Insane Like Me?

This is a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Justin Cook who sent it over via a screener. Now ahead of watching this, I confirmed that it was in the horror genre. Other than that, I came in blind and was surprised to see what type of movie this is. I will go vague to avoid spoilers.

Synopsis: a combat veteran returns home after a tour of duty overseas. He becomes the lead suspect in his girlfriend's disappearance. He's wrongly convicted and years later, returns home to find the truth as well as to settle the score.

We start this off with Jake Morgan (Britt Bankhead), who is the soldier returning from duty. He is with his girlfriend, Samantha Davis (Grace Patterson). She has a secret that she wants to tell him but isn't sure how he will react. Waiting for them is her brother, Will (Paul Kolker), and his girlfriend, Erica (Marie Wetherell). This is for a surprise party at a local hotel that is closed. It is referred to as 'Massacre Hotel' since over the years so many people have gone missing there.

This night becomes a nightmare though when people are attacked. I won't give away what the cause is, but Jake, Will and Erica are the only ones to get out. The local sheriff is played by Eric Roberts. Will and Sam are his children. He doesn't believe Jake's story and has him committed to a local asylum.

His treatment there isn't good. He sees images of Sam asking him to get out and save her. Dr. Stoker (Jack Maxwell) oversees his care and thinks that the treatments are working. Jake also lies about his hallucinations. He does get out and he heads straight back to this town.

Things have changed though. Sheriff Davis is still in charge but now Will is one of his deputies. There is another sibling, Crystal (Samantha Reddy), who is attending the local college and close to graduating. She is seeing Haydin (River Perkins). They're friends with Josie (Meg Hobgood) and Jon (Blake Higdon).

The disappearances haven't stopped either. This group of teens are attacked at a party. Jake saves Crystal and Haydin. The former isn't sure if she should hate him. Her boyfriend despises him like her father and brother. Jake will do what he can to prevent others from dying, but he needs to find the root of what is causing the disappearances and take it on before others are claimed.

That should be enough to recap what we're getting here and introduce the characters without going into spoilers. What I'll say there is that I'm glad that I came in blind. There's another movie that was released this year that is like what we're getting here. I'll say that it has less of an impact here, because we learn within the first ten minutes. I still would rather play it close to the vest if anyone reading this is interested in seeing it play out.

Now I do think that we have good things that we're using for the story. I love the idea of a soldier returning home and then getting caught up in what happens. He is highly trained, but still going up against something stronger than him. It also makes sense with how easily Sheriff Davis gets him committed. I do know that it isn't that easy, especially since it isn't voluntary. It works for me since this is a small town and with reveals at the end. There's more going on behind the scenes and the idea of PTSD makes it easier to believe. This is a relevant concept that fits.

Having him be in the asylum for nine years is interesting as well. The only issue there is that the characters don't seem to age. I know looking back almost a decade, I look the same, but also different. That is a nitpick since they did that to have Crystal be an adult. She was around 13 at the time of this initial incident.

The last bit of the story will be with the 'Massacre Hotel'. I love that we got introduced to this through a local television host. That was good for a quick backstory. It is later that Jake states how this place has its own 'H. H. Holmes'. The characters around him don't know who that is, but it is a fun thing for those that do. It explains why bodies aren't found. There's another reason with it that we will learn. I do love that small town mentality of taking care of your own and how they cover things up. Makes me think of where I'm from.

I'll then go to the acting. I'm not going to harp too much, but it isn't great. I did think that Bankhead was solid as our hero. I do like blurring the lines of his psyche though so we don't know if it is due to his time in the military. Roberts is fine in his role as the sheriff. Patterson and Reddy are both attractive. They're not given a lot to work with. But they do pass for sisters for me. They're also the catalysts here. Maxwell is fine in his minor role. Kolker, Hobgood, Wetherell, Perkins and the rest of the cast also rounded this out for what was needed.

The last thing then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was fine. It does capture the small town feel that we need. The practical effects that we got were decent. The best are the look of the creatures. It is subdued, but it looks good enough. My issue comes from the CGI that is used for blood spray and other things. This is working with a lower budget, so I get it. It just takes me out of what I'm seeing. The pacing is also off here. I don't feel the urgency and things on camera unfold too slowly. It made sense for the opening. That comes back though later for me as the tension just isn't raised.

In conclusion, I thought that this had a decent premise. We're taking lore that we've seen throughout the history of the horror genre. It is making its own story. There are slight issues with setting up its lore though. The idea of taking a soldier, fresh from combat and questioning his sanity is interesting. The acting performances are fine. No one is great. This has slight issues with filmmaking for me. I like the look of the monsters, but the pacing is off and the CGI doesn't work for me. If you like low budget, independent cinema, I'd recommend this to you. If not, avoid this one.

My Rating: 5 out of 10.

After being released from a psychiatric hospital, a war veteran committed for the disappearance of his girlfriend originally conducted by a coven of vicious vampires sets out to find them again, and when he finds them targeting the girlfriends' younger sister tries to stop them once and for all.

This was a solid if somewhat problematic genre effort. One of the best features here is the uneventful if serviceable storyline featuring the type of action necessary to move this one along at a solid clip. The main setup of the initial attack turning everyone in town against him to the point that he gets institutionalized rather than deal with the truth of the situation gives this a fine starting point as the series of interactions here make for a good enough piece about his condition affecting the reputation of the incidents. Since his prognosis helps out with the idea of the vampires staying hidden as no one believes him, the sympathy generated here is rather nice when it becomes apparent that there's a hidden meaning behind everything that slowly gets revealed the longer this goes on. The other big issue here is the strong vampire action that takes place here where it's confrontations involving the guy taking down the coven. The initial setup with the hotel party getting to wipe out the series of guests while also offering a rather likable series of setups that point him as a scapegoat for the massacre so everything is handled quite nicely as a fantastic starter. The later scenes offering his attempts to get the creatures to let him know where they're hiding out which also serves as a way to bring the younger sister into this film has some fun with the chaotic action of the frenzied vampires going crazy grabbing whoever they can and taking them out in graphic fashion. When the finale manages to bring about some intriguing action and plenty of reveals that have a great impact on the storyline, these come together to give the film a lot to like. There are some drawbacks with this one that hold it back. The main issue here is the fact that this one spends way too much time on the idea of trying to build up the wrongful incarceration idea and him being released to a corrupt police unit that just doesn't have the kind of immersive setup at the beginning of this one. The whole idea of framing him for the crimes gets more context later on but it's all so flimsy in the first half that there's nothing inherently logical about the whole incident when the exploits of the crime became noticeable with him being held in contempt for the whole thing following this along. The other issue here which piggybacks off of that is the slow pace at the same time so it takes a while to get these features involving some underwhelming elements making this take a while to get going which bring this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.