Review: American Fable

(rogeredbert.com)

Visually compelling and at times, well-acted, American Fable isn't quite the horror movie it was widely marketed to be. Reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro, American Fable is written and directed by Anne Hamilton. It tells the story of a young girl named Gitty, played by Peyton Kennedy (Cut Bank), who envelops her life in fantastical stories to avoid the realization that her family may be in danger of losing their farm. When Gitty stumbles upon a man being held captive in her parents’ silo, Gitty soon realizes that some of those fantastical stories may be more than meets the eye. American Fable also stars Kip Pardue (Remember The Titans) and Marci Miller (Death Race 2050) as Gitty's parents and Richard Schiff (The West Wing) as the man in the silo.

A lot of the successes of American Fable rely on its actors. Peyton Kennedy in particular, is notably stellar in the main role. For an indie movie with relatively unknown actors and actresses, Hamilton and American Fable lucked out with Kennedy who carries much of the movie on her shoulders. The innocence and sometimes gullible Gitty, paired with Kennedy's youthful facial expressions make for a strong and elastic character. In addition, Pardue and Miller both excel as the caring and somewhat free-spirited parents of Gilly.

Shot in the Midwest, the rural backdrop of American Fable provides for strong visuals through impressive expanses of land and dreamy fields. Much of the film's cinematography is a lush environment of color and shadows. At the very least, it's an appealing film to stare at. Even within the confines of the family's farmhouse, there is something so pleasingly simple, yet fantastical. Like a truly lived in home, there is a warmth there that many horror movies fail to capture or ignore entirely.

At times, American Fable is too fuzzy. With the hefty densities of an elderly woman’s house, Amercian Fable is sometimes a stuffy endeavor to sift through. Where plotlines want to fly, the movie seems all too comfortable clipping feathers in exchange for over-explained and tepid storytelling. With a title so suggestive though, one would expect far more creation, rather than grounded realism.

American Fable isn't necessarily a scary movie. With small inflections of horror dotting the edges of what is otherwise an adult children's book. The movie truly plays out like a fairytale. It's an impressive endeavor for the lesser known Anne Hamilton and for fans of Guillermo Del Toro, there is definitely something to see here. I'll give it 6 out of 10 grain silos.

Review: Don't Knock Twice



(imdb.com)

I keep referencing 2016 as an amazing year for horror. My hopes are high for 2017, but it’s quickly looking like my expectations will not be reached. From The Bye Bye Man to Rings the theatrical release section of horror movies is doing pretty terribly. Sure, Split is great, but can it save 2017 alone? Probably not. Our hope it seems, is for smaller releases by production companies like IFC Midnight to carry some of the dead weight in cinemas across the country. The Axes Murders of Villisca left a lot to be desired but the year is still young, and when I found out about the release of Don't Knock Twice, I prayed. While I'm unsure if my prayers were exactly met, I will say that Don't Knock Twice is certainly a step up from the other horror movies released this year.


The movie follows an artist who's now-grown reenters her life after she gave her up years ago because of addiction. Then, when a childhood game of knocking on a condemned home takes a turn for the spooky, things get even more complicated for the already tense relationship. Don't Knock Twice stars Katee Sackhoff (Longmire) as Jess, the recovered mother to daughter Chloe, played by Lucy Boynton (Sing Street). It also features Nick Moran as a Detective (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Jordan Bolger (iBoy) as Chloe's friend at the home, Javier Botet (Mama) as Jess' new husband and Pooneh Hajimohammadi (The Machine) as a spiritual mother who commissions Jess to sculpt her.

The biggest issue with Don't Knock Twice is its storytelling. Disjointed and at times confusing, Don't Knock Twice feels ADD. It's got all of the makings of a good plot and mythology but unfolds less like a napkin at a dinner party and more like a towel thrown out a window. Attempts to be "twisty and turny" aren't solid enough to withhold criticism. The mythology behind the witch's story is murky at best, even when it's suggested that it's clearly written out, it's obvious it needed more concrete effort. Don't Knock Twice feels like a good story, but then ruins it by dropping everything they build on to go in different directions, mostly at a loss to the viewer. It's like that company struggling to make a name for itself, but never sticks too hard into a new idea out of its lack of immediate success. It's a choppy movie that needs longer scenes and more flow, not random insertions like the one where Chloe levitates and almost gets sucked through some sort of door portal.

