing no damage was done.  That sequence will make for some great behind the scenes.

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the shooting of the infamous shoot out in The New Chapter is being produced.  In thirty words or less, can you sum up that experience?

Over 500 frames of storyboards, 60 guns, 15 cast members, three filmmaker crew, two days, 32 production hours, no rest, no sleep, eight minute shootout … I am sleepy and tired. (30 exactly, well not including these parentheses)

What and who are your influences?

I love the horror film genre as well as the occasional goof-ball funny blood-ridden Troma production.  I also really enjoyed Andy Sidaris growing up.  Troma and Sidaris productions know what they have and who they cater to.  That’s why I love Horror…it’s the only filmmaking genre (besides Sci-Fi) that has such a dedicated following resulting in conventions and such.  The filmmakers always seem accessible at these events and are respectful of fans.  I always loved Clive Barker’s work and after meeting him at Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, I had that much more respect for the man.  I gave him a copy of Y2K:SDD and he was very thankful and gracious in introducing himself while excepting it.  On the other hand Robert Englund shunned me like a red-headed stepchild.

To me though, influences come more from certain films then filmmakers.  My earliest influences, I guess, would have to be the Nightmare series and Hellraisers, with a splash of Henry.  The movie that psychologically had an effect on me was The Exorcist.  To this day I can’t watch the movie alone or in the dark.  I want to make a movie or at least a scene within a movie that can pull out that type of emotion and fear out of somebody.

Your favorite moviemaking tool?

My favorite moviemaking tool recently is our G5 with the bells and whistles.  Others would have to be the Canon Scoopic M (16mm camera) we used to shoot Y2K:SDD and the rigs we built for The New Chapter; such as a Backpack rig, ground level dolly, and especially my Pogo-Cam I still use today.

Is there a “trick of the trade” you’re able to share with your fellow filmmakers?

Well, one thing we learned is to plan and schedule your film accordingly.  When prepping or writing your story, make sure to keep in mind your budget, resources, and available locations.  Most of the time it’s easier to write around what you have and can afford then later trying to find something you might not be able to get…having to compromise or settle for something you might not completely be happy with.  Work within your means.  The New Chapter was strictly written around what we could get our hands on from cast, props, locations, effects, etc.  Made life a lot easier when finally getting up to the plate to start shooting.

If there’s one thing people should know about Slava Siderman, it’s…

His loyalty and dedication as a crew person and filmmaker.  There is nothing I will not try or do for the sake of the project.

What other micro-budget productions have you seen, and are there any you’d recommend?

In recent past I’ve seen quite a few, but while doing these new projects, I found very little time to get myself out there.  I am trying right now to change that.  But of the ones I remember and can definitely recommend would be Mike Prosser’s Dividing Hour, The Good Book, and this Cops-style short as the officers gather up zombies around town rather than criminals.

What are you currently working on?

Currently I have a pile of things on my desk.  It’s hard to juggle the work, but it keeps me busy and out of trouble.  We are waiting on music and final ADR on Shining On, a feature I shot and helped co-produce for a friend, Jason Fenton.  John Gonzales and I are in early stages of post production on a documentary about a local High School football team, I am doing a documentary on a hardcore wrestler named Angel, Angel for Hire, writing a book on our journey of creating The New Chapter, plus constantly trying to promote Y2K: Shut Down Detected and The New Chapter.  Oh yeah, and that comes after work.  Ha Ha, any Indy filmmaker can relate to that.

Who would you like to work with in the future?

Gosh, I guess a better answer is, who will like to work with me in the future?  I would be happy working in this industry for years to come.  But I guess if I had to make a choice, possibly Lloyd Kaufman for his weird style and open door for ideas.  It definitely wouldn’t be for the money.

What’s the best advice you can give to someone out to make his or her own movie?

Believe in yourself and what you are doing.  It has to be done out of love of telling a story cinematically.  It’s great to have dreams and high hopes, we all do.  Just remember to be realistic with your goals…when shooting for the stars, the rocket can come down crashing even harder.  Love the art, respect the art, and you will be successful in whatever you aspire for.  First do it for yourself, for the love of filmmaking, and with that other things we follow.

As is the trend in a large number of straight-to-video horror features lately, Death Factory follows the Full Moon Pictures formula by the numbers:  young people in an isolated location are killed off one by one by a killer of some kind.  In this case, six college kids head to an abandoned chemical factory where they encounter a “creature” who might be the victim of a chemical spill some years back.

