The Crescent (2017) [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2017]

Following a death in their family, a woman and her son go to the family’s secluded house to try and heal and find their way.

Written by Darcy Spidle and directed by Seth A. Smith, The Crescent is more family drama than horror film, but it does have some horror elements involved. The story is one of the slowest burns seen this year or maybe even this decade, it’s slow to a painful crawl. The film has some good elements, but they get lost when the viewer loses interest due to the pace and the fact that most of the conversations are between a woman and her small child. Those conversations are cute at times, but they bring pretty much nothing to the story. If the film had been entirely silent as some of its scenes are, it may have had more impact. As it stands, the film’s dialogue eventually feels useless and like babbling. Missing parts of it is not that big of an issue, which is not something that helps keep attention to the film. The story itself feels a lot like something that could have made a short with a brisker pace and this would have been plenty time to tell the story.

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Inheritance (2017) [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2017]

After inheriting a very expensive house from the father he thought long dead, Ryan moves in with his girlfriend Isi. While trying to figure things out about his father, Ryan finds more than he bargained for.

Writer/director Tyler Savage creates a film that is very low key and takes its time to develop its characters and story. This leads to a slow burn of a film that is deliberate and works for the story. The film is one of those films that will take too long for some viewers but should delight those loving when films take their time and bring the creep factor in slowly and in small doses. This is not a jump scare type of film, but one that works on the psychological level of things. The story is mainly about Ryan and his quest to understanding why his father left him this how and why he stayed silent and away for so long. This is done through calculated reveals and scenes that are created with a great attention to details.

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La pazza gioia (Like Crazy) (2016) [San Diego Italian Film Festival 2017]

Two women interned in a psychiatric facility in Tuscany escape looking for a little bit of happiness.

Written by Paolo Virzy and Francesca Archibugi based on a story by Virzy who also directs, La pazza gioia is a lovely story of two women with not much in common coming together to try and find some happiness. Given that both are crazy leads to this being complicated by where they live and their issues as well as how they are viewed on the outside of the facility. These characters are charming even as their issues come to light and they are clearly not completely innocent. Their background is explored in a way that gives a view on mental facility patients that is not all negative. It’s a view on them that is gentle, loving, and caring. The characters are shown as humans first, crazy second. Their goals are like anyone else’s; they just go about things a bit differently. The way the film approaches mental health is refreshing as the story is not at the expense of the patients but respectful of them and their beings. They are fully fleshed characters and not caricatures of their issues, something that brings the viewer in and creates a story that is easily enjoyed while showing how hard life can be for people with mental problems and issues.

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