Sarah (Debbie Rochon) is drawn to rural Germany, plauged by visions of her murdered sister. There, she meets paranormal investigators Sammy (Timo Rose) and Tom (Joe Davison), two friends determined to help her uncover the truth surrounding the brutal, unsolved slaying. As they dig deeper into the secrets surrounding the girl´s death, they uncover a violent web of betrayal, murder and ghoulish revenge.. from beyond the grave! Fearmakers is written by Jason Stewart and Timo Rose who also is the director. The acting is pretty decent, it is nicely shot and edited. There are some quite good visuals in this. Fearmakers features better writing, more plot and more developed characters than many of the german independent horror flicks. That said there are a few ridiculous, unnecessary and misplaced attempts at comic relief in this. The pacing is pretty decent and the running time is just 69 minutes.... It´s violent ghost story and the kills are graphic but this isn´t as gory as Timo Rose´s other flicks. Most of the gore fx are practical but some of it is computer rendered. The visual fx are computer rendered and they look pretty bad. There is a scene featuring topless nudity courtesy of the gorgeous Debbie Rochon.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Under The Bed Films, it´s uncut and has english subtitles.
Rating: 1½ out of 7. Fearmakers is an obvious attempt from Timo Rose to appeal to mainstream horror fans but I´m afraid this fails to appeal to his regular fans due to less blood and gore than usual as well as the mainstream audience as it is probably to gory for them.
/JL
First I´d like to thank Michael Sykora for providing me with a screener.
The tale of a man and the love for his daughter. Born through the perversion of science, the grotesque Melissa (Matt Silveira) must be kept hidden from a fearful society. Melissa's chance encounter with a local boy (Jake Sykora) will set the wheels in motion for a story that explores how society treats outcasts - with a thrilling and violent conclusion. Melissa! is written and directed by Michael Sykora.The acing is quite good, especially from Jake Sykora and Justin McDonald as Jed, his abusive father. It´s nicely shot and edited and the soundtrack is good. The pacing is good, the filmmakers makes the most of the approx 24 minutes of running time. There is no gore, there´s violence it just isn´t graphic. This might be due to the restaints of the budget or a conscious/artistic decision on behalf of the filmmakers. The make-up fx design for the Melissa character is pretty decent but it do look like a mask (in my opinion it does get perhaps a bit too much exposure). There is no T & A in this.
This review is based upon a passwordprotected online screener.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Melissa! is a nice modern interpretation of the classic story of Frankenstein, despite the limitations of budget the filmmakers manages to present a goodlooking and wellmade short film and I can´t help to wonder what they could have pulled off with a little bit more money.
/JL
Dilana (Sabrina Brencher) spending together the long weekend with her girlfriends at a remote country estate in southern Spain. But she´s not really looking forward to this weekend as her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend. The Halloween weekend brings also a killer who is after the small group. Driven by bloodlust he is mercilessly hunting them. Is there a way out of this "tourist trap"? Klischee is written, directed and shot by Marcel Walz. The acting is pretty decent, it basically features good camerawork but I don´t know what happened in post-production and in the editing process. There are scenes of rapid editing that surely was intended as inventive but it just don´t look good in my opinion. The pacing is good which is hardly surprising as the running time is a mere 74 minutes. There is gore but it is surprisingly restrained, there is practical make-up fx, considering Marcel Walz earlier output (La Petite Mort). There is no T & A in this.
Klischee is also Known as: Klischee - Mörderisches Halloween auf Mallorca
This review is based upon the german region 2 DVD release from NSM records, it´s uncut and german language only.
Rating: 2½ out of 7. Klischee is a pretty decent slasher, decent bodycount, pretty gory kills and a nice twist but I do have a problem how it´s shot and edited, the style is just not for me...
/JL