In keeping with the tradition of movies distributed by Brain Damage, there’s a pre-movie host segment where a horror host (who I think might be head honcho Darrin Ramage) talks about the movie we’re about to watch.  He offers up the backstory to the flick, but oddly enough is outside of a factory that looks nothing like the one in the movie (which we never actually get a good look at from the outside anyway during the flick).  It’s just sort of an odd way to open things up.

After the obligatory opening kills (which tie in nicely to a Ron Jeremy cameo later on), we meet our cast of victims…er, I mean characters.  While the actors do a solid job, it’s once again a case of “why are these people hanging out together?” Maybe it’s just me, but I wasn’t buying the lesbian latina who fancies switchblades hanging out with the metal head and the virgin and the African American couple.  But the cast makes the best of things, and before too long they’re in the factory facing their fates.

(Nitpick:  why would any sane woman wear a white dress to an abandoned factory?)

Once the movie gets into gear, Death Factory is actually one of the better micro horror features I’ve seen.  The acting is surprisingly good, and writer/director Brad Sykes does a fine job behind the camera.  Tiffany Shepis plays the creature, whose look reminds me of a punk chick who got into her mother’s sewing kit.  There’s a moment after the discovery that “they’re not alone” where I thought Death Factory might buck the trend - the entire cast gathers together.  But in the very next scene they’re deciding to split up again, and everything else falls into place.  There’s even a “twist” ending that isn’t exactly unexpected, and a dragged-out coda that actually knocked this down a half star rating for me.

Sykes does a decent job of keeping things moving in what appears to be a tight location - no million dollar sets designed for camera moves here.  The lighting, although dark at times, sets the mood well.  The camera shots tell the story well, and the gore effects are top-notch.  There’s plenty of blood all around, but some of the death scenes actually go on too long for my tastes.

A nice addition to the DVD are some very frank interviews with the cast and crew, especially producer Dave Sterling who tells it like it is (to actors asking about accomodations:  “Bathrooms?  They’re all over - there’s a bush over there”).  The bonus features alone make this worth watching, especially Tiffany Shepis’s interviews with the rest of the cast.

While Death Factory follows the horror recipe equivalent to chocolate chips to a tee, in the end the cookies taste just fine.

Three and a half stars.

A funeral director is interrogated about his having cremated more than one person at a time, which leads to him weaving four other tales of horror in Steve Sessions’s horror anthology feature Cremains.

As it is with any anthology, some stories work better than others.  Here there’s at least some consistency provided by Sessions, as he writes and directs each of the four stories as well as the funeral director’s wraparound segments.  The wraparounds even tie into the final story, which is a nice touch that helps bring things full circle in the end.

Actually there are five stories if you count the creepy and effective opening where a young woman, naked except for her bondage gear, discovers her savior might not be what he seems.  In its very brief running time it sets up just what to expect from the stories that will follow, both storywise and technically.  These are horror tales, usually with a twist ending.  And the shot-on-video quality will range from your standard shooting to some nice, stylish edits.  It’s a mixed bag, but it works more often than not.

The wraparound that follows and is then woven through the rest of the stories may be my favorite segment.  Set up like a police interrorgation, everything works - the lighting, the shooting, the acting, the writing - it all comes together nicely. My only beef might be with the audio of the faceless interrogators (one of which is Debbie Rochon), since their sound quality and tone varies greatly from the director’s screenplay.

Next up is the first tale that tries to tell a short story - a daughter is reunited with her father, and together they travel to visit her sick mother.  But along the way they find themselves separated in a small town that’s hiding a secret of its own.  It’s based on a good concept that unfortunately isn’t communicated well, and it’s not helped by taking place mostly at night.

The most effective of the shorts follows a serial killer picking up a hitchhiker.  It’s got a great twist at the end (one I actually used in a short of my own years back), and the acting is easily the best outside of the wraparounds.

This is followed by the most stylish, but least fleshed out of the tales, where a young woman is haunted by the death of her best friend - who may be a vampire.  If each of the stories had to be classified, this would be the vampire erotica of the bunch.  The stylized segments work well, but the acting and shooting are the weakest of the bunch.

The final segment starts out as the most promising - and quickly becomes the most disappointing.  We discover that the funeral director’s crime is that he cremated two people at once, including a young girl.  The girl’s mother is offered the chance to resurrect her deceased daughter by a witch, but it all goes wrong and instead they bring back the “Cremainder.” An entire micro feature could have been crafted around the concept, and the Cremainder looks like a creepy enough villain (although I’m still wondering where his clothes and hat came from).  Instead the tale goes from innovative horror idea to typical slasher movie as the Cremainder goes from house to house killing people at random, usually when they’re in the tub.  There are so many issues that could have been tackled here it was sad to see it devolve so quickly, but as a slasher short it does offer a good amount of nudity and some gory bloodshed.

