The Notorious Finster

SETTING: Rural and stunning CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boozy, warm, and well thought out. It tells the story beautifully without taking attention away from the scene.

STORY: A dark, patient take on your typical 'whodunnit' serial killer movie. The film has a sense of empathy for the victims and everyone caught in the crosshairs of the killer and their violence. The theme of alcoholism and obsession are very heartfelt. Annie and Reyna are also a ton of fun to watch on screen together as an enabling, chaotic friendship that has an air of something more? Subtextual romance?

SFX: I thought the makeup in this film was very good.

SCOPE: This is definitely an indie film. I give it five stars not because there's no room for polish or improvement, but because I am INCREDIBLY IMPRESSED with the production quality, performances, and overall craft of this film for such an incredibly small team and budget. There are films out there with 10x the budget and about half the value.

This movie is worth a watch. Best paired with a rainy night and a warm blanket.

When I saw "The Notorious Finster," it was rated 4.0 with very few reviews and almost all of them were glowing and suspiciously high. But I gave it a shot. My rating of 3 should give you a hint of my impression.

The premise was actually interesting, but that's where the interesting part ended. Considering this was concerning a serial killer, you'd think there'd be a lot of killing...but, not really. The kills were really bloody, but mostly off-camera. The grossest part of the movie was when the lead actress made herself puke up a pill the killer gave her, and then drank it back up. I do not understand what the point of that was, but it was disgusting.

The acting is serviceable at best. Cinematography is rather dreadful, appearing to have been shot on a smartphone with the photographer's hand unable to hold still. The waving and shaking was incredibly annoying and distracting.

The biggest issue I had was the length. At almost two hours, the first two acts were a rather uninteresting buildup to the final act where the lead actress and the killer are alone together. They are two entirely different movies. Expand the first 2/3 into a slasher flick and the last 1/3 into a suspense. Add good actors, real film and an interesting script and you have two good movies. But instead, you have one meandering, boring, long low budget film that isn't particularly horror. I suppose for its budgetary limitations it's passable, but I was pretty underwhelmed.

Trying to find something positive, I do respect the actor whose throat was cut. It drives me crazy in these movies when someone's throat gets slashed and they just lay there and bleed to death. This guy actually grabbed his throat, trying to stop the inevitable. I respect that.

Overall, however, 3 is the best I can do for this turkey.

Journalist and her husband move to the country to escape city living and temptations of a dangerous lifestyle. Journalist doesn't leave her old world behind her just a new scenery with twists and turns. Usually not into indie thrillers but my friend suggested it and boy was I on the edge of my seat the whole time. Somewhat gory but had that creekety Texas chainsaws old school feeling the whole time. Great cinematography in the scenery. Also noted that for not recognizing any of the cast, I am excited to see them all in other roles- they were all very compelling especially the lead. I also loved the horse scene !

If you enjoy darker dramas or dreary crime stories at all, do yourself a favor and give it a watch. Keeps you on the edge of your seat right from the beginning. I personally felt the actual climax was much before the climax that's depicted (won't let out spoilers) though I was honestly expecting a different ending , it doesn't fail to satisfy you at the end. Gives you a thought provocation on what's actually "innocent" and what's not. The best thing about the movie is the way it fiddles with your mind at the end as to who the protagonist really is - I mean it wasn't a gory movie , there wasn't much violence shown but being left to the mind made it much more disturbing than it could have been.

I watched "The Notorious Finster" the other night and was blown away by this well-crafted and hair-raising film. It was one of the best offerings of the insane killer genre that I've seen. Finster is a thinking person's horror film, with sharp psychological insights, humor, wry dialogue, and a unique protagonist -- a woman crime journalist who has been on the serial killer's trail for years. Annie Sullivan, a fully-drawn character with demons of her own, is played by Amanda Evans, who is spot on in her portrayal of a boosey and self-deceiving, yet brainy and resolute pursuer of truth. Beautifully filmed and directed, Finster will keep you on the edge of your seat, from its grusome opening scene until it's truly shocking final twist.