Deadwood Park

I read some of the reviews so I wasn't expecting much but they intrigued me. Well shot, interesting story. Acting could have been better but worth checking out.

This movie was very low budget but storyline was great till the end. Wish they would have found another way to bring the end together. The writer should have not have made the killer what he/she was made into. The last 15 minutes dragged on because of it.

Its not often I feel compelled to write a review and generally when I do its normally negative so it gives me great pleasure to type these positive words.

For all the trailer park/multiplex indie haters I'm not associated with the production of this film, I'm from the North East of England.

Deadwood Park is not without its flaws, on occasion the acting is a little amateurish and some of the effects are a little cheesy, personally I think the director should not have used visual effects for the ghosts. That said because of what has been achieved on an obviously tiny budget I think its unfair to focus on the few small bad points especially as they in no way detract from the overall enjoyment.

Eric Stanze has made a film that rarely puts foot wrong in terms of execution, story and plotting. Although the ideas and themes are well worn (MR James, Stephen King and possibly Ringu in terms of structure) fresh life is injected into them through engaging and largely excellent performances, atmospheric locations, fantastic pacing and simply beautiful cinematography.

Deadwood Park succeeds through the total commitment and passion of all those involved and its becoming increasingly rare to see such an effective American film let alone a horror that is not a remake of a Japanese classic or one that relies on cheap shocks and expensive gore.

For me personally this film will prove a great influence in my own cinematic endeavours, now where's that firewire cable.

If you are a serious fan of intelligent scary movies, you frequently find yourself wading through Luke-warm to unbelievably bad dreck, looking for the real gems in the genre.

*This* is the kind of movie you're hoping for.

_Deadwood Park_ is a great example of personal passion, creativity, cinematic technique and a strong story, completely overcoming the lack of a big budget. It's thrilling to watch a classic style pulled off with this much heart and soul. Entertaining and engrossing.

On a micro-budget, the filmmakers have built a slow-burn, atmospheric ghost story with some truly harrowing suspense and chills. Making use of great use of locations, this movie is beautifully shot and deliberately paced. It takes its time, but delivers some remarkable and evocative sequences - from a gas-lamp search of an abandoned second floor, to a harrowing WWII battle flashback (filmed with local re-en-actors). A moody ambient score and effective sound-design give these scenes exactly the bite they need, and near-brilliant use of composition.

All of this would be for nothing without a story worth telling, and this is a place too many indies fall down on. But not here. I can't tell you how delightful it is to be halfway through a movie and _not_ have a clue where it is going. And it turned out that even my suspicions didn't guess the half of it. There is a big story being told here. A smart, literate, novel-like structure full of striking details and themes. Historical flashbacks and visual devices that I found very rewarding. While some of the dialogue is un-remarkable, it's not annoying and seems to support the common-place feeling of the place and the characters.

The only thing I felt detracted were a few performances. The wordless suspense scenes are completely effective, but I found a couple of the actors to be unconvincing in scenes involving dialogue. I know they were going for very low-key, naturalistic performances, but IMHO the movie would have benefited from stronger screen presence.

Still, this is terrific work, an inspiring movie for Indie-filmmakers, and *essential* viewing if you're a fan of old-style ghost stories in a Bava-esquire vein. I strongly recommend _Deadwood Park_.

watched a good one tonight, the first for the usual Halloween movie fest. Wasn't expecting that much, but "Deadwood Park" was very entertaining for such a low budget indie movie. Not much graphic violence, but just enough, and a little gore. But, great script, good acting, and well done. Highly recommended.