Tennessee Gothic

I watched this hoping it was going to deliver horror and suspense, which it definitely did. But what I absolutely did not expect was how laugh out loud funny it was, especially the interplay between Paw and his son. It's not easy to get this much humor out of a story of sex-soaked demonic evil but the director and the cast were up to it to challenge. I hope this super entertaining indy movie finds a big audience.

I'm always on the lookout for great indy horror, and when this one was recommended to me by a friend, I had no idea what to expect. With the constant stream of mediocre horror we see released from week to week nowadays, this one truly stands out. It's funny, sinister and at times horrific, with a most unexpected grand finale. A must see.

I usually don't go out of my way to write a review unless I really like a film or I feel there is something particularly noteworthy about it. Or, in this case there are only a few reviews. Also, clearly, and I mean CLEARLY, the rating of this movie is way artificially pumped up beyond how 'Good' it is. I mean, think about it... Just exactly how many run of the mill low-budget Horror films get a 7.5 in their first 80 ratings? I mean, seriously... And the mind-numbingly usual 'A Hidden Gem' and 'A Great Movie to Watch' with their 8 & 10 ratings...? Uh huh...

Okay, so I'll try to give some insight into at least my lowly and wretched opinion about this, uh... *cough... '7.5' movie. I DO think the overall premise is very good. I do think that technically the way the film is fundamentally put together, edited, and scored is very good. Even the acting is definitely above average, which granted for this type of film is WAY better than most at this level. BUT... I think the thing that brings it down is, as I'm watching this I'm thinking, man, if they only could have done it better and crafted the story in a more engaging way instead of all the dopey time wasted on a bunch of lowbrow back and forth, poor plotting, and frankly pretty poor writing.

In other words, I feel that if they had taken the same premise and even kept in the little bit of drier humour they have in it, no harm there, but if they had tightened up the actual story and made it more substantial and engaging, they YES, this really could have indeed been a very fun and entertaining film. But, all the plodding along and weak dialog and literal 'screwing around' wastes FAR too much time and builds ZERO tension, then leading up to an interesting, but not terribly gripping ending.

Not giving any spoilers of course and not being too specific, but for example if instead of all that silly nothing stuff, if they had delved a little deeper in the Mythology of her background, perhaps showing what she was actually 'doing' instead of just having this 'book' fall open with a 'reveal' that lasts all of 2 seconds. If they had really ratcheted up the tension by creating a more suspenseful build up to what was going on and what/why she was doing what she was instead of a 1 minute throwaway at the very end, THEN the same story could have been told a hell of a lot more effectively. Actually drawing the audience into the grip of a feeling there there was increasingly something not right here and building on that. But, they basically just p*ssed it away.

So, what you end up with is indeed a very good premise, a LOT of total nonsense that does NOTHING to propel the actual story and plot along, and then in literally the last 4 minutes just dumping the final reveal, and not in a very effective way. I give it a '5' for the effort and the technical skill and acting, but really take away a lot for what I feel was a HUGELY missed opportunity. So... a '7.5' Uh, no, not even close. But for a moderately amusing, way padded out, watered down almost non-existent story, then yeah, I would grudgingly give it a '5'

I thought it was a battered wife chick flick in the beginning but i quickly realized there was way more action and drama to see! it was loaded with sex, violence, compassion and huge surprise in the last 7 minutes to give the best climax in a movie. such a great way to tell a story!!!