A Hard Place

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 dabbled in the indie film scene in the last 2 months and Jason Horton is someone I followed closely. Extremely passionate man, with a passionate crew, and a master at crowdfunding. His perseverance and dedication to his craft is extremely admirable. I'm thrilled to be associated in the indie film scene even though it is minimal. Therefore, my opinion of this movie is coming from the perspective of a fan with a passion for the dreamers of this caliber in this industry. As such, I try to keep those things in mind since this is indeed an indie film with budgets nowhere near bigger films even though those bigger ones can flop as well. Usually, it seems to me, the independent films that seemed generic aren't because of a lack of passion, it's just a lack of budget and the actors and skill sets of certain production team members. Having said that, let's dive in.

The movie of course is about a group of people in a situation where they need to get somewhere to lay low for a bit. That somewhere just happens to be in a secluded area near a wintry mountain in a place where two different evils collide.

The premise of the movie sounds fantastic! There's a certain type of creature in the day that comes out, a certain type of creature at night, and it just so happens this group of people find themselves, of all the days that there could have been, on a day where those two types of creatures meet and battle.

From a production standpoint, I think the cinematography is excellent, the locations are great for what they want to accomplish, the sound team did a great job, the script was decent enough, the pacing was really well done as most Indie movies tend to have dry spots that are tough for me to sit through and sometimes I have to forward through them a little bit. The ideas in the story were pretty cool and I thought original, and there was even some pretty cool setups that I wasn't sure what to expect which is always a solid Plus for me. I love some unpredictability!

I think the movie starts out very fun, with some purposeful cheesiness that switches gears to a more serious tone. I think when it's switched to the serious tone there wasn't enough setup of what was going on nor character development for me to care much about the characters. Perhaps it was meant to just jump into a little mystery and get to the creepiness of the story. I think this was one of the downfalls of it being a more awesome movie. The actors that played this group of people didn't seem very convincing to me either except one or two of them. This is usually what I find in the case of independent movies. Not that they're bad, just for me I wasn't convinced. I'm not sure why but it seems lately the female actors tend to be more convincing than the male ones from the few movies I've seen.

But it does pick up pace to get to an isolated location which later was revealed to be a smart story choice. I remember reading about how some of the reviews on this movie might be AI reviews because of the mention of desert scenes or scenarios or locations or whatnot. This is definitely not a desert setting. There are trees, fields of grass, thick snow covering the road, some patches of snow here and there. And if you received behind the scenes or even read about it you'll hear about some of the struggles they had keeping warm on set. Nice try AI and those of you who can't bother to summon the energy to give a real review. These are dreamers for crying out loud, show a little more respect.

The things I enjoyed most about the movie was the pacing that didn't keep me bored, the fantastic looking daytime creatures, the creepy nature of the night creatures, the bit of cheesiness here and there on purpose, some of the funny characters when the main ones get to the compound, and some of the scenarios. I enjoy movies more when I do not know what's actually going to happen. This movie has a bit of mystery and thankfully some suspense to boot! I think the most well-acted character was "Mama". But there were enough characters mixed in there to make me believe what was going on. Some funny and charming ones too. And I think this whole compound area, and all the people in it, is charming enough for this movie to stand out and maintain relevance longer than it may have otherwise had. It was a nice twist, the way the writers decided to have the personalities and characters on the compound.

What was a bit of a miss for me was that some of the other actors weren't convincing. Also, the big battle scene between the two creatures was a little lackluster. It really wasn't that intense, for the most part. Of course it is an indie movie, but I have seen better and more engaging battles in low budgets. It was the only time in the movie that I felt like fast forwarding a little bit. And another drawback from me was some of the story. Because of where we meet our main group at the beginning of the movie was not a believably acted situation and me having no real connection with the characters made me not really care too much what happened at the end. But it was definitely a fun watch, had some good chuckles, fantastic story idea, some of the characters were played very well and enough unpredictability that I feel like the score of seven is well deserved. If you like independent movies, especially dealing with this idea, there's no way you should miss this movie. There is enough there to keep you invested and I don't feel like yiuy would think it was a waste of time by the time the credits rolled. It hits way more than it misses and it was so fun to see how it wound up. As a fan in the Indie scene itself, I of course, encourage you to check it out. As someone who just likes Independent films, especially like this, I encourage you to check it out. If you don't like watching beyond 10 million dollar or more budgets, well you still probably would like a few things here.

This movie was made by passionate fans of the supernatural, creatures, some gore, some suspense, some mystery and thrills, a little campiness and cheesiness, and a lot of fun and that's exactly what you get here, plus some!

A Hard Place follows a group of criminals in the process of a heist that ultimately ends poorly. Due to this outcome, they desperately decide to take refuge in a desolate desert hide-out that is not as empty as they had hoped. Featuring many horror film heavyweights, including Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp (dir. Robert Hiltzik, 1983) fame, the group must fight to stay alive in an ancient battle between creatures of both day and night. Fantastic cinematography that creates the eerie atmosphere and great use of blocking with the actors and the lighting. Well done J Horton and the team behind it!

I enjoyed this film from start to finish. Being a fan of independent movies, this was right up my alley. A great blend of scariness and humor. The cast did a great job and the production value was on point. The special effects were truly well done and I particularly loved the monster transformations. Pound for pound good independent flick which I would highly recommend. Just goes to show that if you really want an interesting and original movie experience, then you must really consider the independent movie makers. I became a fan of Jason Horton's after seeing his approach to creating quality films and this is just another example of it.

An amazing movie I plan on sharing with many friends and family once released on DVD or a streaming platform.

Enjoyed the homestead feeling of the setting and the characters that called it home. The practical effects and special effects were an impressive combination. Loved each monsters costume and effects along with the transformations between the two.

Nice and gory, with a lot of fun humor thrown in. I feel like the only thing that would be holding it back is the acting in some scenes, but if you're someone who can look past that, you'll find it really fun and enjoyable. I hope to see more from this team in the future! Made an account just to rate this movie.

The independent film had a funny side to it. With a bit of personalized jokes many would find funny but only a handful would know the real meaning behind.

Ten out of ten would recommend!