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Directed by Fred Vogel
Review by Molly Celaschi
Kim has just broken up with Mitch and he is growing unstable the more she ignores him. When she decides to go out to party at The Redsin Tower with friends, Mitch follows closely behind to get back his love at any cost.
The film is almost difficult to describe because it mixes subgenres. It is a slasher flick, demon film, and a twisted romance all rolled into one. The first 40 minutes of the film do not have a lot of action, but the story moves swiftly and I was never bored with constant fighting, pot smoking, and sexual activity. The last 40 minutes or so kicks it into high gear with multiple deaths and trippy scenes. The mixing of genres works well for the simple fact that I was kept on my toes and the action was unpredictable. With typical slasher films, you know who the killer is and you know who dies in what order, which is lame. But here, you never know who will die, get possessed, kill a friend, or survive.
The backstory of the location is that Redsin was a rich man that built the tower to watch the progression of the city. He had slaves and, from what I could gather, made his slaves fight and eat each other. The last one standing fucked his daughter and Redsin watched all of these events. But this story might not be the truth as you find out later….Plus I am pretty sure I had accidentally made up something there.
Some reviews I have read gave the wrong impression of the film. Some paint this as a hardcore stalk ‘n’ slash flick. But Mitch is more of a cowardly Columbine-type killer than a charismatic Ted Bundy. Also, they state the movie is boring and slow paced. But in the opening credits alone, we are treated to a girl in a bathtub. The first 10min have a couple fucking, a guy jacking off to porn, and a random girl flashing. And that is considered slow?
There are also humorous scenes to keep you interested. Like goth chick Becky making fun of angry Mitch or chubby Carl talking about how many chicks he is going to bang. In one scene when Mitch spots Kim, he tries unsuccessfully to win her over. While he is bashing Becky’s head and choking out Kim, stoner Emily lounges by smoking a cigarette. A nice change to the women in horror films too scared to fight a killer; instead she just didn’t care to.
The direction was well done especially in the scenes when Mitch has his breakdown. The shots are frantic like his thoughts are and we see him racing along on his bicycle as fast as his heart is racing. Special Effects highlights include dismemberments, a decapitation, a fetus removed by hand from a vagina, throat slitting, demonic possessions, and a very interesting rape scene. This is not surprising considering this is by Toe Tag Pictures, the makers of AUGUST UNDERGROUND and those responsible for the SFX in Nick Palumbo’s MURDER-SET-PIECES.
But the acting was questionable particularly by the dumb blonde guy. Even as a date rapist, he barely registered onscreen. And Kim was almost annoying with her wishy-washy good girl image, but kicked some ass as a demon. But the standout performance here is Meghan O’Halloran, who played stoner Emily, particularly with her nutzo wall scene. The funny part is that most of these actors are fairly new to film except the one that I pointed out wasn’t good. He was the only one with other movie credits!
The film reminds me of THE CONVENT or NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. You can tell Vogel has seen a lot of these films and has been influenced, but this still feels like his own. He knows the rules and changes them; he knows the clichés and sometimes avoids them. And while his characters are stereotypes like “sassy goth” or “chubby loud guy” or “dumb blonde jock”, he adds new ones to the mix.
And the reason this film is nearly a Must See Film (Spoiler Alert) is because it has, hands down, the best demonic possession scene I have ever seen. Hard to recommend to the ladies because of the, uh, incredible, yet ridiculous ghost rape scene. But most guys will love the movie for this scene alone. I feel like I gave some of the plot away, but you really need to see it to believe it anyway.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out was the meaning behind the events and the ending. Either there is a parallel between the modern couple (Mitch & Kim) and the old couple (Redsin & wife) and this was meant to show how the second couple could persevere. Or it might have meant that both couples were in fact the same. Mitch acted like a possessed nutcase similar to Redsin with love & hate not far apart. And Kim winds up possessed similar to Redsin’s wife, except she has a different ending. So ultimately, I have no idea what it means. Either way I am assuming this is a warped love story. But I didn’t feel Mitch deserved Kim at all. Ultimately, he is still whiney among a few other things that I won’t mention for the sake of keeping some things a surprise. When I asked Vogel about the meanings, he cryptically replied, “Nothing wrong with reading into movies Molly, that what’s great about movies.” Oh well, you guys go figure it out for yourselves.
Weird Fact: Vogel and co-writer Shelby Jackson make appearances as crazy hippies.
Favorite Quote: Carl, “I am gonna be filling out a girl like a job application.” (Ahaha, say what?)
Bottom Line: Very fun demonic film with a psycho love story thrown in.
Rating: 8/10
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