Don't Knock Twice does offer a few moments of fear, but these are spread thin and weakened by poorly timed scares and diffused tension. Scenes - like those in Chloe's friend Danny's apartment or the scene where Jess following the sound of cries through her house - begin terrifying but offer little to capture that fear once she stumbles on the witch. This seems to be a reoccurring and preluding theme throughout the whole movie in every aspect. A lot of Don't Knock Twice is spent building to a "moment" only for that moment to be nonexistent or tossed to the side of the road.

The acting is the best part of the Don't Knock Twice. Both Sackhoff and Boynton meet above level expectations for this indie horror movie. Sackoff's strong features lend a hand to her determined and headstrong attitude and extrapolate her expressions well. Boynton also does a good job as the struggling daughter coping with a lot of trauma and difficulties.

Don't Knock Twice isn't great. If I was 12 and this was the late 90s, maybe the jutted plot and broken CGI would be more acceptable, but in 2017 and at the age of 22, these inefficiencies are hard to ignore. Don't Knock Twice is fine if all you're doing is casually watching it on a Tuesday afternoon with nothing else to do. It's spooky, but never scary; it's got above average acting that never reaches too high; and its plot is interesting, but never compelling. The fact of the matter is, Don't Knock Twice is like that first car you buy on Craigslist; you'll get where you wanted to go but the ride won't be comfortable and also the radio doesn't work. I give the movie 5 knocks out of 10.

 

Review: The Axe Murders of Villisca



(tvqc.com)

I frequently talk about what I believe is a horror renaissance. I haven't looked too deeply into the matter and am sure others discuss it in great length, but I honestly believe the genre has been revitalized in recent years. Horror has become big business. Transcending genres, movies like The Witch received critical acclaim and set to appeal to atypical fans and those who don't enjoy the genre.
  

One underrepresented party in this renaissance is IFC Midnight. Bringing attention to a plethora of horror gems (most recently Autopsy of Jane Doe and The Babadook), IFC Midnight has done more than its fair share. That's one of the reasons I was shocked about their acquisition of their latest film, The Axe Murders of Villisca. From the trailer alone, this movie seemed of suspect quality. However, seeing as how IFC Midnight took on its distribution, I gave it a chance.

 

Marring a near perfect record for me, IFC Midnight's The Axe Murders of Villisca begins well enough; it's crazed opening sequence was enough to settle into. But, what begins as a youthful and easy-going horror film quickly devolves into an entirely off-putting B-horror movie with questionable plot points, ridiculous imagery and rampant stereotyping. So much of this movie felt unnecessary- from the dead parent storyline of one character to that same homosexual character's overly stereotypical blind lust for his heterosexual counterpart, Axe Murders felt like a movie that wanted to be so much more but ended up being so much less. By the movies climax, The Axe Murders of Villisca becomes so inept that this review was the only thing that left me watching.

Let's first examine the salvageable: the first half of this movie seems to be setting viewers up for something enjoyable. The acting, while sometimes tripped by poor writing, is performed well enough by the three leads. Robert Adamson (The Young and the Restless) as group leader, Caleb, Jarrett Sleeper (Stranger Than Fiction) as gay friend, Denny, and Alex Frnka (The Inbetweeners) as bad girl, Jess, all seem destined for bigger and better things. Each is fine until the writing and storyline become so poor that not even they are able to salvage it.

 

This entire storm climaxes with the concluding scene. Somehow on its own plane of awfulness, the tossed up, I'll-take-the-blame finish to Axe Murders is grating. Hurried and actually stupid (there is no other word to describe it), the conclusion is more than laughable, it's condemnable.

 

Perhaps the one blessing of this movie is its short runtime. At less than 90 minutes, The Axe Murders of Villisca won't cause you actual physical pain. That's about it. To be honest, I expected more from IFC Midnight and I'm in awe at this movie's existence. I'd give The Axes Murders of Villisca 2 pitch black eye contact out of 10 and 3 stars out of 10.

 

 ***I added one pitch black eye contact for Bertha of Two and a Half Men fame being in it. Don't know how she ended up employed at a school, but it's certainly a welcome addition***