When Cremains works, it’s one of the better horror anthologies around.  But as it is with any collection of shorts, the levels for each story vary.  Here the camerawork goes from average to excellent, usually depending on the lighting.  The acting varies as well - Jeff Dylan Graham as the hitchhiker and Chester Delacruz as the director are solid here, while the rest of the cast have their good and not so good moments.

The one area that’s consisently good is the editing, which at times is some of the best I’ve seen on the micro level, especially during montages and when used for cutaways.  Mention should also be made of the little things in some of the stories (a hidden key and a polaroid come to mind) - it’s nice to see that extra little something that shows the time and energy that went into crafting the script.



Cremains has a little something for everybody.  There’s the eerie small town, the serial killer, the nude vampire, and the undead slasher.  With some good acting, solid writing, and decent production values, odds are you’ll find something to like if your are into genre movies.

Three stars.

From its DVD packaging The Pledge (not to be confused with the Jack Nicholson movie) looks like an interesting horror feature – five young women and Satanism tend to make for a decent genre piece.  Unfortunately, in what seems to be a trend in the micro scene lately, The Pledge is actually only around fifteen minutes long.  While the inclusion of two other shorts and a number of bonus features helps to ease the pain, anyone going in expecting a feature will probably be disappointed.

The Pledge - dir:  Jennifer Whitaker

Five attractive high school girls gather together for a slumber party, where the main entertainment is an initiation into a Satanic cult.  Writer/Director Whitaker knows her way around a production – interesting edits and snappy interaction between the characters keep things moving.  There’s a twist that seems to happen early on to make things interesting – but unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, it turns out that The Pledge is really just a short, taking away from what would have been a nice change of pace from the traditional horror mold and instead falling right into the norm.  There are quite a few effects here, and considering the lack of a budget they look better than average.

It’s a shame that one might go in to The Pledge expecting a feature, especially since as a short it works pretty well on all levels.  What hurts even more is the inclusion of a behind-the-scenes documentary that’s three times as long as the actual short, and shows a crew that’s bigger than what’s used in the vast majority of micro-budget features.

Three and a half stars.

Child of the Apocalypse - dir:  Jennifer Whitaker

Another short from Whitaker, this time tackling the horror comedy genre.  In another riff on Satanists, a reporter takes her crew to interview a woman who claims to be pregnant with the spawn of Satan.  But instead of dark and brooding we get tripped out and excited, which makes for an entertaining change of pace.  It’s hard to tell if this is shot on film or video, but either way the audio dub is done very well (although the headroom is a bit extreme in most shots).  It’s another case of a short that could have been longer to flesh out the story more, but it made me laugh so it was worth watching.

Three stars.

Bloody Mary - dir:  Ron Danford

Bloody Mary is essentially a clichéd horror feature condensed into about ten minutes, meaning we get the set-up (kids summoning a demon by saying its name into a mirror three times ), the killing (various ways, plenty of blood), and the “twist” ending in what feels like a sprint instead of a marathon.  The soundtrack is good, but it looks like the short was shot on two different cameras, making for some jarring scene transitions.  Bloody Mary herself looks decent enough, but with horror movies having a difficult enough time making the audience care about the characters in an hour and a half it’s nearly impossible to do in a short like this.

Two and a half stars.

Overall: Three stars.

The residents of an apartment complex are stalked by a faceless serial killer who delights in stabbing pretty people one after another after another.  Can the detectives investigating the case figure out who the murderer is before it’s too late?  And why is someone stealing the victims’ toe tags?

Toe Tags is a hard movie to review.  On one hand, director/star Darla Enlow loads up this standard serial killer story with all of the genre goodies:  plenty of victims, lots of quality nudity, and a “surprise” ending.  On the other hand, the movie’s shortcomings are just too overwhelming to recommend it for people who want more than breasts and blood in their thrillers.

Enlow is solid as one of the lead detectives, but unfortunately the rest of the cast has trouble keeping up with her.  Some of the actors are over-the-top, screaming their lines for no particular reason.  Others sleepwalk through their roles, or really have no business being on screen.  Since this is a micro I can understand why those things happen, but here it’s particularly noticeable considering the ending.  It’s just not a good sign when the first character we meet complains about how bad no-budget horror movies are, and then we’re supposed to believe that while he looks like he’s all of 18, he’s also a detective who went to the academy with a woman ten years his senior.  Oh, and they were engaged to be married.  (Seems like everyone in this little community was either on the police force, lived in the apartments, or both.)

