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.

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Director Patrick Rea and his Gallery of Nailbiters

Patrick Rea is probably one of my favorite independent directors at the moment and while all of his films may not be home runs, he’s created a veritable gallery of short horror and darkly comedic films that have stormed the worldwide web and spawned a following of folks just waiting his newest yarn that always ensure surprise twists and turns, sharp storytelling, and top notch performances. Ambitious and enthusiastic about his art, director Patrick Rea first started sending us his short films after we began reviewing the shorts we discovered on the net and since then has remained a contact for Cinema Crazed.

In the midst of directing his new feature length horror film called “Nailbiter,” a film that’s remained under wraps and mysterious to most online entities, Patrick Rea took the time out from his hectic shooting schedule in scorching heat to indulge us in an in-depth interview to learn where Patrick Rea honed his skills and how he went from film school student, to Fangoria filmmaker, to co-founder of SenoReality Pictures. If you haven’t seen any of Patrick Rea’s short film we suggest looking for them as they present a keen eye for detail and dark tones while always ensuring a surprise or two that will leave you wanting more.

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Time's Up, Eve (2010)

Times-Up-Eve-posterIf you’d like to see how far Patrick Rea has come as both a visual storyteller, a creative storyteller and a filmmaker, than you really should look no further than “Time’s Up, Eve” a masterfully well told noir yarn that meshes genres to spin a rather creepy and compelling story. Rea has always been a very sharp and skilled director with a keen eye for the gritty and morbid, but “Time’s Up, Eve” is so far his best film with a sheer sense of atmosphere and dread mixed with a noir tone that is stunning.

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Paint Shaker (2008)

MV5BMjAxNTI1NjEzNV5BMl5BanBIt’s getting to where whenever director Patrick Rea or anyone from Senoreality releases a new short from their company, we’re ecstatic to see what they have in store for us, because there’s always a guaranteed surprise in store whether we enjoy the film or not. Patrick Rea’s “Paint Shaker” is not a horror film as it is an examination on life and a dark comedy based around monotony propelling in to all out chaos thanks to a misunderstanding and a manipulative co-worker. “Paint Shaker” is very much in the vein of films where there’s always seething rage and aggression boiling underneath our characters where they’re doomed to burst at any second and such is never made more apparent than in “Paint Shaker.”

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Next Caller (2009)

next callerBeware skeptics. If you have a radio show and you’re daring to tap in to the supernatural, the odds are you’re going to get knocked the fuck out by some spooks and ghouls. That’s the case for Handsome Billy Bob Brown, the local shock jock in town who causes trouble by pissing people off and has been handed the duties of covering outlandish topics like UFO’s and the after life. Patrick Rea seems to be building a compendium of short films that could work as a horror anthology if given enough time and clout and I’d definitely buy it.

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Now That You’re Dead (2009)

nowThe director of the great short fantasy thriller “The Empty Acre” takes a more routine approach, but one that’s mired in the devices of karma tales like “The Twilight Zone” and “Creepshow.” In fact, with a larger format, and further extrapolation, I could definitely see “Now That You’re Dead” as a part of a great “Creepshow” sequel. Because when all was said and done, this reminded me of that short segment from “Creepshow 3” with the murderous hooker and her vampire client… except this isn’t a piece of steaming crap on a hot tar road.

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