The Perfect House (2011)

Rated: Not Rated

Genre: Horror

Info: Official Website

Directed By: Kris Hulbert, Randy Kent

Starring: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Chris Raab

When we first heard about this movie, we thought to ourselves, “Great, another indie horror flick full of blood and gore.” And then we watched it.

The Perfect House is not another cheep-o, shock-and-awe flick. There are a multitude of aspects that separate this movie from other independent horror movies. Those aspects are as follows:

Story! Yes, it sounds funny, but the worst thing about indie horror movies (and blockbuster horror movies, for that matter), are that they lack substance. There is no story to build from. Most modern movies in this genre concentrate on special effects and forget just how important the story is. The Perfect House is successful in creating and presenting a chilling and suspenseful (and often times, disturbing) story centering around a house with a bloody past. The movie includes three vignettes, all wrapped into one (in a nostalgic sense that is a throwback to the retro era of horror movies and has an old school feel). Each short story within this movie is uniquely different from one another.

Decent acting! The creators of The Perfect House spared no expense in casting cult horror icons Felissa Rose and Jonathan Tiersten, both alumni from the 1983 cult horror classic, “Sleepaway Camp”. Rose’s performance evolves to a point where she seems to be channeling Sigourney Weaver’s character in the “Alien” series, and Tiersten is absolutely demented as John Doesy, a psychotic individual who holds people captive before torturing them in his basement. Also in the mix is newcomer to acting, Chris Raab (known for his shenanigans in the hit show/movies JACKASS), Playboy model Angelina Leigh (Yes, she gets naked), John Philbin and Andrea Vahl, whose on-camera performance leaves you asking “Who is this actress, and why haven’t I seen her in more movies?” The casting for this movie could not have been done better, and it would be a crime if we didn’t mention the excellent performance delivered by the young Michael Wagner.

Effects! OK, so plenty of horror movies have loads and loads of special make-up effects. However, independent horror movies (with their lack of budget and experience), almost always churn out laughable effects. Not this one. The Perfect House blends on set prosthetics with in studio visual effects to achieve a very believable outcome. Which leads us to our final aspect…

Professionalism! We have seen thousands of independent movies, of all genres. What separates the real filmmakers from those who are creating glorified home movies is the amount of professionalism (or lack there of). The Perfect House has an impressive picture quality, very professional camera work, and nearly flawless editing. The soundtrack enhances the suspense tenfold. The entire production seems to be very well constructed, which is very apparent in the final product.

Gratwick Films, the production company behind The Perfect House, in association with producer Randy Kent, succeeded in creating a scary and disturbing picture. The retro feel mixes well with a modern day horror theme (similar to Eli Roth’s “Hostel” at some points). The most shocking part of this film is the realism; all of the monsters in this movie are people. People who have, for whatever reason, snapped. Some of these people even include children. The movie involves cult horror icons, and a tip-of-the-hat (whether intentional or not), to cult horror classics “Night of the Creeps” and “Dead Alive”, in a scene that involves a weed-whacker.

Gratwick Films has mentioned that they are embarking on the “most interactive tour ever” to promote their worldwide Video-On-Demand release, October 1st. To learn more about this movie, you can check out the Official Website (linked above), and the Official Facebook Fan Page.

Below is the trailer for THE PERFECT HOUSE.

4 Knocks out of 5

Aahān 2011

The following is a press release containing information about the Aahān Festival 2011:

 

“Aahān 2011 is an Endeavour by the students of Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Usha Pravin Gandhi College that aims to create a hub where enthusiasts of media, management and information technology can come together to collaborate and innovate.
Aahān goes beyond the quintessential college festival yet retains the flavours that go into the making of one. It dispels all clichés but retains familiarity. It aims for excellence but holds on to exuberance. Offering students the best of three worlds, Aahān is the difference. The 11th, 12th and 13th of January marks the beginning of a revolutionary convergence.
We have an International Short Film competition in Aahān which is also one of the USP events of the fest. It would be great if you can participate by sending us your short films!!
ISF: (International Short Film Competition)
Do you aspire to be the next Spielberg or Coppola? Is the film reel your weapon o…f choice when it comes to expressing yourself? If so, make your film available to the opinion of veterans in the field who will give you constructive criticism and show you a clear direction to pursue.
Turn your passion into a profession at… the International Short Film Competition at Aahān 2011 hosted by the Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management in Mumbai, India. With over 1000 short films from 43 countries being screened over the period of the last 3 years, the festival has been a hub for student filmmakers to showcase their films to the public and an opportunity for amateurs to turn pro.
It’s Lights, Camera, Aahān!
Details of the short filmmaking competition:
If the films are student made they are entered into a competition and a renowned jury from the Indian Film Industry judges them. If the films are non-student made, they are not eligible for the competition, but they definitely recieve valuable feedback.
It is a great opportunity for students and the others too to portray their talent.
SCREENINGS
We have five categories of film entries. Participants can send in their film if they fall under any of those categories. There is no limit on the number of entries.
The five categories are:
Fiction
Time:25 mins max.
Judges: Directors, Cinematographers, Editors & movie critics
Judging Criteria: Editing, storyline, direction, camera angles etc.
Non-Fiction
Time: 25 mins max.
Judges: Directors, Cinematographer, Editors & movie critics.
Judging Criteria: Editing, Storyline, direction, camera angles etc.
Ad-Films
Time: max. 1min.
Judges: Ad film directors.
Judging criteria: Concept and execution of concept.
Animation
Time: 10 mins max.
Judges: Directors of animation films & animation experts.
Judging criteria: creativity in characters, quality of images & movement (transition) and editing.
1-2-3-4
Here we give them the following parameters and they have to make the films using those only:
1-Location
2-Actors
3-Camera angles
4-Props
Time: 5-10 mins max
Judges: Directors, Cinematographers and Editors.
Judging criteria: creative usage of the 4 parameters most importantly camera angles.
Trailers Time (max 1 min.)
(The trailer should include the credits- director, producer, and actor/s.)
You may make a 60 sec. trailer of your short film entry itself and compete in the trailer films category also!
NOTE
Screenings from each category except ad-films can also apply for the trailer event (off venue). The judges for both events will be different. The trailer and the movie should be sent separately in different CD’s.
2 Copies Each.
No. Of Entries: Unlimited
The film has to be couriered to us.
The last day to enter your films is 31st, Dec,2010.
There is no bar on the number of entries per person. So, you may send in as many short films as you may wish to!
Registration
http://www.upgaahan.com/film/

