My Review Of "Dead By Dawn"

"Dead By Dawn" is directed by Sean Cain, and stars Jamie Bernadette,  Drew Lindsey Mitchell, Kelcey Watson, Bo Burroughs, Timothy Muskatell, Bobby Slaski, Detra Hicks, and Skylar Dominique. The film blends elements of abduction, psychological horror and cabin in the woods .It is a low budget, psycho babel of tension that manages to captivate.

A suicidal man in a remote cabin is suddenly faced with protecting a kidnapped woman from three killers and their sadistic games. Unable to contact the outside world and with night falling, he falls backs on creating traps to prevent the criminals from gaining entry. It’s a fight to the death where only the strongest will survive until dawn.

"Dead By Dawn" is a strong low budget thriller with plenty of suspense and thrills. The film starts off dark and with blunt force. It never really relinquishes. There is only a few moments where the story pauses for some character building, but soon the violence begins again.

The acting is better than I expected. The cast seem to understand the characters and feel fully committed. There are a few scenes that waver close to amateurish, but it never really dampens the film's flow. Plus there is a strong female lead that impressively embraces the final girl banner.

The horror is mostly built on dark circumstances, chilling atmosphere, and impending danger. There are some violent, bloody moments that sweeten the horror level. Still, "Dead By Dawn" manages to hold your attention purely on the relatable horrors of domestic violence, home invasion and some true psycho killers. I enjoyed this little indie film more than I thought I would. Check it out. (3/5)

My Review Of "HumanPersons"

Brazilian thriller "HumanPersons" comes from director Frank Spano. The film stars Pedro García Ríos, Mimi Lazo and Spano. The story takes on somewhat true crime tropes of organ harvesting in the seedy undertow of Brazil's human trafficking scene. 

James returns to his native Latin America after 30 years, with just one thing in mind-taking an organ from a human victim and smuggling it back to the United States. On this trip, relives memories of his own violent past, which makes him think twice about redeeming his future.

"HumanPersons" offers a dark, chilling tale that wraps both true crime and urban legend tropes. The film is well written and directed. The characters are portrayed evenly and with conviction. I enjoyed the almost stoic nature of the characters who only interact in reserved masculinity. 

That being said, I did find most of the film moved a bit sluggishly. The film started with a strong body horror, chilling opening. However, soon after everything seems to slow down and form into machismo melodrama. There is just too much dialog and exposition revolving around threats, puffed chest pounding and very little action.

Overall "HumanPersons" starts with a great thrilling concept. Unfortunately it gets drowned out by too much talking. The acting is good and even with the cliche archetypes most of the writing is well thought out. Still, for a thriller, this one offered very little thrills. If you want to then check it out - it works as a nice male-driven drama. (2.5/5)

My Review Of "Atomic Apocalypse"

"Atomic Apocalypse" is a post-apocalyptic thriller from Martin Gooch. The film stars Krista DeMille, Andrea Sweeney-Blanco, Jesús Lloveras, William Mark McCullough, Ron Roggé, Christina DeRosa, Neil Dickson, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, Lex Anastasia, Andrea R. Baker, Cory Birkenbuel, Ryder Kole Emerson, Nicholas Fabrio, Ice Fox, Randy Granstrom. It falls along the lines of films like "The Road" and "The Day".

Welcome to the future - two years from now after the nuclear apocalypse that changed life as we know it. In this hellish landscape, one family fights for survival. Superhero Mother, Kate (Krista DeMille) loses her injured survivalist husband Sam (Ron Roggé) and lovestruck daughter Suzi (Andrea Sweeney Blanco) in a matter of days after they join handsome loner Joe (Jesus Lloveras) in search of a rumored hidden nuclear bunker full of food and medicine. Suddenly alone, lost in the chemical clouds and pursued by murderous scavengers, Kate fights to stay alive and reunite with her family. 

"Atomic Apocalypse" falls short of being a strong thriller with heavy drama. It often feels aimless with no clear agenda for the story's path forward. Some moments seem to tap into dark humor that doesn't look intentionally don't. Still, much like the films I mentioned above, "Atomic Apocalypse" has heart, deep emotional awareness and a singular focus, even if the plot isn't that original. 

The cast seem carefully chosen and I found the female leads strong and emotive. To me they were the most developed characters in the film. At times the acting did get shakey. Moments when high tension kicks in the acting seems forced. Other characters fail to deliver dialog convincingly at times. Still the story flowed forward due to enough quality moments stringing the plot along.

