Jug Face

Solid acting, a quite original concept, and a well woven tapestry of a... shall we say, alternative culture, make this into quite a strong movie. I found myself invested in the main character enough to care about the outcome, and intrigued enough in the "elder power" around which the community revolves to want to know more about it. I will say it is not a conventional horror movie, so those who hope to get jump scares and loads of blood are better off looking elsewhere, but if you want a thoughtful little film that still has an element of supernatural, this might be a good one for you. Definitely worth watching, and all the better considering what an expanse of recent garbage this little gem shines out on.

Addendum: I saw some criticisms of this movie and they mostly seemed to center around the idea that it left too many questions unanswered, that it didn't have enough of a story, or that it didn't wrap up to a particular viewers satisfaction. I could not disagree more. The premise is that there is an entity whose older than man whose thinking is unfathomable. To answer the nature of such a creature in your narrative would destroy that property of it... wouldn't it? Personally, I like the unfathomable aspect of it. I like wondering about it but never being given an answer. As to the ending and the lack of a story, without giving anything away, well, a group such as this would have developed a kind of relationship with the entity which would have become very entrenched over time. This tale is a slice of time... not a closed end, and I think the ending we are presented with is the perfect one for the, shall we say, nature of the beast. It is precisely these kinds of things that make the story a bit more innovative and not just another Hollywood style tale designed to satisfy the person who prefers things to be more predigested.

Jug Face (2013)

*** (out of 4)

The "redneck-horror" genre has pretty much delivered either really bad movies or interesting and original takes on the format. JUG FACE is certainly unlike any other movie I can recall and on that level alone it's worth watching. Set in the backwoods, a community lives by a religion that includes sacrificing anyone who a local potter (Sean Bridgers) sees as a "Jug Face." If this potter sees someone they are taken to a pit in the woods where they are killed and their blood drained into it. Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) finds out that she's pregnant with her brother's baby and soon she feels that she might be the one ready for the pit. If the plot makes you think you're getting some sort of weird exploitation movie then you're wrong. Writer-director Chad Crawford Kinkle actually delivers a very serious and straight-forward horror film that manages to be highly entertaining and creepy. In a lot of ways the film reminded me of THE WICKER MAN as both deal with a backwards community that offer up people for what they believe are good reasons. I'm not sure if the director was aware of that film or not but the two actually have quite a bit in common and I'm not saying that in a bad way. JUG FACE really does offer up an interesting story that keeps you glued to the screen because you never know how it's going to play out or what twist might follow. The director does a fantastic job at making you believe that you're actually in the woods with these rather sick people who are living by codes that most would find pathetic. The film also offers up some rather gory moments that never call attention to themselves in a sense of wanting to shock the viewer. Instead the scenes just come off as realistic. Another major plus is that we're given some excellent performances with Carter really delivering. This is the second picture I've seen her in and she's certainly a talent to watch out for. She brings such a warm feeling to this character to where you can care for her and want to see her survive this ordeal. Bridgers is also extremely good in his role as is Sean Young (yes, that Sean Young) who plays the girl's twisted mother. People who are tired of the same old type of horror films will certainly want to check this one out. It's not flawless but it's certainly entertaining and creepy.

Yep, that's about it. After I finished watching the film and I came here to check out the rating, I was not surprised at all that it was a mere 5.2. And deservedly so...

The great writer Charlie Kaufman in his brilliant film 'ADAPTATION' had the experienced filmmaker tell his character that 'Rule #1' in writing was to make sure to give the audience a 'Slam-Bang' ending. Well, this is precisely, in my lowly and wretched opinion, where the filmmakers here fell far short.

The reason why this movie currently only has a '5.2' rating isn't because it wasn't made well. It isn't because it wasn't acted well, because the acting was superb. It wasn't because technically it wasn't down well, because the writing, direction, pacing, and above all 'Mood' was excellent. It it certainly wasn't because the story was poor; the idea was frigg'n BRILLIANT!

The reason, as clearly stated in my title above is because of the ending. And, without giving too much away, I do not mind 'Dark' endings. I do not mind endings that might give you a shock. BUT... in my lowly and wretched opinion, one thing I feel that a director should never, NEVER do, is put the audience through such a grueling and fascinating and creative journey and then just end it with a completely pointless, and I mean POINTLESS letdown.

Inexcusable...

And, thus, the deserved 5.2 rating. IF, and I really mean this, IF the filmmakers had just given the bloody ending a BIT more thought so that the audience either felt rewarded for going through all that they had, or given it some kind of nice twist, or at least given us some irony, just bloody SOMETHING, ANYTHING instead of the paltry nothing, meaningless ending that in my opinion did absolutely NOTHING for the audience, I feel quite honestly that it would have been a truly great film. But, sadly, It simply didn't leave us with a feeling of satisfaction. It didn't leave us with a sense of Mystery. It didn't even leave us with a true sense of Horror. The audience is left sitting there going, 'Is that it...?'

It just left us with a mindlessly STUPID non-ending that did nothing for us in any way at all...

While it clearly suffers from a low budget, this movie works harder and is more interesting than most of the product that comes out of Hollywood these days.

You will enjoy the twist and turns in the plot. The writers obviously put more effort into the storyline than their big-budget counterparts in the film industry.

The lead actress is impressive as a victim of circumstance who yearns to break free of her world.

It's an intimate look into a slimy dirty mini-society... decent acting, believable dialog and passable set design. Give these folks some real funding and I bet they hit a home run.

Ada is a young girl who lives with her backwoods hillbilly moonshinin' clan. A close knit community, they all share a rather arcane religion. Every so often, The Potter makes a ceramic jug adorned by a face. Every face that appears on the jug is a member of the clan and any face that appears must be sacrificed for the good of the community. Sacrificed to The Pit, which lies in the woods. Because The Pit wants what it wants and The Pit must be sated as this is how it's always been. If The Pit doesn't get what it wants then whatever dwells within it gets angry. And when The Pit gets angry, the community will be punished.

One day, while exploring The Potter's shed, Ada finds the latest jug face. It's her own...

Will she allow herself to be sacrificed, for the good of the clan? or will she set in motion a plan to spare her own life?

Jug Face is a straightforward but pleasantly offbeat horror that puts an interesting and unusual spin on the hillbilly horror/hicksploitation sub genre, with a nice turn by Larry Fessenden as the clan leader and a surprisingly great turn from Sean Young as the overbearing matriarch.

Executively produced by Lucky Mckee and with FX by Robert Kurtzman, it's a satisfying and solid horror that's well worth checking out overall, for fans looking for something just a little bit different.

7/10, decent little film and recommended.