Copperhead Road

COPPERHEAD ROAD is an excellent short, I'd love to see this film turned into a full length feature. In terms of emotional intensity, structure, editing, visual storytelling and sound design, it doesn't get much better. The acting is outstanding, especially by Susan Highsmith and Scott Feraco. This film doesn't pander to mainstream tastes, it takes its narrative out on the edge, relying on the strengths of its surprisingly realistic drama to sustain forward momentum. Its a noir built for modern day angst, & delivers social commentary without any inkling of pretense or "set-up". In a sense it has that Spielbergian or Hitchcockian drift into the most scary of notions, i.e. what its like being alone, at night, when one's thinking may not be 'straight', and where evil lurks in authority. Its a truly scary movie. I highly recommend Ian Ogden's film.

I saw Copperhead Road at a film festival in New York City. Amidst a sea of festival favorites - quirky stories about quirky people who fall in love - it was a beacon of originality and truth. A fascinating look into the nature of power and preconceptions of character, the film is able in a mere 15 minutes to give its audience a completeness of story and fullness of character rarely captured in feature length film, much less in short film. Visually, the filmmaker blends the ultra realistic look of hand-held camera work with more stylistic elements. This is done effectively and with purpose; the hand-held plunging the audience into the horror that they are witnessing making them not just see but feel what's on the screen. What is exceptionally effective about this film is that its message is neither forced on its characters nor the characters forced on the message. This is a film about one specific woman and her experiences on one specific night. The comment on our society that comes out of her story is natural and a product of beautifully and brutally honest storytelling. As far as I know, this film is not yet available for sale, but the filmmaker does have a website and is making the festival rounds. If you want to see a refreshingly important independent short get your hands on Copperhead Road.

Copperhead road is, to say the least, mundane. Ian Ogden's attempt to portray raw emotion is underwhelming. I saw this film in a local festival in New York. The audience's reaction was positive, however most of America also enjoyed Spider man, so it is purely subjective. In any case, the only saving grace to this film is the cinematography, which is also rather trite and unsubtle with it's use of deep colors, and obvious camera angles. The sound mix is below par...which is common among short films, and excusable. The point of a short film is not to show production quality, but to show an idea that has not yet been presented. This film seemed underdeveloped on the writing side and relied on the topic of sexual violation to sell it. Copperhead road, in my humble view is the product of film student...not a filmmaker.