A Hard Place

It's my understanding that this film started out in crowdfunding. Many crowdfunded films are simply unwatchable on account of the bad acting and low production value. This movie is quite different. With a standout performance from Felissa Rose (along with Thomsen, Bryant, Undercuffler, and some fresh-faced hunks) leading the charge, the remaining characters fall in line to deliver a comedic thrill ride. There are seriously several laugh out loud moments in the middle of the carnage which is truly refreshing as is the original concept. I expect more good things to come from writer/director J. Horton!

This was a film that I got the chance to see via screener thanks to Justin Cook. When I saw that this was a 2025 horror release, I like to help fill out my end of year lists with the independents to find gems. I skimmed the press release, but just knowing that it was in genre, which was enough. Something else I did know was that it featured Felissa Rose, Lynn Lowry and Bai Ling ahead of seeing it.

Synopsis: a group of criminals on the run find themselves caught in the middle of an ancient feud between the monsters that roam the day and the ones that rule the night.

We start this by seeing a woman passed out on the ground. It appears she was knocked out and is coming too. I believe she is Barbara Brandt (Sadie Katz). There are people behind her who are attacked. She is in the middle of a zombie attack. With her are Dutton (Glenn Plummer) and Zuri (Ling).

This turns out to be a movie being shown at a drive-in. Sitting in a car are siblings, Fish (Rachel Amanda Bryant) and Steve (Steven Morris). They're technically the get-away drivers for the crew that are inside. Zenia (Lowry), Hurt (Kevin Caliber), Candy (Jennifer Michelle Stone II) and White (Scott Alan Ward). Things don't go as planned. The person who has the case that they stealing is killed.

Our crew then hits the road and Zenia tells Steve they need to get where they're going before dawn. They head well out of town to the middle of nowhere. They pull off the road and walk the rest of the way. This leads them to a barn. They're looking for fake passports but Candy is trigger happy when Naja (Ashley Undercuffler) tells them that she cannot help and they need to leave. Fish feels bad and treats her wound.

The team then get split up as they're attacked by creatures from the woods. They seem to be plant hybrids. Our crew also meets a 'family' that lives out here. Henrietta (Rose) is the matriarch. Naja is her daughter and when members of the community return without her, she fears that she's dead. I won't name everyone, but there is Jonas (John Charles Dickson), Odie (Angel Nichole Bradford), Carl (Yevgeny Jack Berner), Lily (Jamie Baker), Aldy (Erica Dyer) and Frazz (Andrew Laabs). They give refuge to the survivors, but there is more going on than they realize. It is a fight for survival as our group needs to figure out who is more dangerous? Their hosts or the creatures in the woods.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I should start is that there are good and bad things here. Something interesting I read from reviews on Letterboxd that this was crowd funded. I can confirm that when watching the credits. What is interesting though is that this might explain a major issue I have with the pacing. This is disjointed. It jumps right in at breakneck speed and I was confused with a couple things that happened. There were also things that were left unexplained that were an issue for me.

Now that I've set that up, let me delve into what I liked here. The first thing is that I love the concept. When our group of criminals get to this area, we see that there are vines and tree branches moving. We then get these cool human, plant hybrid creatures. They kill someone and then clean them down to the bone fast, which was a cool visual and effect. Then as things go on, we realize that the group hosting our survivors are hiding a secret. This feels like Skinned Deep where we have two groups of villains where our characters need to figure out who is the better option to side with in surviving. Developing a story like this is something that helps build tension.

Sticking with a positive here, I'll bring in filmmaking aspects. I love the practical approach to the look of both sets of creatures. The plant ones were cooler to me, but that's not to say the ones we got later weren't. There was an issue that I'll come back to with the writing, but I digress for now. There was CGI used here that was helping to enhance so I'll let that slide. We do get a combination of practical and CG gore. The former looked better. Computers were used for things like gunshot fire and blood spray. I don't love that. I'll say that the cinematography and framing were used well to hide the seams. They tried to do this disorienting thing earlier on. That didn't work as well. The sound design and music were fine without necessarily standing out.

Let's then bring back what my issues were with the writing. I wanted to know more about both sets of creatures. We do get a little backstory. A bit more was just needed. Instead, we kept going back to this movie that was shown at the drive-in and then again on television with this isolated group that takes in our group. I get that they were able to get Ling, Katz and Plummer. That wasn't as interesting to watch though, especially after that opening scene. Slowing this down to develop the characters and lore of these monsters as well as their history of strife would help deepen the story. Instead, we just get this Hatfield and McCoys/Romeo and Juliet idea.

