Jug Face

Described as a horror film, Jug Face isn't the traditional horror film but more so the kind with creepy and disturbing scenes spread out, with a supernatural theme, and several spiritual ghost like flashbacks and spooks.

This is an independent film which may be a little slower paced and slightly confusing for the casual audience. At times it was difficult in understanding the characters due to their accents and slurred speech. The dialogue is very important here and if you aren't fully hearing what they are saying, you miss a lot.

It is most definitely a bizarre film, though in a way somewhat original. Reminded somewhat of the Witch (2015)- slower paced supernatural horror/thriller.

Most definitely a film which requires close paying attention because there are slight details which may be confusing if you are half paying attention. Not everything is spoon fed.

The entire "jug face" and "sacrifice into the pit" was something did not fully understand at first, yet after rewatching parts of the beginning, it was made more clear.

The performance by lead actress is definitely the highlight (baring a resemblance to Maisie Williams and in some scenes at times Kristen Stewart). The sculpture "jug face" maker Dawai who comes along greatly steals his scenes in the second half was another highlight. As well as Sean Young playing the aggressive, abusive and firm mother. The scenery looks nice in the woods/out doors.

What wasn't exactly clear or mentioned is what time period the film takes place. The characters are from a weird cult like community with firm weird beliefs, and they have very non-present day names (Ada, Dawai, Loriss, Jessaby). Though there is a scene where our protagonist Ada goes into a pharmacy and the store looks quite present dated.

Also there is a slight theme of incest. This was brief and only really shown in the opening but does end up being a storyline. We last see the brother being "sacrificed" by the father in the pit for claiming to being sick. Apparently the pit swallows people and kills them (off screen shown- nothing graphic shown).

The film could have been expanded a little more as the ending is entirely depressing and felt quite rushed. It wasn't exactly predictable but there could have been a twist thrown in.

Jug Face certainly isn't a film for everyone as people may be creeped out and disturbed by some of its themes, though from an independent film standpoint. It is quite a nice hidden gem, and a film in which have enjoyed the more having thought about after its viewing. It is more layered than initially thought of.

Jug Face (2013)

*** (out of 4)

The "redneck-horror" genre has pretty much delivered either really bad movies or interesting and original takes on the format. JUG FACE is certainly unlike any other movie I can recall and on that level alone it's worth watching. Set in the backwoods, a community lives by a religion that includes sacrificing anyone who a local potter (Sean Bridgers) sees as a "Jug Face." If this potter sees someone they are taken to a pit in the woods where they are killed and their blood drained into it. Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) finds out that she's pregnant with her brother's baby and soon she feels that she might be the one ready for the pit. If the plot makes you think you're getting some sort of weird exploitation movie then you're wrong. Writer-director Chad Crawford Kinkle actually delivers a very serious and straight-forward horror film that manages to be highly entertaining and creepy. In a lot of ways the film reminded me of THE WICKER MAN as both deal with a backwards community that offer up people for what they believe are good reasons. I'm not sure if the director was aware of that film or not but the two actually have quite a bit in common and I'm not saying that in a bad way. JUG FACE really does offer up an interesting story that keeps you glued to the screen because you never know how it's going to play out or what twist might follow. The director does a fantastic job at making you believe that you're actually in the woods with these rather sick people who are living by codes that most would find pathetic. The film also offers up some rather gory moments that never call attention to themselves in a sense of wanting to shock the viewer. Instead the scenes just come off as realistic. Another major plus is that we're given some excellent performances with Carter really delivering. This is the second picture I've seen her in and she's certainly a talent to watch out for. She brings such a warm feeling to this character to where you can care for her and want to see her survive this ordeal. Bridgers is also extremely good in his role as is Sean Young (yes, that Sean Young) who plays the girl's twisted mother. People who are tired of the same old type of horror films will certainly want to check this one out. It's not flawless but it's certainly entertaining and creepy.

A weird thing here. At first dark, textured about hillbilly life, promising some novelty. The handpainted credits bespeak of more personal work, that this comes to us from people who wanted to be creative and not some Hollywood office.

A girl in a repressive backwoods village becomes pregnant just as her parents have arranged marriage and then a mysterious force in the woods (centered in a pit that the people venerate) that seemingly can divine these things, demands blood sacrifice in return for healing and grants visions.

All the tension and strangeness in us being called to parse these wrathful metaphysics through the eyes of people that genuinely believe in them and allow them to dictate life while independent of them having to juggle the possibility that it's all a backwards hallucination, possibly invented: that the imbecile potter merely sculpts faces from a stupor or thin air but does that make the hold of evil less real?

It's clear that they only had a small sketch of the idea as they set to work, interesting at first but goes nowhere, never deeper than something in the earth has to be appeased and the madness of being unable to fathom order; it's still more textured than all the Texas Chainsaw clones, more unusual, but it just smears around with the mythology it creates. A complete loss by the end. Sad.

Ada is a young girl who lives with her backwoods hillbilly moonshinin' clan. A close knit community, they all share a rather arcane religion. Every so often, The Potter makes a ceramic jug adorned by a face. Every face that appears on the jug is a member of the clan and any face that appears must be sacrificed for the good of the community. Sacrificed to The Pit, which lies in the woods. Because The Pit wants what it wants and The Pit must be sated as this is how it's always been. If The Pit doesn't get what it wants then whatever dwells within it gets angry. And when The Pit gets angry, the community will be punished.

One day, while exploring The Potter's shed, Ada finds the latest jug face. It's her own...

Will she allow herself to be sacrificed, for the good of the clan? or will she set in motion a plan to spare her own life?

Jug Face is a straightforward but pleasantly offbeat horror that puts an interesting and unusual spin on the hillbilly horror/hicksploitation sub genre, with a nice turn by Larry Fessenden as the clan leader and a surprisingly great turn from Sean Young as the overbearing matriarch.

Executively produced by Lucky Mckee and with FX by Robert Kurtzman, it's a satisfying and solid horror that's well worth checking out overall, for fans looking for something just a little bit different.

7/10, decent little film and recommended.

The emperor has no clothes.

It is next to impossible to have a scary movie with nothing scary.

The people who believe that 'less is more' are fooling themselves. Crap like Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity try to substitute style for substance under the guise that people will fill in the omissions of the movie with their own imagination. Well that is BS.

The lead actress is excellent. All of the performances were exemplary. BUT there is no real monster, almost no back story and almost no resolution.

I don't want to give anything away but this movie didn't resolve itself so much as dissolve into credits.

OK, it's one thing to criticize so I will make up a scarier ending.

Something freaking scary and mean comes out of the pit and eviscerates the victims in front of the whole clan. The chick runs away with the potter and while in the big city, the monster rips up the potter in front of hundreds of people. The girl becomes resigned and goes back to goober holler and kills almost everyone in the clan to get out of being the sacrifice. The END. THERE. THAT is a better ending.