Fantasia – We Are Movie Geeks

CHEAP THRILLS – Fantasia Review

Way back in 1993, the industry was buzzing over the controversial subject matter of INDECENT PROPOSAL. Demi Moore was offered a ton of money to have sexual relations with Robert Redford and we all asked, “What would we do for a million dollars?” This was an intriguing question then and it still is now, but is being paid one million dollars to sleep with another man when your husband agrees to it from the get go really all that taboo by today’s standards?

I say “Hell no! This is 2013 and we want to see some hardcore shit, man!” Thankfully, we have highly principled philosopher filmmakers out there willing to push the envelope and shove our faces in the gritty truth of humanity. I say “Thank you, Mr. Katz! Thank you for showing us how utterly flawed we are and allowing us to enjoy ourselves in the process.” CHEAP THRILLS is exactly what the title suggests and an unfiltered look at our modern moral standards that doesn’t truly settle in until the movie is over and you have sufficient time to digest what has just been seen… and depending on your constitution, possibly also change your shirt.

E.L. Katz wrote, directed and produced CHEAP THRILLS, which is more grind house than full-on horror, as Katz’ history in filmmaking and fandom may otherwise suggest. The story begins innocently enough as Craig, played by Pat Healy, leaves the comfort of his wife’s sexual embrace for another day at work. The moment his front door closes behind him is the moment his life begins to spiral into chaos. Craig’s world is falling apart around him, threatening his family and his home. When he gets to work and learns he’s been downsized, he does what any red-blooded American would do… heads to the local bar to drown his sorrows.

CHEAP THRILLS truly begins at the bar. Craig’s old friend Vince, played by Ethan Embry, shows up and it’s immediately apparent that these two characters no longer have much in common. Craig is a straight-laced family man while Vince never grew up, still parties like its 1999 and makes his living breaking guy’s knees over petty loans. Craig appears weak and defeated by the weight of the world. Vince couldn’t care less, throws caution to the wind. Neither of them is prepared for Colin and Violet.

David Koechner, best known for his role on TV’s THE OFFICE and ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY, carries a surprisingly even performance as Colin, a fun-loving mysterious man throwing money around like its yesterday’s newspaper. Colin is out on the town, celebrating his wife Violet’s birthday. Ridiculously sexy and silent for much of the film, Violet is played by Sara Paxton, who starred along side Pat Healy in Ti West’s unforgettably spooky film THE INNKEEPERS. Violet seems too young and too pretty for Colin, but her quiet and sultry demeanor combined with Colin’s subtle creepiness work well together to develop a sense of uneasiness that festers in the background as the audience teeters between shock and laughter.

CHEAP THRILLS is highly adept at two things on the surface, pleasing the most discerning shock enthusiast and disgusting the more easily offended of viewers. E. L. Katz spares nothing in his endeavor to take the simple philosophical question to a new level. Colin and Violet invite Craig and Vince to join them in celebrating by offering them large amounts of money to do incredibly stupid things. To describe CHEAP THRILLS as INDECENT PROPOSAL meets JACKASS really doesn’t do the film any justice, but it does begin to illustrate what the audience is about to experience. The film has blood and gore, violence, a touch of sex (but no nudity) and an endless supply of moments that will make you wince. Fear not, this is all done in the name of exploring a deeper philosophical question: How far will you go for a large sum of money?

E.L. Katz doesn’t just present a large sum of money and let the dogs loose. Instead, Katz sets up a more complicated scenario involving desperation, family, friendship, betrayal, greed and guilt, a scenario that truly asks the viewer to consider the underlying implications once the film has ended. All of this intelligent filmmaking wrapped up in a disturbingly comical package that features breaking and entering, drugs and alcohol, lust and larceny, bodily mutilation and perhaps one of the most offensive scenes in the history of cinema involving a small, cute puppy dog.

CHEAP THRILLS is a wild ride into depravity derived from desperation. Having earned the Midnight Films Audience Award at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival is a sure sign of this film’s appeal and expected longevity as a cult favorite. Not since John Waters’ films have you seen something as shocking and potentially offensive as you will see in CHEAP THRILLS. Dog lovers beware!

CHEAP THRILLS premieres in Canada on August 4th during the 2013 Fantasia International Film Festival.