All that is left then is discussing the acting performances. Bryant, Undercuffler, Caliber and Stone work as this main group that we follow. Bryant and Undercuffler are the true stars. There is a bit of forbidden love there as well. Caliber and Stone are caricatures that fit a movie like this. Lowery and Rose were good in their secondary roles. They try to build back-story through them. Ling, Plummer and Katz work in their cameos. The rest are also character types you'll see in movies like this. They're fine as cannon fodder. The biggest issue here though, we have so many characters that I gave up keeping track.

In conclusion, this movie is better than it should be for the issues that I have. We have a good concept here. I love having two groups that are at war over forbidden love. There's also this idea between Fish and Naja. Also, the use of the idea of a group of criminals seeking refuge and then trying to survive against these two other factions works. The problem is that there is too much underdevelopment. We continue to cut away to this monster movie that doesn't fit as well as it seems they wanted. The acting from our leads worked for what was needed there. There are just too many characters. Filmmaking is also hit and miss. The practical effects for gore and monsters were good. The CGI doesn't hold up as well. The rest were fine for what was needed. There is more than good, but this is a mediocre film overall.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

A Hard Place is a fun Horror movie with real practical effects and flourishes of drama and comedy. The cast and crew did a great job delivering this indie film. Rachel Amanda Bryant for example did a fantastic job portraying a member of these criminal group who still had a moral compass. Fun twists and turns are in the narrative mixed with the action and horror elements.

The creature effects were good considering this is an indie film. It had some unique story elements as well. It was great to see Bai Ling in her role kicking but and delivering one liners. A hard place had a strong opening and closing as well.

After pulling off a successful heist, a group of thieves head out to a remote house in the countryside as a safe house until they can leave with their loot, but when they arrive find themselves stuck in a feud between monstrous creatures and must get away alive.

On the whole, this was a massively entertaining and likable monster movie. Among its many positives is a fantastic, action-packed story that not only provides the film with plenty of opportunities for action but also manages to generate a series of solid storylines. Getting the group out to the farmhouse in the middle of nowhere under the employ of a heist and the house as a safe house to rest while waiting for the means of successful extraction with their goods works quite well to start this one off. It uses this to drop the group into a long-standing feud between a local clan on the one side and a race of vicious tree-like creatures on the other, but the hints that something's not right with the way the captors keep them together at their compound are rather fun. This is a solid hint that a second-half twist involving the dark nature of their captors and the nature of the feud itself. There's a lot of fun to be had with how it turns into a far more intriguing monster-versus-monster setup when the captors are revealed to be a historical race of creatures looking to use the group of robbers as breeding stock to replenish their numbers after years of war. There's also a solid subplot involving the various antagonistic relationships within the family of creatures on the compound, which is skillfully explored and manipulated, shifting allegiances in the second half to keep the narrative engaging alongside the intense monster-versus-monster dynamic. As well, there's also quite a lot to like here, featuring the actual creature attacks, as this lets the film contain plenty of great action scenes. From the initial encounters with the tree creatures before being aware of the whole feud, the encounter in the woods taking out the members of the robbers, and the initial appearance by the plant creatures at the farmhouse all start the film off on a strong note that hints at what's to come. The second half involving the full-scale war between the creatures and the family creates plenty of great action throughout here with the big battle between both sides at the farm house, offering some standout gore in the multitude of brutal kills but also the practical suits on the plant creatures which look incredibly realistic, all of which make this rather effective overall. There isn't much to dislike here, but it does have a few small drawbacks. The main issue with this one is a small issue with the large cast on display, making it difficult to keep track of everyone and their allegiances at times. With the family having multiple generations of members present as well as spies and familiars trying to ensure they have enough forces coming to help aid them in their war against the plant creatures that it starts to get somewhat difficult to manage who's who when they're named only once and characters are similar in terms of features or appearance. The introduction of all these characters when the group arrives at the farm does make that section a bit sluggish in terms of pacing compared to the rest of the film, but these are the only real factors holding it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

I tend to be little more kind to indie stuff. Really I'd probably put it at 6 or 7 tops. But I know movies like this always end up getting hit by a bunch of unfair one's by incels.

Anyway, an, A Hard Place was wild. It's got monsters, action, and just enough heart to keep you locked in. The story pulls you in quick-some bad guys get caught up in something way bigger than them, and it goes off the rails in the best way. The acting was solid, the creatures looked awesome, and it didn't feel like some cheap movie. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but I had a blast watching it. Definitely worth checking out.