DVD Review: Homesick
Home Sick (2007)
Studio: Synapse
DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
Directed By: Adam Wingard
Cast: Bill Moseley, Tom Towles, Tiffany Shepis, Lindley Evans
Deadly DVD Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Review By: Will Colby
For what is really only two-thirds of a complete film, this little shitstorm of indie brilliance bursts with everything you could possibly want from a horror film. It achieves this through buckets of quality gore, great acting from the entire cast and Tiffany Shepis of course pops out her famous tits and bitch rocks her roll as a coked out twat. It is a slasher film with no fat, a bare bones story, but backed by a badass killer.
It begins with ‘Claire’ (Lindley Evans) returning to her home town in Alabama. Less than thrilled, she is going to a party with a group of people she really doesn’t like. Just to add to the uncomfortable atmosphere of a room full of assholes, an unexpected guest arrives in the form of ‘Mr. Suitcase’ (Bill Moseley). Mr. Suitcase is a grinning motor mouthed psycho who settles in, grabs coked out ‘Candice’ (Tiffany Shepis) and asks everyone at the party to name someone they hate. With each subsequent answer he slashes himself open. Once everyone has answered he abruptly leaves. So begins what may very well be one of the most unique slasher movies ever shot.
Flashing forward a couple of days, to the vicious curbing murder of a drug dealer, you are treated to a sample of what awaits everyone named at that party. Everyone on the list is dying and thanks to dumb shit ‘Tim’ (Matt Lero), that list includes everyone who attended. Tim his strung out redneck pal ‘Devin’ (Brandon Carroll) Claire, ‘Mark’ (Forrest Pitts), Candice and ‘Robert’ (Will Akers) are all on Mr. Suitcases list because unable to think of anything else Tim announced he hated everyone at the party.
After wisely getting drunk at the local dive Tim and Devin easily convince nerdy Robert that the key to survival rests with they’re securing firearms from Tim’s father/ uncle ‘Johnny’ (Tom Towles), a whacked out chili cooking inbred dumbshit with more guns than brains. Claire and Mark who have remained sober think police intervention would be more appropriate however being outvoted by the drunks, they fall in and go to see Uncle Johnny.
If you want to know what happens to this motley pack of losers you’re going to have to get the DVD and check it out for yourself. I strongly recommend if you want to maintain your horror-fan credibility, you go get this film. This is what classics of form are made of. Director Wingard has managed to achieve a perfect blend of story and character development to offset the mayhem. Featuring some solid effects work courtesy of Jonathan Thorton, who you may remember dropped the entrails in BLOOD FEAST 2, and straightforward cinematography from Andor Becsi and Michael ‘Bear’ Praytor the end product is small but tight, smart filmmaking.
You may find yourself a bit put off by the misleading packaging that lists Moseley, Towles, and Shepis as the stars but this was a very low budget production and Wingard having got them at all is testament to the quality of the piece. There isn’t much of the three of them, but what is there is must see acting from three icons of the genre. The character Mr. Suitcase is Moseley at his best in a small but immensely creepy surreal performance as a door to door fruit bag psychopath. Shepis slithers through the blood and channels pure slut until she meets the man in the mask and he takes care of a little foot fetish issue. That leaves Towles who positively shines in a slapstick southern fried dip stick routine that culminates in a glorious decapitation.
The only downside of this whole bloody mess is the fact that the film leaves the viewer wanting a little at the open ending. It almost appears that lack of money caused Wingard and crew to say fuck it we got enough, shoots over. That sounds bad but Wingard delivered a nice film regardless of whether it had a real beginning and ending. Slick editing and realistic production design from Peter Katz help to ensure the end product looks like much more than it probably was.
In the extras section there is a deleted opening sequence that is interesting to see, and a nice featurette called “IN A ROOM WHERE DARKNESS COUNTS”. Also included is audio commentary from Director Wingard and writer E.L. Katz as well as some shorts the two of them did prior to HOME SICK. Rounding the package out and always fun is an interview with Bill Moseley.
Don’t bother renting this one, I recommend purchasing it; I have watched it twice already!