Contact
Sneha
Aahan 2011
HOD-CONNECTIONS
+91 9920966900
Website
www.upgaahan.com

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

 

 

Night of the Living Dead

 

click the image to purchase this DVD

Rated: R

Genre: Horror

Info: IMDB

Directed By: George Romero

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, and Judith Riley

 

Since it’s that time of year again, we wouldn’t consider our reviews complete without the ZOMBIE. A Zombie, defined by FilmKnockers, is a walking corpse that has come back from the dead in someway shape or form, for some type of reason. Usually they are after the living, to eat their flesh and continue to sluggishly dragging their feet around town. Now I don’t know enough about the typical zombie to know what happens if no one tries to stop them, but usually that’s the fun of it. There have been numerous “survival guides” and “what-ifs”, zombie-apocalypse books, etc. on what to do if you’re approached by a zombie.

Zombie’s have been a part of our popular culture since the early 1800’s. Yes, after all wasn’t Frankenstein a “zombie” wasn’t he?  Since then zombies have influenced numerous novels, comics, fantasy, radio broadcasts and finally film.

For this review, I am selecting my zombie favorite, none other than George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” from 1968. George is the pioneer to the “modern” type of a zombie. By that he had somewhat combined the traditional zombie with the traditional vampire, considering he was heavily influenced by “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson at the time he wrote “NOTLD”.

Restricted by a budget that wouldn’t allow him to buy a used car today, Romero set out to create one of the most culturally influential horror films we know today. At first glance at the picture, it’s washed-out black and white photography, shaky camera and desolate locations give you that pre-apocalyptic feel. It’s apparent from the start that this wasn’t going to be just any ordinary horror film. It opens up in a cemetery; we follow “Johnnie” and “Barbara” as they look to visit their fathers  grave. Barbara, already spooked from the cemetery is further frightened by her brother when he repeats in the most eerie of tones “They are coming for you Barbara”. Just then we see our first ‘zombie’ come from the other side of the cemetery, slowly, dead-like he makes he way over to them and grabs her. Johnnie wrestles with him and is eventually killed when he falls on a tombstone hitting his head. Barbara manages to escape in their car as the zombie continues to attack. She arrives at a deserted farmhouse, in the middle of nowhere.  It is at this house when “Ben” comes, see’s Barbara, and boards up the house. “Harry and Helen Cooper” hide out in the basement of the house with their daughter “Karen” who was bitten by a zombie, and younger couple “Tom” and “Judy”.  It is there they stay, inside the house, fending off any potential zombie attacks, and then eventually each other.  Considering this film is more than 40 years old we will go ahead and assume that the majority of the population has watched it, heard of it, knows the ending to some degree so to we’ll go ahead and say: …no one survives the brutal ordeal. A mob of citizens that took to the streets with their rifles putting down anything of interest, approach the house and see Ben inside, take aim and…well it’s sad that he managed to survive the entire film but took a bullet to his head where he is then thrown into the fire with the rest of the zombies.

This is a film that broke the boundaries of being “frightening” or “scary” and become down right terrifying. It wasn’t until Novmeber of 1968 that the MPAA rating system had been put into place; this allowed children of any age to be admitted to “NOTLD”. The impact it had on children throughout the country was devastating. The scene in which caused the most controversy was when Helen Cooper was killed by her daughter with the trowel. It was the intense screaming, the blood spatter on the wall and the repeated stabbing into her chest gives anyone who see’s it goose bumps.

The film is unsettling from the start, the sense of abandonment you get never leaves you until the bitter end. In most films today you have a “hero” in which you root for and want to see succeed. Romero created a story so brilliantly constructed in a way that you can’t root for any of them, not to escape, not to survive but in the hopes that it would end before it gets any worse. I suppose the only hope you have is whether someone will come to their rescue, but who knows about them?  How is it possible for someone to know they’re there and come save them? Is this happening all around the world? You are shut off from civilization as an audience just as much as the characters are, trapped and unknowing.

This is a film that should be watched at least once around this time of year. It’s a classic in every sense and has paved the way for many other films that have spawned in it’s inspiration. Independent filmmakers across the world have George Romero to thank, just a little bit.

 

Watch “Night of the Living Dead” courtesy of Luckystrike502 and Youtube:

 

4 Knocks out of 5