THE BATTERY – Fantasia Review

Is there anything more American than baseball and zombies? Sure, that’s not how you’re normally used to hearing such a question, but since we’ve learned that neither applies or pie are truly American in their origin, we need to replace it with something. Anymore, it seems, zombies fit the bill fairly well.

I imagine asking myself, “what two things have never been put together on film,” and then I realize what writer and director Jeremy Gardner must have realized at some point when he developed the idea for making THE BATTERY. This is a film that combines these two very American things, baseball and zombies, doing so in a simplistic way that preserves the core essence of both. You won’t find any rage-induced superhuman zombies or off-the-wall pseudo-scientific explanations for the cause here.

Gardner sets out to tell a story about survival, not unlike that of THE WALKING DEAD, but with a much smaller cast of characters and a much smaller budget. The film centers around two baseball players, Mickey and Ben. They have found themselves wandering through rural Connecticut by foot, or, when the opportunity arises, by abandoned vehicle. Months ago, while in the midst of a baseball game, when the world succumbs to a zombie plague.

Mickey, played by Adam Cronheim, was a relief pitcher in his former life, now a whining, lazy crybaby who feels deprived of life’s amenities that disappeared along with so much of the human population. Mickey is weak, somewhat useless by choice and a liability to Ben, but they are all each other have in what’s left of the world. Ben, played by Jeremy Gardner, was a starting catcher, in control but wild and fun-loving. Ben is capable of taking care of them both, knowledgeable enough to live off the land and scavenge for the rest while Mickey mostly sits around and blows through precious batteries listing to his portable CD player.

THE BATTERY sets in with as much character development, portraying the two somewhat opposing personalities with a minimally confrontational mood. It quickly becomes apparent that they need each other for their own reason, whether they realize it or not, which ultimately proves to be the very heart of Gardner’s film. Only later on, when they encounter the first character outside themselves does the truth of this begin to set in for themselves and for the audience.

The film is shot (Christian Stella) mostly handheld, grainy and immersed in a sort of endless amber glow of the golden hour, as though to suggest the inevitable end of days. This fits splendidly with the backdrop of the rural landscape of Connecticut as Ben and Mickey venture blindly across fields and down lonely stretches of two-lane highway. Accompany this with an appropriately somber and folksy soundtrack and equivalent score (Ryan Winford) and you’ve got a very down home, personal approach to surviving a zombie apocalypse.

As the relationship between Ben and Mickey develops, like so many buddy comedies but with a bit more drama, the zombie epidemic is but a backdrop itself. Only on a few occasions are the zombies scene, until the end and even then as more of a visceral audio presence that serves as a psychological mind f*ck for our central characters. The special effects are minimalistic and far from groundbreaking, but effectively used in a story not truly about the undead to begin with. Armed only with a six-shooter revolver and a baseball bat, Ben and Mickey do their share of damage on the zombies while picking at each others’ nerves as well.

The game of baseball serves as a wonderful icebreaker, and binding agent and a metaphorical storytelling device for Gardner. THE BATTERY blends this in with the zombie survival story nicely, with moments often resembling those between BULL DURHAM’s Nuke and Crash, while others seem a bit more reminiscent of Shaun and Ed from SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Fully realizing a blend of baseball and zombies may seem too random and ridiculous to work, I suggest going into this film with an open mind. Accept the understandable absurdity of the concept and embrace it, then allow Gardner to show you just how well it works when the story itself has little to do with either baseball or zombies.

THE BATTERY is an official selection of the 2013 Fantasia Film Festival.

EXCISION Trailer (NSFW)

Attention all cinephiles of the creepy and the grotesque, the controversial and the bizarre, have I found a film for you. I recently stumbled upon the trailer for EXCISION, an official selection of the 2012 Sundance and Fantasia film festivals. Written and directed by Richard Bates, Jr. this movie looks down right out of it’s mind awesome, but it’s not one for the easily squeamish or offended, as this trailer will certainly illustrate. Speaking of which, this trailer is far from being “safe for work” so be advised. Watch and relish in the indie iridescence of in your face gore, sex, and complete teenage craziness…

Synopsis: A disturbed and delusional high school student with aspirations of a career in medicine goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother.

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