Coven

As many others have commented after seeing American Movie, this movie was not HALF as bad as you would have expected. Mark comes off as a dufus for most of the documentary (I suppose a lot of us would), but Coven showed me why this guy was so driven. I'm sure when Mark saw some of the shots from this movie, he felt that he was in the zone, that it had all come together. That is probably why it took so long to come out with the rest of the movie, because it would have been difficult artistically to accept a lot of the more mediocre scenes.

I think that Mark should pursue a career in Hollywood or indie film as a journeyman cameraman / cinematographer, and hopefully somebody will help shape his raw talent. Then he can move on to bigger and better productions of his own, as I thought some of the story in Coven was excellent, although it was VERY uneven.

This short film is a really good representation of AA and other 12 step groups. While AA is not actually a satanic cult; it is a pseudo-religious organization. I was glad to see it shown for what it is. Do not get me wrong. AA serves many people. I just like to see it satirized.

Most people seeing this film will be distracted by the poor production values. That is what happens when you have no budget. The story is great and would have been a great film if better financed.

My sole opportunity to see this film was on the DVD with "American Movie." I was disappointed to see that the scene in which the head smashed into the cabinet never made it into the final cut of "Coven."

I'm not sure if I still would've loved Coven if I had not seen American Movie, which tracked how director Mark Borchardt spent more than three years and hundreds of man hours to make a film. What was this movie is revealed, sort of, during the course of American Movie, but only in snippets. By the end, when Chris Smith shows a quasi-trailer for Coven, one gets really hyped to watch the whole thing. Thankfully we all can thanks to it being featured on the DVD, and it's really quite impressive. It's shot with an eye for creativity and an odd sense of horror by Borchardt and he gets some crazy and intense performances from his actors, especially one (I forget his name) who looks like an Orson Welles love-child.

And yet, as enjoyable and intense as the movie becomes- about a writer who becomes involved in a rehab group that is really a coven of witches (some women some male)- I wonder now if I would've connected to it more if I had not seen Smith's film. One saw in that, for example, how Borchardt and his friends abused alcohol over the years, and especially how his friend Mike took far too many acid trips and became the slow-talking (though amiable) guy he is today. So, seeing those rehab scenes one gets a more personal sense from Borchardt after seeing the documentary (not to mention his love of Night of the Living Dead projected through in Coven via harrowing hand-held black and white cinematography on a cheap-ass camera, and funky music, and some nasty gore).

But if you do watch it first on the DVD, or find it online, it's still by itself a successful work of primitive art: an independent film that is crude and uncouth, and with some really bizarre, effective scenes like the one in the hospital elevator, or when Mark is in the woods and is surrounded by the men in black cloaks.

Its one of those movies that is just a film to some, but a powerful social commentary for others. Mark Boschardt proves himself as a capable film maker, not the man so obviously mocked in American Movie (though when asked about his portrayal in American Movie, Mark Boschardt said "They were making their own movie, I'm not going to judge it so harshly").

The story is simple; a drug addict/alcoholic writer almost dies from an overdose. Hoping to stay sober, he tries out a support group which doesn't quite work for him. So he tries to stay sober on his own. This, of course, becomes impossible as we see the true nature of the support group, which drives him to further drug use in the movie (they do not take kindly to his not returning). The motivations of the group are unknown throughout the movie, and are still unclear at the end.

But the moral and message of the film are clear enough. Those who are in Alcoholics Anonymous will tell you to steer clear of this film, and to quote Boschardt once more "AA feels that if you don't get help from them, or God, then you haven't gotten help at all." This movie struck close to home with me, and I was really glad to be able to meet Mr. Boschardt himself. After all, it is quite obviously a very personal film for him. 4 stars.

I don't get those who trash "Coven". It is a legit attempt at movie making, and while I can't rate very high due the fact there are many technical issues with this film and some issues with the script, it still is better than most low budget thrillers I have seen. I've seen worse acting in other low budget movies, and while not Oscar material, the acting for the most part doesn't hinder the movie in any way. No I can't do better, but rated against Orson Wells or Woody Allen this is okay at best. Rated against all the stuff he had go through to get this made and his lack of a budget it is a quite amazing piece of work. I'd like to see Mark with a real budget and real actors - the results can't be any worse those some stuff coming out of Hollywood already - and if he delivers on the promise he shows in this movie it would be at least entertaining.