Luster

One of the most underrated directors working today is Adam Mason. Mason made waves in the indie scene when Dimension Extreme picked up his feature debut "Broken". When his follow-up, "The Devil's Chair" punched me in the gut, I was sure that he would become a household name. Here we are, several films later, and it feels like Adam's films are getting even less attention. "Blood River", which was one of the best films of 2009, has yet to even secure North American distribution. This is despite the high praise the film has been met with from most whom have seen it. Mason's experimental film "Pig", which was filmed almost entirely in one take, has been made available by the director through online premieres, but is still not readily available to those that wish to see it. Skip forward a year, and Adam is back with "Luster". Though, admittedly not a horror film, it's dark enough of a comedy, and intense enough of a thriller that it plays well to fans of the genre. Much like his last several films, Mason is having some trouble securing distribution, which is a sad thing, because this is his most polished film to date. "Luster" would play well on the big screen, and I honestly believe that if given the shot, it would stand toe to toe against anything that Hollywood has to offer.

"Luster" follows the title character, Thomas Luster, played by the amazing Andrew Howard. Thomas is dealing with a severe case of insomnia. He also suspects his wife of fooling around with his eccentric neighbor. When he starts receiving strange letters telling him to stop taking his insomnia medication, he assumes it's his neighbor playing with his mind. Thomas, and his homeless friend Les, played by Tommy Flanagan(Sons of Anarchy) take a trip to a local pawnshop, and walk away with some video surveillance equipment to try and catch his neighbor in the act. When Thomas reviews the surveillance footage, he discovers that something far more sinister is afoot. When Thomas' personal life crumbles, bodies start to drop, and Luster is left to battle his inner demons.

One of the most impressive things about Adam Mason, is that he can take a budget that most filmmakers would scoff at, and turn it into a brilliant, polished cinematic experience. "Luster" is no exception. Mason turns in a finished product that would convince even the most educated cinephile that he had much more to work with. It saddens me that films like "Paranormal Activity" receive support from big name studios, yet films like "Blood River" and "Luster" have gone unnoticed. A lot of people complain about the state of Hollywood films today, but only a handful are actually willing to do something about it. How can you complain about a lack of creativity in one breath, then slap your hard earned dollars down on the counter for whatever this month's hot new pillaging of our childhood favorites happens to be? Andrew Howard's performance is the driving force behind "Luster". Howard is a regular in Mason's films, and every time he steps in front of a camera he brings his A game. Howard takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotions as we follow him on a steady decline into madness. Anyone that has ever gone a couple of days without sleep knows that your mind starts playing tricks on you after a while. This is portrayed with a level of brilliance, both by Andrew's acting chops, and the impeccable writing of both Mason, and his writing partner Simon Boyes.

The cinematography of "Luster" is great, as with all of Mason's films. The spectacular lighting is what really sets the mood though. One scene in particular features Andrew Howard standing in a bathroom caked in blood. The scene looks spectacular, proving that the aesthetics of your film rely heavily on your knowledge of lighting a scene. A lot of people don't realize this, but sometimes fake blood that is used on the set doesn't resemble blood at all. Mason himself admits that without the lighting of the scene mentioned above, the blood that Andrew Howard is covered in would have looked terrible.

Mason does a good job straddling the line between the gritty indie style he's become known for, and mainstream marketability. Fans of his previous work will not be disappointed, yet casual viewers are not left feeling alienated. The characters are all interesting, and easy to relate to. The story is smart, and compelling, yet easy to follow, and the ending is both satisfying, and unexpected. Adam Mason stepped outside of his comfort level with this film, proving that he's not a one-trick pony. With Andrew Howard's career building steam, perhaps a much deserved theatrical release will be given to "Luster" in the year to come.

I originally watched this because I'm a huge Tommy Flanagan fan. And I loved it. Good twists, great acting all the way around, with a good ending. If you're looking for a blood and gore horror movie, this isn't the movie for you, but if you like creepy, psychological thrillers, I can't recommend this enough.

Andrew Howard does a great job of portraying the insomniac man, who is slowly losing his mind due to lack of sleep. He pulls off the character perfectly, all the way through the movie.

Tommy Flanagan is hilarious in this, as the crazy, homeless vet who is trying to help out Thomas Luster. Every time he was on screen he made me laugh.

It starts off at a slow pace, and gradually builds up, reaching the peak about mid-way through, and drags you along for the rest, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

When you hear the name Adam Mason followed by Andrew Howard, you instantly are filled with this sudden realization that you are in for a treat, it is almost the same feeling you get Christmas morning as a child, when you look over at your clock and take in what day it is, at least that is how I feel every time I find out they are working together on another project and it was no different when I heard the news that "Luster" was in the works.

I have watched this film now a total of four times, and each and every time I view it, I find more and more to like about it. Once again Adam Mason has a winner on his hands with "Luster" and proves that he is not a name to be forgotten. After a string of classics such as "The Devils Chair", "Blood River" and "Pig" and now "Luster" he has gone way beyond the needed criteria to land a spot on my list of top horror directors.

"Luster" has it all, a solid and entertaining story that is both original and ultra thought provoking, stunning practical special effects that shame most big budget Hollywood releases by sticking to the gritty and raw feeling that Mason has mastered over the years, and to finish the total package an excellent all around cast and convincing top notch acting by all who were involved.

Once again Andrew Howard does an incredible job, this time portraying Thomas Luster, who has found himself on a downward spiral in every sense of the word. Andrew delivers such a realistic and moving performance, you really build up an attachment and sense of honestly feeling bad for his character and what he is going through something that is rarely achieved in the horror genre these days where most characters are nothing more than slabs of meat included for the sake of being dismantled in gruesome ways.

The entire cast of "Luster" did astonishing jobs with their characters, Tess Panzer, who plays Thomas's wife Jennifer Luster was on top of her game, and my personal favorite character Les played by Tommy Flanagan, who you may recognized from his role on the hit FX series "Son's of Anarchy" really stole the show for me, you would honestly believe that he was a homeless vet he plays the role so authentically.

The writing ability of Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, time after time produce truly creepy and most of the times very feasible scenario's in their viewers minds that leave them haunted forever by what they just witnessed. "Luster" is no different in this department, once it all becomes unraveled and you grasp what has been going on you will find yourself desperately craving to find another soul who has seen the film so you can gab about it like a tween girl who just finished the latest issue of "Tiger Beat".

While "Luster" is not your typical Adam Mason style horror film, as it has more thriller, psychological, who did it undertones than his previous films, any fans of his earlier work will not be let down this time around. While there is not as much gore in "Luster" as his previous films either, when it does occur it's done in the familiar gritty fashion that Adam has always delivered in his films.

I guarantee after you watch "Luster" you'll think twice about taking that little chalk flavored capsule in order to get to sleep when a bout of insomnia strikes you again, you'll start to second guess yourself every time you "Misplace" an object in your home and you will forever feel the effects left behind by "Luster", ensuring that there's always a part of you that asks what if? Thanks to an insanely strong script, and characters that are both believable and memorable both main and supporting wise, "Luster" is sure to win crowd after crowd whenever it is released. I highly recommend any fan of the horror genre go out of their way to see this movie upon release and if you are not familiar with Adam Mason's earlier work, I insist that you IMDb his name and go down the list, I would start with "The Devils Chair" and work my way through his impressive library of true horror films.

On Behalf of The Liberal Dead I give "Luster" a very solid and deserving 9 out of 10, and award for best psychological twist in a horror film in a very long time.