Special effects are a strong blend of low grade practical choices mixed mostly with "gamer" level CGI. Stuff commonly seen on the Syfy channel. There is a portion of the film dealing with cannibals but not nearly enough attention is to them. Overall "Atomic Apocalypse" will find a fan base and for indie sci-fi fans, but don't go into it with high expectations. (2.5/5)

My Review Of "Rootwood"

"Rootwood" is directed by Marcel Walz and stars Tyler Gallant, Elissa Dowling, Tiffani Fest, Felissa Rose, and Sarah French. The film uses mixed media to explore similar horror tropes made famous by "Blair Witch Project". Except "Rootwood" finishes with a cheeky twist ending.

Rootwood follows two students who host ‘The Spooky Hour’, a podcast about paranormal phenomena and urban legends. When they are hired by a Hollywood film producer to shoot a horror documentary about the curse of The Wooden Devil, they smell their chance to become famous. Together, with their friend, they enter Rootwood Forest and investigate the area to find out the truth about The Wooden Devil and his victims.

"Rootwood" offers a new crypto baddie in the form of an urban legend surrounding a wood devil. The story is more straightforward typical mockumentary, paranormal exploratory fare. It does break the monotony with some nice third person footage. The concept is intriguing, however the execution of the plot feels a bit messy. Far too much dialog and unnecessary exposition.

The acting has moments of quality, but there are some moments where the cast seem affectively removed from their characters. Still, "Rootwood" has some cool indie film royalty attached to it, which almost forgives the flubs found with the film. I did enjoy the twist, with a cheeky revelation in the final scenes.

The horror leans heavily on a creepy, atmospheric tone, with some cool locations. The night shots are sweet, chilling moments that become the major focal point. I wish more of the film was shot at night. There isn't much in the way of kill sequences, most happen off screen and we never get to enjoy the carnage of the situation. But, the creature concept for the wood devil is awesome and worthy of further exploration.

Overall "Rootwood" misses a lot of momentum as it gets started. To much time is spent building characters that are weighed down by too much dialog and exposition. It takes 55 minutes for anything exciting to happen but what we do get is a spooky urban legend, creepy creature concept, and Felissa Rose. Horror fans of indie, low budget filmmaking should check it out. It has some cool stuff worth watching. (2.5/5)

"CRY HAVOC" Set For May Premiere

Robert Bronzi, the star of Death Kiss and Once Upon a Time in Deadwood, faces his deadliest opponent yet in Cry Havoc – available this May On Demand.

An ambitious young reporter is granted an interview with one of the FBI’s most wanted. While entering his compound she finds one of his prized possessions, a serial killer who murders at call, called HAVOC. Her only hope is a rogue police man searching for his daughter.

Co-starring Richard Tyson (Kindergarten Cop) Emily Sweet, and JD Angstadt, writer-director Rene Perez’s Cry Havoc premieres on demand May 5 from Midnight Releasing. 

Genre Bending THE ARCHIVIST - Trailer Delivers The Retro Goods!!

Spaghetti western meets dystopian sci-fi in a twisted new throwback to the good ol days of cinemas' past. Filmed in glorious 35mm and featuring real life stunts. This film is sure to please fans of the old-school and new seeking something fresh in such a stale market.

In the year 2070, Calder Benson is a government Archivist Officer charged by an increasingly invasive and restrictive government to destroy all elements and remnants of his society's self-indulgent and avaricious past.

Directed by Eric Hand.
Written by Bo Gardner and Eric Hand.
Starring Eric Hand, Dale Shumate, Butch Thompson, and Jennifer Giles.

ANTRUM - THE DEADLIEST FILM EVER MADE GETS VOD RELEASE IN AUSTRALIA

Jinga Films and SC Movies are pleased to announce that the award winning occult horror film ANTRUM is now available in Australia on all digital platforms including Foxtel Store, Itunes, Google Play and FetchTV. ANTRUM which is currently trending at number one on Amazon Prime in the US has been linked to the deaths of 56 people who perished when a cinema screening the film burned to the ground in Hungary. Rumoured to be cursed, all copies were destroyed and ANTRUM was thought to be lost until Canadian documentary film-makers Michael Laichini and David Amito discovered an inter-negative in a laboratory in Budapest. 

Since its world premiere at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival in New York, ANTRUM has been selected to screen at many key genre festivals including BIFFF (Belgium), Sitges (Spain), Morbido (Mexico) Celluloid Screams (UK) and Horrible Imaginings (US) where it won Best Film. 

ANTRUM: THE DEADLIEST FILM EVER MADE from Jinga Films on Vimeo.

Legal Notice: By watching ANTRUM you agree that Jinga Films and SC Movies is hereby released of all liability for any event that might occur to you during or after your viewing.