The Legend Trip

04-01-2013

I live in Wisconsin and just recently started buying movies that are made here.

I just received this DVD in the mail this week. As fast as I unwrapped it, I was watching it. I highly recommend this title to anyone who likes all the haunting type movies with blood and guts. TRY THIS ONE!

I'm not going to say anything to spoil the movie for viewers, but I'm more than proud to say as a Wisconsin native, I did recognize several of the filming area's from our tri-county area. I really liked this movie and highly recommend it to others who like these types of movies.

REALLY! This is a 'Must See' film. Movies are made to entertain and exercise your imagination, or in this case ...be a little scary or gory. That's exactly what this title does for me. I'm glad I bought it.

"Wisconsin has more hauntings per square mile then any other state".

And so "The Legend Trip" explores this statement to great effect. Director Jason Satterfield's film looks into the history of a single house besieged by unthinkable misery and horrific events. The story, written by Sara Bulle, Steven Lentz and Nick Firer weaves it's allure through more then a century of misfortunes and asks the question: "Can evil manifest itself and lay dormant in one particular place?"

Satterfield paints a gloomy picture, very reminiscent to the style of David Lynch. The film's visual prowess shows the passage of time through shadows of black and white, and the grainy color textures of the 1970's. Each presenting a different chain of unspeakable events. The film stars Mark Metcalf of "Animal House" fame as an ex-priest haunted by a demonic vision, and now confined to a mental institution. An unsuspecting group of grad students decide to base their thesis on the legendary house and find out what is lurking in the darkness... the hard way. With stand out performances by Benjamin Keepers, and a rather amusing turn by writer/actor Nick Firer, the ensemble cast sells the horror in convincing fashion. Never light on the (Gore-Factor), "The Legend Trip" delights fans of the genre with cannibalism, self mutilation and extremely graphic torture scenes like you've never seen on film before. All set to a spine tingling musical score and vivid cinematography... Certain to entertain Independent Horror fans abroad, "The Legend Trip" answers it's own questions with barbed-wire, entrails and all things that go bump in the night.

(My rating has to be taken in context--I understand what limitations there inherently are when working with small funding) What a delight to see a locally created film at the Times! Based on attendance it seems that "The Legend Trip" may have quite a following coming together. As far as quality is concerned it seems that director Jason Satterfield can take much of the credit for the visually stunning final product. I was told that this production was made on a pittance (compared to standard, or even mid-range, movies) but what the crew did with the money they had was wonderful at times. While many of the present-day scenes could have used more work, (especially in some of the performances--I'm guessing that these changes weren't made due to the fact that a few of the actors were also crew members and non-negotiable in their roles) scenes from other time periods were first-rate. While the 70's montages were stronger in acting ability they did still have the stilted moments that can come with a B-movie (Also the actors appearance's were not in keeping with the look of the 70's--I found this bothersome). However, the 20's segment was pure genius. While individual performances were each spot-on (Jill Turner and the 20's Killer were fabulous) the overall tone and feel of these segments had the exact gritty and raw emotion that, I'm guessing, was the goal. (I will never hear the song "Me and My Shadow" again without remembering this movie) Also, the final scene of the movie MUST be mentioned. It's deliberately painfully slow pace made every member of that audience squirm and wish for the torture of the character on screen to stop. Honestly, both the idea of that final scene as well as its execution were flawless. Of course, Mark Metcalf has to be noted as well. As Father Knotting, Metcalf shines with vacant eyes and a clearly haunted soul. His was a smaller role that seemed much more grand because of his fine performance. Of course, there were sound issues (standard when working within the confines of a small budget) and this was unfortunate because I think this small facet of the showing took away from a lot of the movie. However, I am being overly critical--The feeling I left the Times with last night was one of awe. As mentioned in the pre-screening speech, Jason Satterfield is one incredibly talented man. The only question about Satterfield that came to mind after seeing the movie is: Which is his greater skill--that powerful eye he clearly possess for creating visual images or his masterful discrimination throughout the editing stage? If this is what he can do with little money, I absolutely would love to see what stunning things he would create with more resources. Fortunately for us, I have a feeling that we will all get the chance to find that out in the years to come.