An Elite Entertainment release (for DVD) of an LD Media presentation, Produced by Dante Tomaselli. Executive producer, Jack Swain. Co-producer, Maria Tassiello. Directed, written by Dante Tomaselli.
With: The Amazing Kreskin, Lizzy Mahon, Danny Lopes, Vincent Lamberti, Christie Sanford, Jessica Pagan, Raine Brown, Kevin Kenney, Chris Farabaugh, Felissa Rose.
After winning considerable interest from "Fangoria" types with his 1999 short "Desecration," writer-helmer-composer Dante Tomaselli graduates to features via the starkly titled "Horror." As much a nonlinear meditation on genre conventions as it is an actual chiller, pic provides ample evidence of talent -- and some cause for frustration. Rich in atmosphere and visual panache, exercise grows less compelling once it becomes clear no narrative payoff is forthcoming. Fans of arty horror should lend this a long cult shelf life via home formats (Elite Entertainment has picked it up for DVD release).
Young Grace Salo (Lizzy Mahon) is putting up Christmas lights outside a rural home. She's menaced by a devil-horned black goat, then violently abducted by a black-clad man. Once she wakes up in another house, however, it appears said man (Vincent Lamberti) is her father -- though neither he nor a cackling, frequently bed-ridden mother (Christie Sanford) seem to have the girl's best interests in mind. Her grandfather is a mesmerist (played by famed psychic/entertainer the Amazing Kreskin, aka George Kresge) seen rather aggressively manipulating the wills of what appear to be an audience of institutional inmates. Both Dad and Gramps are Reverends -- but the church they represent just might be Satan's.
Meanwhile, five youths have broken out of either a juvenile detention or drug-rehab facility, led by the violent Luck (Danny Lopes). They steer their stolen van toward Grace's manse, having already been invited by Rev. Jr. He's also given them a gift bag of goodies, including alcohol and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Ingestion of latter turns one escapee a zombie shade of blue.Once arrived, kids face a series of surreal terrors. Luck sees Grace's parents as floating jack-o'-lantern ghouls, and shoots them dead. Or does he? An ancestral portrait assumes more macabre forms with each glance; shuffling zombies emerge from woods to surround the house; a horrifically scarred little girl appears from nowhere; a medieval-style torture rack is deployed. But it's never clear whether these events are real or simply parts of someone's dreaming or delusional mind. Coda suggests last option might be the case. Or perhaps not.
A similarly illogical gothic surrealism worked for '70s indie-horror classic "Phantasm." But Tomaselli fails to build cumulative suspense or mystery from what amounts to a series of beautifully staged red herrings. Thesps are required to deliver menace or panic without any real characters to play; sparse dialogue consists almost entirely of genre cliches. Nonetheless, "Horror" can't help but impress with its lush, unsettling textural confidence, particularly since there's almost no actual gore. Nocturnal outdoor sequences are textbook studies in refracted light, fog and shadow; interiors render a stylized-minimalist take on "good taste" Americana (beige walls, colonial furniture) distinctively ominous. Almost equal to strong compositional sense in impact is helmer's own eerie musique-concrete score, abetted by an alarming title theme from Ras Mesinai.
All design contribs make more than the most of $250,000 budget. Pic was shot on 35mm, though shown on projected vid. It is hoped pickup by Elite will mean future theatrical showings can be in 35 mm.
Camera (color), Tim Naylor; editor, Marcus Bonilla; music, Tomaselli; production designer, Jill Alexander; art director, Maze Georges; costume designer, Nives Spaleta; sound (Dolby), Eben Baume; special effects, Scott Sliger; assistant directors, Rachel Wood, Heather Greene. Reviewed at San Francisco IndieFest, Feb. 15, 2003. Running time: 76 MIN.
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Date in print: Wed., Feb. 26, 2003