It’s been a fine year for the independent film community, and we’ve come across some great independent films made by a lot of fantastic filmmakers. With the accessibility of technology, the independent film community grows every year, and the slew of indie films coming to theaters and festivals grows remarkably every month. Though there were plenty of fine indie films we saw this year, these are five choice indies of 2014 we really had a great time with.
Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector
(Original Review | Buy It Here)
Levi Peretic and Dan M. Kinem took their love for the VHS generation from their excellent blog and transformed it in to a powerful and wonderful documentary about the history of the VHS. Why did the VHS last so long? Especially when it was proven Betamax had better quality? Why does it continue reaching movie collectors? The directors go back to the age of the VHS exploring a time where the movie market was just bolder and more daring. The art was better, the releases more diverse, and there was once a sense of community. Sure movie collecting today is great, but there will never be anything compared to walking in to a video store and taking home a stack of movies for personal consumption. “Adjust your Tracking” is a must watch for movie buffs.
Shelter 5
(Original Review | Watch It Here)
Director Aaron Longstreth whose past work involves fan films and comedy, composes a remarkable original short horror film teeming with feature length potential. Set during a zombie apocalypse, a pair of surviving SWAT team members raids an office building hoping to hide out, meanwhile a young girl and her baby brother sit helplessly while their dad fights off a zombie and begins to turn in to one himself. Filled with brilliant editing, wrenching tension and fantastic performances, “Shelter 5” is how zombie movies should be done.
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
(Original Review | Buy It Here)
James Rolfe conceived “Angry Video Game Nerd” a decade ago and has since translated his massively popular character in to an entertaining pop culture fest. Filled with a ton of nods to classic video games, and great performances, “Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie” doesn’t extend an episode so much as it is its own stand alone adventure where the Nerd confronts his biggest foe: “ET The Video Game”! Meanwhile the movie examines how much the culture has become obsessed with loving the absolutely awful, and how much influence the internet can have on society, whether minute or large.
The Horror Network Vol. 1
(Original Review | Seeking Distribution)
Director Brian Dorton’s assembling of fine indie directors is one of the best anthology horror films I’ve seen in years. Tapping in to the horror within humanity, “The Horror Network” is a series of short horror tales about the horrifying lengths we’re capable of. In “Volume 1,” a woman is tormented in a deserted cottage, a young deaf girl is chased in the woods by a maniac, a psych patient reveals murderous urges, a daughter recollects her abusive childhood, and a priest takes the bible all too literally. I hope Dorton’s film garners distribution as “The Horror Network” is a remarkable genre entry that deserves a large audience.
Pacing the Cage
(Original Review | Seeking Distribution)
Star Denny Bess is superb as the gentle giant Max Lyons, who is released from prison in to the world and has to walk a fine line to keep out of trouble. Especially considering he hasn’t quite kicked his drug habit, and is in debt to a local gangster. Director EB Hughes drama about redemption and sins of the past is compelling, richly written, and a top notch crime drama that deserves a bigger audience. While “Pacing the Cage” is definitely in the crime thriller category, it’s also a finely tuned small scale drama about the difficulties of starting anew and leaving behind the past. No matter how much it keeps resurfacing.