Evil Under the Skin

Indie at its best. Indie films like this are made for people who appreciate subtlety and nuance.

Modern movie-watchers are addicted to instant gratification.

This film is for real enthusiasts.

A must watch for talent scouts and real movie lovers alike.

This film set against striking scenery is absolutely an oddball and I am sure will be ripe for every armchair critic living in their moms basement or over the garage lamenting about how it does not hit their marks or expectations. But as always those trolls will never create anything only sit in a pile of crushed doritos like broken dreams stabbing them in their backside. I could do the same, but I have a life so I instead will point out what I felt worked. the chemistry between the sheriff and the ranger worked as did the brother sister creepfest which was both odd and enjoyable. Angela Barajas is indeed beautiful and Helene Udy does a good job of trying to balance limited dialogue with a slow slide into crazytown. The bleached out look worked for me giving it a dreamlike feel and struck a chord with other scenes that have a much darker feel. You could tell everyone tried and cared for this project and the no budget indie scene is seldom showered with praise mostly criticism. overall I found several keys as I watched and felt it was a slow burn maybe even too slow at times. The soundtrack worked for me and the closing soundtrack for the credits I feel was really quite nice. I am giving the film 9 out of 10 mostly because it was different and not a carbon copy of something else. This film is worth a watch if you like films that don't lay everything out for you and you enjoy originality.

I don't think this film is a 10 nor is it a 1 it is somewhere in the middle I enjoyed the weird strange style it was shot in and the delivery I can understand if those with a short attention span and zero patience found it tedious by far my favorite comment was "It's like watching a Russian Ballet made into a stage play in slow motion." That really is a good comparison it is artistic and deliberate and in no way is it a fast mover but I enjoyed the ending and the stunning beauty of the female lead. Overall clearly a low budget indie but worth a watch.

...At least there you'll get to hear a pretty decent song.

This movie was like watching a Russian ballet made in to a stage play in slow motion.

"Evil Under the Skin" (original title "Fading Flowers") appears to be an attempt to make a David Lynch movie. Lynch may be the most influential filmmaker of our time, but it's rare that someone attempts to duplicate the entire Lynch experience.

The plot is simple. Sophie Palmer (get it? "Palmer"?), played by experienced actress Helene Udy, has taken her daughter Rose Lee, played by gorgeous porn star Verronica Kirei under the name "Angela Barajas", out to a lake house for some "bonding time." The two women bond, while neighbors and police are concerned about what's going on in the house.

As I mentioned, much of the movie seems an attempt to make a David Lynch movie. Many of the Lynch trapping are there -- picturesque locations hinting at horrible things beneath the surface, unusual supporting characters, long shots of nature over music (although the music doesn't have the same hypnotic mood as Lynch's films), characters acting and speaking very odd indeed, rampant sexuality (Kirei/Barajas is not shy about showing her body)... It doesn't all work, of course, but surprisingly a decent amount of it does. Some of that comes from an ending that actually explains things, and while I was fairly certain I knew what was going to happen, the ending did come as a bit of a surprise and made what came before it seem even better.

This is one of those films that I objectively know isn't that great, but I found it surprisingly watchable. Maybe a bit of a guilty pleasure?