Starring: Edward Furlong, Tiffany Shepis, Lance Henriksen
Directed By: Josh Eisenstadt
Written By: Aaron Pope
Release Date: March 10, 2009
Grade: C+

Dark Reel begins with an aspiring Hollywood actress from the 1950’s, Scarlett May (Alexandra Holden). She thinks she is getting her big break when she is attacked during an audition, her death being the last image the camera sees of her. Through this we get the tone of a corrupt Hollywood, taking advantage of the plight for stardom.

53 years later, Conner Pritchet (Henriksen), a film executive, is making a low budget pirate movie. All of his films have a very low quality to them, which he could care less about. It is a business to him and as long as he makes money than he is satisfied. To promote the film, he is allowing one fan of scream queen, Cassie Blue (Shepis), to have a walk on role in the film. Out of all the contestants, Adam Waltz (Furlong) is chosen. Adam really doesn’t have a whole lot going on in his life right now and is thrilled by this news even if he is just playing pirate #3. Adam becomes friends with his now co-star, Cassie. She seems to be the only one who isn’t completely self-absorbed. Soon Adam begins to attain a more important part in “Pirate Wenches”. However, this is at the cost of a his co-star’s lives. One of the actresses’ dead body is found with a photo of Scarlett May with the word “Vanity” posted across it. At each death there is a picture of her with a different negative characteristic that is common in the industry.

Detective Shields (Tony Todd) begins investigating, specifically interrogating Adam for his possible involvement. When he asks how the deaths of these actors could benefit him, he starts getting a larger and larger role in the film, giving him his motivation. Soon he begins seeing the ghost of Scarlett Mae herself on the projection reel, an image that no one else can see. He believes he is getting calls from her as well. Cassie just thinks he is going crazy and jumping to conclusions as much as she wants to believe him.

Overall, the acting in the film was pretty good and kept me interested in the movie. Tiffany Shepis was definitely the most likeable as Cassie Blue. She was kind and charismatic. Edward Furlong gives a very awkward performance. His character is supposed to be a somewhat nerdy fan. Still all throughout the movie there seems to be something missing that might explain why he is the way he is. However, this explanation never comes. Perhaps he is just a weird character, but he is still our protagonist. Furlong puts up this barrier where we can’t really see things from his perspective. Shepis saves some of these scenes and gives him something to work off of. Lance Henrikson brings to life the film executive who is clearly soulless. He brings forth a creepy and vicious mentality and brings out the quest for money rather than art. Alexandra Holden was wonderful as Scarlett May. She had a classic beauty to her and was charming and ambitious, but still very naïve. She just wanted her chance to shine, but her life was taken because of this. Tony Todd as one of the detectives is a performance/character that is very easy to overlook. The bulk of his dialogue is overall meaningless and didn’t do much to show his character or to bring out anything in the story.

The best moments were the critiques on the film industry. As a film with a small budget and next to no purpose or insight, this isn’t just judging the Hollywood system but filmmaking as a whole. At one point Conner is furious that it has been two minutes and there hasn’t been any blood or boobs. He could care less about performances. The deaths of his actors a merely inconveniences. He just goes on to the next actor and gives them a bigger role, easily erasing anything to do with the previous character. Since there is no substance involved one character doesn’t make a difference between another. To Connor, death is just a part of Hollywood. He tries to control everyone and this is a major reason he is involved in film the way he is. Conner really seems like a creep that could be capable of anything. He gives off the vibe that he could be capable of things much worse than what we actually see on the screen. The director treats his cast and crew like they are simply indentured servants to him. What he says goes, no one else’s opinion even matters.

The actors are very in to themselves as well. Even Cassie who is very likeable, claims that she is the only reason that anyone watches these movies that she is in. All of the actors think the world should bow down before them. Then we get a critique through Scarlett May as well. Her aspirations and plight to become a star murder her. She is too trusting in a business where many have immoral plans that they are simply using their position in the system to implement. One of the murders includes a very noisy member of the paparazzi who always seems to be around. Death is his consequence for never having any respect for the stars that he stalks. I also liked how the pictures of Scarlett May were posted with characteristics of those in the industry such as vanity, despair, and scandal. It added some meanings to each death and brought a connection throughout all of them. They hit on hidden secrets and shames that these people hide.

There were a few cheesy fun moments throughout the film. One was the movie that Adam is watching in the beginning before he scores his walk on role, “Gnome Killer”. The film features an Asian man with a gnome-like beard fighting off anyone and everyone who tries to steal his lawn gnomes. the movie itself looks hilarious as well as the fact that this is the type of films Adam watches. The movie he is working on is pretty cheesy as well. None of the scenes we see them shooting look very good and are just about male pirates fighting with female pirates or “wenches”. However, there are some bad cheesy moments such as Scarlett May’s ghost. When it shows on the reel it looks extremely fake and out of place. There is no logical reason why her ghost would even want them to catch the killer. The more they knew the more they could stop what was going on, which was in the spirit of her revenge in the corruption and injustices she saw in these figures. There really isn’t anything realistic about the killer either. Once we find out who it is, the film goes downhill. The ending is sudden and doesn’t make much sense either.

Dark Reel has some decent blood and deaths including stabbing scissors through the neck and slicing a vain woman through the stomach while she is lounging around in her bikini. Aside from the first one, it does take some time to get in to them, but this builds the story and the first half of the film is far better than the second. The opening segment is one of the best, has a good production value, interesting characters, a cold betrayal, and a great commentary on the industry. The last segment is one of the worst, makes no sense, uses unrealistic and cheesy effects, and is completely meaningless and overall a let down. Even the better elements could have been brought out further and a lot more could have been done with them. Overall, it has some great themes and insight, has a few good performances, but doesn’t make too much sense in the end.