I understand at a certain point there has to be caution drawn about the budget, but would it hurt to have a film about characters that can do something other than stare in to the camera and make miniscule movements? “Skullheads” is a story about the worst guardians of all time, guardians of a large castle who do nothing but appear in mirrors every so often and watch the owners of the castle inflict horrible pain on one another. Beyond that, “Skullheads” is basically a ninety minute melodrama that draws the concept for the skull heads but has no idea what to do with them until much later on in the film.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Nailbiter (2013)
When I thought about it, “Nailbiter” was not a movie I expected from the looks of the set photos and general premise a few years ago. Director Patrick Rea has kept his film generally hush hush even from his closest confidants and as such “Nailbiter” has been something of a welcomed treat from the director. One of my favorite indie directors working today, Patrick Rea finally enters the feature length film arena with “Nailbiter,” a tense and spooky film that will grace many screens come Halloween. A perfect holiday film, “Nailbiter” tries to keep its promise of staying a white knuckle horror film all throughout with a premise reliant on survival and characters. Thankfully, “Nailbiter” has a strong character base to it, relying on the charms and personality of its core cast to sell what is a rather tense concept from minute one.
Remote (1993)
“Home Alone” was a smash hit in America, and to this day it’s one of the landmark blockbuster films of all time based solely around such a simplistic formula of comedy and storytelling. After the success of “Home Alone” every single studio in America from the big guns to the low budget filmmakers sought to create their very own successful film starring a rambunctious kid and a group of inept criminals with some physical comedy thrown in for good measure. Many variations tried and failed. Among them was Charles Band’s very own “Remote.” Directed by Ted Nicolaou “Remote” is a film I vaguely remember back in the days of VHS rentals.
A Senior Moment (2012)
I was pretty sure I had an idea of where this film was going, but thankfully as with most productions with Patrick Rea behind it, you can never underestimate it or its ability to be clever and pull the rug out from audiences. That’s basically what “A Senior Moment” is all about, in the end. Sure it’s a nice and sweet little short about the lives of elderly folks that are amazingly similar to those of the younger persuasion, but the climax it leads up to is what kept lingering in my mind and giggling afterward.
Familiar (2012)
Robert Nolan is perhaps one of my favorite indie film actors already and he’s only been in two films I’ve seen in over the course of three years. Richard Powell and Zach Green formerly cast Mr. Nolan is the dark disturbing short “Worm” about a teacher on the brink of a breakdown and they catch lightning in a bottle yet again with Mr. Nolan as a man on the verge of madness as he soaks in every aspect of his life that is both mundane and maddening. Clearly unfulfilled and trapped, Nolan plays Chris who is a husband and dad seething with anger and hatred so bile that he can barely contain himself from committing horrible crimes against his own family. He can predict every aspect of his life and despises that fact until one night his wife reveals that she is pregnant.
Gamma (2012)
There’s no other lover of post-apocalyptic cinema than I, and Factory Fiffeen’s short film “Gamma” is right up the alley for anyone in search of a bleak piece of cinema that examines the end of the world thanks to giant corporations and our ability to search for easy fixes. Factory Fifteen’s short is something of a gem simply because to accentuate this world that has been lost to radiation and reduced to ruins, the film crew resorted to filming an enormous portion of the short in the ruins of Chernobyl.
Planet Patrol (1999)
“Planet Patrol” is yet another of Full Moon’s films that has its heart in the right place. At the right time with the right budget it could have been a decent B family film. As it stands it’s merely a mess of a picture that really doesn’t do much for the Full Moon banner. “Planet Patrol” is mercifully barely eighty minutes long, which is a plus. So thankfully the audience doesn’t have to endure the endless string of inconsistencies and messy editing that ensues. For one thing, around 1999, Full Moon found themselves losing money production wise. So to fill time and save money in “Planet Patrol” they re-use footage from their past films to work for this film.