There's a lot I have to say about this one. To start, though, here's a short summary of the film, without spoilers:
After the loss of his son, disgraced detective John McInnes (played by Lewis Smith) turned to two things in order to numb the pain - alcohol, and solving the case involving a prolific serial killer by the name of Harrison Graves.
Much to the dismay of Captain Links (played by Ed Cuffe), John continued to investigate the case even after being let go and he continues to insist that the man who openly admitted to all of the murders isn't the one, and that the real Harrison is still out there, actively killing people.
As luck would have it, a group of college students' final assignment for the semester was to make a movie. Of all the places they could've chosen, they go right to the heart of Harrison's twisted operations, who then makes it his goal to pick them off, one by one...
Okay, here's my thoughts on the movie:
Atif Lanier was chosen to portray Harrison, and, as the main antagonist, he makes for an otherworldly force not to be reckoned with. His overall mannerisms, muscular build, piercing silence and soulless eyes all make a character who is truly unsettling and does the job perfectly.
To further touch on what I liked about Ed Cuffe's performance with his role as Captain Links - The dynamic between him and John can be best-described as a "disappointed father" type of deal. His body language throughout the entire film indirectly communicates to viewers that he saw (and sees) a ton of potential in John, but is nonetheless frustrated by his alcoholic tendencies and unorthodox way of handling situations.
Everybody else (ie, the college students) were very good. They play the role of a bunch of rambunctious students perfectly. You have the typical college jocks, the self-important diva, and the more "grounded" people of the group who look at things more objectively. You might be able to argue these are cliché types of characters, and to a large extent I'd agree, though I feel like the casting is what gave these characters life, and a deeper purpose in the movie than their outwardly-visible behaviors.
The kills were extremely clever. Without giving anything away, one of the kills gave me a laugh because of how well-executed it was (pun intended). You'll know it when you see it!
The pacing is on-point. At no point did it get boring, and it flowed really nicely. Most importantly, though, it was easy to keep track of what was going on. All too often I watch movies where scenes are haphazardly "connected" to each other, and have no cohesion or natural flow; This is not such a film. Every scene has a justifiable reason to exist, and the story is communicated to you, the viewer, extremely well.
Now, I'm going to keep this review genuine, and so I do need to mention two minor gripes I have in regards to some editing choices which were made:
1. In the very beginning, when the credits were being shown alongside the camcorder footage, it shows a few seconds of footage, then CUT (show footage), show another name, etc. That was a bit disorienting to me. I would've much preferred seeing something along the lines of B-roll footage of the farmhouse and other relevant areas, and having the names fade in and out with some dramatic music playing.
2. There was a bit of motion blur / weird stuff going on with the footage where the camera was going upstairs in the beginning. I don't know if a motion stabilizer was applied to the footage in post or what, but it really bugged my eyes out.
These two small things aren't anything that made me turn the film off, so I'd be remiss if I gave it anything other than a 10, because I did truly enjoy this film from start to finish.
In all, David Boorboor (and crew) did an excellent job. It's not a cookie-cutter horror flick, that's for sure. It does some pretty innovative things, particularly with the kills, and is well-worth checking out.