The script isn’t without its own problems.  There’s an attempt at crafting a whodunnit, but there are so many plot holes that by the end, none of it makes much sense.  Like why IS somebody stealing toe tags?  Why does everybody have a relationship with everybody else?  And why would anybody go back to the apartment where someone just tried to kill them and is still running loose?

There are some things here though worth checking out if you’re a gore fan.  The special effects are done well, not skimping on the blood.  And there’s plenty of nudity, and all of it is surprisingly good (seriously, the women who disrobe would be right at home on Cinemax).  There are some noble attempts at some stylish shots here and there, and the editing offers a few tricks to try and keep things interesting.  The audio is lacking at times, and there’s a jarring moment when the video quality changes for a scene, but for the most part things are technically sound.

There is one scene that I’d like to make note of, especially in regards to it being a microbudget feature.  The movie requires a Medical Examiner’s office, and rather than dress an entire room they instead brightly lit the examing table and the instruments on it, leaving the rest of the room dark.  It was a clever way of making the audience think they were seeing something more than they really were, and it’s that kind of ingenuity that I’m looking forward to if Next Monkey Productions makes another movie.

While Toe Tags does its best to deliver as a horror flick, it falls short in terms of tension or scares.  It does deliver plenty of the red stuff and an attractive cast, but sometimes that’s just not enough. It only runs about sixty minutes long, but there are some quirky bloopers at the end that highlight each member of the cast.  A decent effort, and a group to keep your eye on.

A New York businessman (Franconeri) kills a mugger in self defense, and finds himself grappling with emotions he’s never felt before - including a desire to kill again.  That’s the basis of this ambitious drama, an exploration into the dark side of humankind’s obsessions and compulsions.

The theme of addictions runs throughout the piece, ranging from the businessman’s druggie cousin to his wife’s nicotine habit.  Granted the need to murder isn’t exactly commonplace, but it makes for a good starting point for a movie:  if you murdered someone, even in self defense, what if you had the desire to do it again?  This is a straight drama, though, one dealing with how individuals get hooked and the consequences - alienation, isolation, loss.  While it could have easily drifted into American Psycho territory and become more of a horror flick, Addiction is better off for trying to deal with the subject in a more straight-forward manner.

As it is with most movies, the heart and soul is the script.  Here Joshua Nelson does a good job of setting up the premise, and adding in a number of sub plots to keep things from rushing forward too quickly.  However some of the subplots don’t necessarily add much to the main proceedings, including a waitress who ends up prostituting herself to make ends meet.  It’s nice to see a supporting player get screen time, but it almost takes away too much from the main storyline.

Director James Tucker has a good eye, framing shots well and letting his actors really come to the forefront of each scene.  At times a few scenes drag on a bit too long though, especially ones that don’t really seem to have much connection to the main theme of addiction.  Overall though he gives the movie a professional look, and keeps things from getting bogged down too much despite the long-ish running time.

The cast is solid from top to bottom.  Special accolades go to Frank Franconeri as Bob, the businessman at the center of the story.  He does a good job of carrying the load, and is convincing as someone caught up in his own personal vices.  This is an actors’ movie, so to speak, with nearly everyone getting their moment to shine.  No one really disappoints, and it’s nice to see a movie that depends so much on dialogue getting a cast that’s worthy of the challenge.

Technically the biggest problem with Addiction is the sound mix.  I actually had to turn down my television since it was so much louder than regular television stations, and even then when there was a loud sound or screaming the audio became overmodulated and hard to hear.  There are also a few problems with audio continuity (like the sound of a train in the backgroud for one actor, but it’s gone in the reverse angle).  The lighting and picture though are good throughout, except for a few exterior night scenes that aren’t lit very well. 

After my initial review, MicroCinemaScene.com was provided with a second screener that was supposed to have an improved audio track.  Unfortunately, the audio on the second tape had even more problems.

At almost two hours in length, Addiction could have been well served by a tightening up of the script and the shortening of a few subplots that don’t add much to the main thrust of the story.  As it stands, it’s a better than average drama showcasing a good script and solid acting. 

It was bound to happen:  a comedy/horror flick where the title subject is a monster made out of fecal matter.  At least with a movie entitled Monsturd, you have a pretty good idea what you’re getting yourself into.  The story follows an escaped serial killer named Jack Schmidt, who falls into a pool of toxic waste (dumped by a mad scientist, of course) in the sewers of the appropriately named town of Butte.  His DNA mixes with…well, what you find in the sewer, and before long an eight foot tall walking turd is killing people by somehow sneaking up through their toilets.  But never fear, the bumbling cops and FBI are on the case, and with the usual tools for fighting poop (diapers, Pepto, flies, etc.) the town’s Chili Cook-Off might not be completely ruined before the end credits roll.

