Fantasma

I just finished this new film and I have to say that it was quite impressive. A ballet dancer (Kendra Carelli) lands the lead role in an upcoming stage production and slowly finds her mind unraveling involving her parents involved murders. Her psychologist (Debbie Rochon) and her ballet instructor (Caroline Williams) tries desperately to help her. Soon a killer dressed in red wearing a doll mask and a long black wig begins slicing through her classmates at the ballet academy. This murder mystery is inspired by several giallo Italian themed slashers and isnt too shy on showing the good stuff. The murders are bloody and gory where the killer uses a straight razor to slice everyone open and also uses the razor to remove their eyes. The only thing that was out of place was a mystery man who kept having dreams or premonitions of the young ballet dancer and sets out to find her and his role towards the end left several unanswered questions. For Giallo fans, definitely give this one a shot, I was pleasantly surprised. Excellent performance by Debbie Rochon, such a nice change seeing her play someone good. The musical score and cinematography were exceptionally well done.

My husband and I watched this film and really enjoyed it! Not everyone will understand the style but we get it and can really appreciate this style of horror films. What a great job! Definitely recommend watching!

Brett Mullen first showed up on my radar back in 2014 with "Bombshell Bloodbath" a nice nod to Argento and Fulci, I have been waiting to see this one since I first saw the trailer. having a daughter who is in Ballet and performs in the Nutcracker we rented this one on Amazon and must say we truly enjoyed it,the colors,the synth score,acting everything is pretty spot on here.was also cool to see Genre favorites Debbie Rochon and Caroline Williams in here, many times when a genre fav shows up it's usually a cameo or wink and a nod it was cool to see them in actual character roles essential to the story and not just one and done..Mullen is a talent who clearly knows his shots and his influences are clear and really shine through as they can easily fit in with the classic Italian horror especially films like Suspiria and Inferno. If you are a fan of the mentioned films/genre than I say give this one a look you will most likely dig it, as an Actor myself I am always interested in seeing what talent is out there and I definitely look forward to working with him in the future.

The story is a creative homage to the surrealist style of Italian giallo. The slow, evenly paced drama , balancing between suspense and theatrical, builds a nice gothic horror with slasher level gore. The characters teeter between a mesmerized two-dimensional dream walker, and full-bodied architypes. At times there is a disconnect between story and character play, but things hold together enough to draw you into the story on screen.

Mullens walks a smooth tightwalk between tribute and replicant with his systematic and formulaic approach to the giallo subgenre. Some my cry foul- fighting it a copycat film, but I bought in to "Bloody Ballet" from the first neon washed scene presented in brilliant techno synth- beat for beat.

The special effects are full on practical tricks done wickedly gory and totally visceral. My only complaint is the time it takes between these kill shots. Still the psychological atmosphere and retro inspired cinematography carries enough weight to occupy the viewer- so my complaint isn't a true complaint as much as simple acknowledgement. Add in the epic soundtrack and I am on my back with a twisted grin.

Overall "Bloody Ballet" is a worthy slice of surreal horror that takes you straight back to the glory days of 80's giallo. There are a few flaws, the blend between fantasy, arthouse and realism that plays against one another does get choppy at times. The supernatural element never really steps hard enough away from the psychological realm to be fully realized. Still "Bloody Ballet" is worth watching, and entertainingly horror.