Film Review: Song of the Shattered
Song of the Shattered (2010)
Directed by Wolfgang Meyer
Starring: Brandon Slagle, Devanny Pinn, Deneen Melody, Tara Cardinal, Jess Weber, Joe Hollow
Review by Marc Patterson
There are a tremendous amount of rape and revenge films in the world of horror. Nearly equal the amount that contain graphic rape. Here’s a thought for you: what happens after the credits roll? What happens in the wake of the violence that has been viciously perpetrated onto the victim? Song of the Shattered breaks the conventions of modern horror exploitation and explores the post-traumatic effects that barrage the mind of one such woman.
Song of the Shattered opens on a brutal note. Flashes of a knife-wielding, crazy-eyed woman hacking and slashing. Blood spatter flies. We meet Angela (Devanny Pinn), a woman who has suffered through an abusive relationship long enough. She’s leaving the company of her husband anyway she can and she takes to the road on foot. After a while she’s picked up by a young couple, Eric and June (Brandon Slagle and Deneen Melody respectively), who decide they want to help her out. They don’t know what they’re in for. While they stop at a roadside hotel for the night, Angela’s husband finds and attacks her, bringing Eric and June into the bloody foray. After a graphically violent struggle that involves all, Angela finally manages to kill her husband, at which point we flash forward to “a year later” — now present day.
Angela is coping from the aftermath, raising her mentally-disabled sister Melanie (Tara Cardinal) on her own and doing the best she can to get by in the day to day. She puts out a help wanted poster in the local shop, hoping to get a handyman to do some work for her around the house. Coincidentally (or perhaps not so), Eric shows up at the door. As Eric and Angela bond over the horrifying events from a year earlier, events from the past begin to manifest themselves in terrifying ways and Angela’s world begins to fall apart around her. She eventually is forced to confront her demons or be overtaken by them.
Before I get too far into a critical breakdown of Song of the Shattered, I’m going tell you that the version I saw was an unfinished work print. This means I won’t be spending much time critiquing the technical details of the film, such as sound or visuals, as some of this work was still left to be completed.
As with most independent horror flicks there were things that I loved, things that really worked well, and other things that didn’t work as much. I thought the entire premise for the film was fantastic. I love the idea of exploring the aftermath of a violent event, having that moment that is often reserved for the final act of a film to be put up front, made a launching point for an entirely new story to unfold. It’s not that this hasn’t ever been done anywhere else, but it’s not commonplace in horror, and definitely not put on display with the insane amount of graphic gore that Song of the Shattered packs in.
Acting wise, we’ve got a solid line-up. It helps that Brandon Slagle and Devanny Pinn, who headline the film, also wrote the script. It puts them that much closer to the source material without the need for having anyone interpret what’s going on. They also have great chemistry, which translates well. However, the advantage is lost with the dialogue that could have been cut out. I think even Quentin Tarantino might have cringed at the amount of chatter going on during the second act of the film. It was just way too heavy on exposition and, with the soft music in the background, dipped into Lifetime Channel territory more than once. In cinema I want filmmakers to show me, not tell me. If I could make one piece of constructive criticism it would be to cut some of the chit-chat and get rid of the piano interludes, which would tighten up the screenplay and therefore increase the dramatic volume of the film significantly.
Deneen Melody (Slices of Life), makes several appearances in the film, but isn’t really given any significant lines to show off her chops. That said, she spends a good amount of her time doused in the red, which really IS her color. Tara Cardinal should also get some props from me. I was really looking forward to seeing her in a leading role, and here she gets one, but not the role I would have imagined. As the mentally handicapped younger sister, she spends most of her time playing with dolls, or skipping through the background, providing moments of comic relief. That said, her sweetness was truly contagious as I really didn’t want to see anything bad happen to her, and this adds a wonderful dimension to a character that could have otherwise served as nothing but a pure plot device.
Gore wise, Song of the Shattered fires through both barrels. It features a horrifying scene of baseball bat rape. A shard of glass is jammed through a skull. There’s multiple stabbings, and just an array of bloodletting. Much of this takes place in the first twenty minutes, really setting the tone for what’s to follow. Sadly — and I don’t want to spoil anything — if you’re into graphic gore the best stuff comes early, leaving the remainder of the story to play out in the wake of the atrociously violent beginning. That said, things do pick up and as we move through the final half of the film, there’s plenty of the red to be spread.
Bottom line: Song of the Shattered isn’t highly polished and could use some more time in the editing room, but it’s a smart horror film (something that’s not so easy to come by in the world of true independents) and its strength lies in its original and enjoyable story line that is presented with a unique point-of-view, and violence that while, is extreme, is never gratuitous.
