Albino Farm
Starring: Tammin Sursok, Sunkrish Bala, Nick Richey, Alicia Lagano
Written & Directed By: Joe Anderson & Sean McEwen
Grade: B

The Albino Farm in the film is simply a name given to a small country town’s deep dark secret that they would rather keep in the past. Technically there aren’t really any albinos or even really a farm. However, we do get “unnatural” creatures kept in a secluded location, to keep them from conflicting with the town’s attempt to present an image of normalcy both in looks and behaviors.

Four college students: Melody (Lagano), Stacey (Sursok), Brian (Richey), and Sanjay (Bala), go on a road trip across the Ozark Mountains for a school project. They are visiting historical spots and reporting on the social relevance in the area. After going to so many bland and ordinary places, Brian gets tired of their routine and opts for something a bit more exciting. After they run into a midget who they mistaken as a boy, their car breaks down. Since Brian left their spare tire to make room for the beer cooler, they have to venture in to town to find a gas station. They manage to do so and find a very odd, glazy eyed man who is sure he knows the real reason why they are they. He suspects that they are trying to dig in to the town’s legend and advises them to just go back from where they came from.

After they get their tire, Brian pries about the mentioned legend and proposes to his friends that they try to check out the Albino Farm. They think this might just be a ploy to get tourists to stay in the town longer, but Brian is so eager to have some fun messing around in the town that he doesn’t really care. He argues that if it does exist the legend could be a valuable piece of history and culture for them to put in their report. Anytime they ask about the Albino Farm people become bitter, angered, and closed off from them. Melody and Brian get a shady local (Chris Jerico) to take them to the Albino Farm for a price. Meanwhile, Sanjay and Stacey begin noticing all of the deformed people in the town and a verse in their bible that says deformities aren’t welcomed in Heaven as they would taint it. They think there must be some connection there. After their friends are gone for awhile, they catch up with them only to discover the horrors of the Albino Farm firsthand.

Overall, the acting was pretty solid here, which helped the film stand out a lot more. Surprisingly enough, Chris Jerko (also known as Chris Jerico), gave a pretty good performance. He played a very dark, perverted, and creepy local hick who jumped at the chance to exploit others financially and sexually. Even his facial expression and mannerisms were so effective in creating this murky and mysterious man. Bianca Barnett also did a fantastic job as “Pig Bitch.” It might not sound like she had a huge part, but as she is the first actual villain we come across your first appearance on screen in very important. I also found it pretty funny when her victim dubbed her with this name when trying to escape this grotesque and brutal creature. Barnett embodies this animalistic mutant with complete vicious instincts, without holding back one bit. The rest of the cast didn’t stand out quite as much as they did, but our protagonists all did a decent job. Sunkrish Bala and Tammin Sursok did well as two of the more sensible college students. I also appreciated that they cast an Indian male protagonist as I can’t remember any teen survival film to include a Middle-Eastern actor. It gave a little diversity without playing him as a stereotype. Nick Richey played the dumb asshole well without making him a purely annoying character.

One thing that I think could have been improved was how the back story of the legend came out. The main characters spent so much time trying to figure out what it was and where to explore it. In some ways this made it seem a little more unrealistic. After all, if they couldn’t find anything out about something they really knew nothing about and didn’t come there looking for in the first place, why wouldn’t they just leave after they weren’t having much luck? It isn’t until the end that the legend is understood and communicated when it already isn’t just a legend anymore. I think the film would have been a lot more engaging overall, if they would have built up on the mystery of the legend if they didn’t want it to be said outright by one of the locals. They started to do this with Sanjay’s observation of the mutant condition and the problem’s that entailed. This is the only step in building towards that though.

The situation the protagonists find themselves in has a lot to do with Brian. Just about everything that landed them closer to danger was his fault. He was the one that took the tire out to make room for beer, distracted the driver to help cause the crash, and was the one provoking the gas station attendant and insisted they stay to find out about the legend. Brian never let it go no matter how many reasons they were given to just get out of there. This also adds a simplicity and even stupidity to the situation they are in. All of it could have been prevented so easily. In a lot of these survival horror films, the protagonists are stuck in the small town once they get in accident or get lost and end up there. Here, they had so many opportunities to leave, but never did. That makes it a little harder to sympathize with them.

Luckily, the ending was very satisfying. Once the climax hits there is plenty of blood and gore. Even better, all of the deaths and attacks are acted out in such a beastly and vile manner. Things become intense very quickly and stay this way throughout the rest of the film. The very end leaves us with a striking image and actually allows the viewer to question the fate of the last one standing. There’s a few minor developmental issues that could have been built on a little more, but Albino Farm is a pretty enjoyable movie all in all. It’s simple and follows a very familiar formula for most of the movie, particularly in the set up, but it’s still fun all the way through. Especially for a low budget film, the production values are solid. We even get some explosions and the gore really is highly grotesque and gratifying.