I wanted to like Monsturd - I really did.  It’s a funny enough concept, and I’m all for a little low brow humor.  Unfortunately, writers/directors Popko and West didn’t push the funny envelope as far as they could have considering the set up.  For the most part the storyline follows the long-time monster-on-the-loose staples like Jaws and Alligator, but there really aren’t any scares and the laughs are few and far between.  There are plenty of groaners - the town of Butte, the toxic polluter is Du-tech, etc.  I don’t know, maybe the sight of someone getting liquid feces poured all over them isn’t alone enough to make me laugh - all to often it comes across like a punchline without a set up.

Part of the problem might come in the acting department, along with the direction.  Don’t get me wrong - in most cases the acting is decent, and the shots are framed well and the picture has a good look.  But Monsturd can’t seem to decide if it’s a parody of monster movies or a loving tribute.  Some of the actors play it straight, others not so much, and it’s hard to tell who they were going for as a target audience.  In some respects it’s an over-the-top comedy (the bad puns, the tools they use to fight the monster), but in other respects it’s an almost serious monster movie (like in the scene where the Sheriff talks about his wife, who died of cancer - was that supposed to be funny?  Or tender?).  It feels like a case of trying to have it both ways - a straight forward monster movie about a giant turd, as well as a gross out comedy with tons of crappy humor (so to speak).  But for me it failed on both counts.

Technically Monsturd is as solid as they come.  The locations range from average (hard to create a believable police station or FBI headquarters on a microbudget, but they try hard) to amazing (the underground sewers and the laboratory are fantastic).  The lighting and audio are both well done, and for the most part the budgetary restraints are kept off screen.  (There are a few exceptons though, like when the mad scientist and his assistant dump the company’s toxic waste - from the back of their Dodge pick up.  Or the dog that just happens to be in one scene for no real reason other than he was hanging out on the set.) In other areas, the musical score really helps to keep things moving, and might actually be the best part of the movie.  The gross-out effects are just that - effective - and the title creature accomplishes the goal of looking like a giant, walking turd.

In the end, Monsturd is one of the more ambitious micros I’ve seen recently, and in that respect it’s a success.  They tackled a big project, and delivered a decent enough micro feature.  But without any real scares, and only a few laughs, it feels more like a good first step than anything else.  Let’s just hope their next step is in the right direction.

Two and a half stars.

A drug dealer named David (Baranowski) finishes one last deal, and sets off to win back his ex-wife Nicole (Morgan) so they can go to paradise along with his current girlfriend (Stevens).  His ex though is seeing someone new (Williams), and Nicole’s life has undergone a few changes since the couple went their separate ways.

I’m not really sure what to make of Expendable.  Writer/Director/Actor Baranowski has shown improvement behind the camera since Runaway Terror (review).  The shots are a bit more stylish, the lighting is a bit more noirish at times, and the audio for the most part is better (the levels are good overall, but the background noises still hamper some exterior dialogue scenes).  Technically Expendable is a step in the right direction.  The acting is better too, with the two leads carrying the bulk of the storytelling in dialogue heavy scenes that keep things moving along.

The real trouble with Expendable lies in the script.  There really isn’t much of a story here, and even at a brief running time of fifty minutes there’s still a lot of padding (shot after shot of masks on the wall that lead nowhere, a long long walk down a hallway, an extended driving montage where we don’t even see the actors or the truck they’re supposed to be in, etc.).  For the most part we’re dealing with David and Nicole talking about their lives, we get a flashback of David’s current girlfriend (Brinke Stevens in what’s essentially a cameo), and just before it’s over we find out Nicole’s a vampire.  Yup, that’s right, she’s a vampire.  There’s only one hint that this movie is even about vampires early on, when Nicole steps outside in the daylight wearing sunglasses.  David then comments that it’s 8 o’clock at night, but the driving montage that follows clearly shows shadows created by sunlight.

I suppose Expendable is On Mark’s attempt and breaking into the vampire erotica genre.  There’s plenty of nudity (most of it at the end, featuring a lot of stage blood) and I guess having two of the female actors wearing vampire teeth allows them to classify it as a vampire flick.  What could have been a decent enough drama about two former lovers coming to terms with where they’ve been and where they’re going instead becomes just another blood and boobs entry in the erotica scene.  However, if you’re a Brinke Stevens fan, her cameo alone might be worth the purchase price.

One and a half stars.