DVD Review: Dark Reel
Dark Reel (2008)
Studio: North American Motion Pictures
DVD Release Date: March 10, 2009
Directed By: Josh Eisenstadt
Cast: Tiffany Shepis, Edward Furlong, Lance Henriksen, Tony Todd, Jeffrey Vincent Parise
Brutal As Hell Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Review By: Marc Patterson
Fifty years ago in Hollywood a brutally vicious murder was committed. (Since when is that news?) Rising starlet Scarlett May never saw her full potential instead falling to the hand of a psycho killer on a Hollywood soundstage. Her murder remained unsolved and became Hollywood legend. Fast forward to the present. B Movie producer Connor Pritchet (Henricksen) is trying to get a cheesy, sleazy pirate film made. To help with the publicity he stages a contest for a walk on role, a role which ends up going to Adam (Furlong), a young nobody from Virginia who made his way to Hollywood to make something of himself. Lucky for Adam he finds out that his one-line role is opposite that of his favorite scream queen Cassie Blue (Shepis). Cassie and Adam really hit it off, which pisses off the director Derek Deeds (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) who has a thing for Cassie. Between the mounting drama on set new problems arise, and by that we mean a killer. Someone is knocking off cast and crew in a copy cat fashion to the Scarlett May murder. Detective Shields (Todd) and his sidekick LaRue (Rena Riffel) are assigned to investigate the murder. Fingers are pointed in every direction with no real suspect coming to the forefront. Anyone and everyone is suspect, including the reappearing ghost of Scarlett May!
Unsuspecting is the first thing that comes to mind with Dark Reel. And I mean that with no pun intended towards this murder mystery slasher whodunit film. You immediately think this is going to be low-budget trash, and depending on what kind of horror snob you are it very well may be. I’m of the persuasion that enjoys a plenty of tongue in cheek schlockery with my horror, and that’s what Dark Reel is all about. There’s enough of the serious to entertain without completely relegating itself to total splatstick humor, but by no means is this a film to be taken seriously. The film packs in a veritable cast of characters who are truly just that… characters. From the crazed director who has his best moments when he’s neurotically screaming at the cast and crew, or jamming out to some tunes, to the soundman that boisterously celebrates every good take. No reverb!! Even the no named Pirate Wench #1, Tony Todd’s quirky detective sidekick, and Tracey Walter as a crazed paparazzi were wonderful. Just not third rate background actors, but real characters that fleshed out a ridiculous film with plenty of style.
Onto the big names… Often big name horror icons who get pulled into smaller low budget films barely manage to show up and put on a half-assed show before collecting their money and hitting the road. Case in point: I’m a fan of Robert Englund and all, but what script won’t that guy turn down? And doesn’t his acting just seem tired in most of these bit parts? Horror blasphemy? Maybe. Brutal truth? Very likely. Lance Henriksen and Tony Todd are shockingly great. Each brought their A game to the table, elicited multiple chuckles and are featured together in a great scene. And I know I say this all the time but Tiffany Shepis, continues to get better with every film she’s in. I’m not a huge fan of this role for her, but she delivered and did so well. Then again, she doesn’t even need to act well and I’ll still love her. Scarecrow or The Hazing anyone? Tell me those weren’t fun films and I’ll tell you that you aren’t a fan of the b-movie extravaganza! True to form Shepis delivers what fans expect, dropping trough on cue. Sadly, despite all the eye candy on parade I’m a little disappointed that the requisite quota of T&A was limited to a few short scenes solely featuring Tiffany. So much more potential lost.
The biggest disappointment for fans of the low grade hack n’ slash are going to come in a key department. Nearly all the kills were boring and lacked creativity. The set pieces were set up horribly with no regard for use of suspense building. I’m not exactly easily amused by seeing throats cut over and over. Sure beating someone to death with their own arm is cute and all, but isn’t that a bit easy? The filmmakers employ a giallo like killer… black gloves, shiny blades… why not have gone for the gusto and given us some Italian style hack n’ slash? Or if not, just anything that would have given us something to cheer about? Sad, sad, and sad.
The extras are surprisingly not too shabby. There’s a couple commentary tracks, a stills gallery, deleted scenes, theatrical trailers, and a featurette that will very likely be the highlight of your time here; “The Making of Gnome Killer 2”. Superb.
If you want blood, guts and gore, then I think by now it should be obvious that Dark Reel isn’t quite going to cut it. But if you’re looking for a slap happy good time with plenty of twists and turns then you deserve to check this flick out.
