Compound Fracture

Compound Fracture feels like a first outing, and it is. Tyler Mane's new company offers us a passable thriller that ultimately never truly thrills.

The story works. It offers characters with interesting drama and characterization, and a villain with a purpose. There are a few forced moments, where the emotion just shows up instead of being earned organically, but that could be in part to the directing and editing, which I will get to later. The story definitely had potential for thrills, and each character is memorable in their own way, and that is something you don't often find in indie horrors/thrillers, especially first timers like Geerlings.

The acting was weak. Muse Watson, the patriarch with dementia, often felt way over the top as he went in and out of lucidity. Sometimes it felt like dementia, sometimes if felt like he was tired and ready to go home. Tyler Mane will always feel like a giant to me, and it was hard, but not impossible, to see him as a family man. I think his strengths come from playing more fringe characters, less 'everyman'. Alex Saxon was a point of awkwardness for me. He fear noises really drew me out of the moment.

I think, even with the acting, there is potential in the film, but it all fell flat due to the direction/editing. I'm going to group those since they were done by the same guy, Anthony J. Rickert-Epstein. First, a look at his page reveals he is a cinematographer (he was also DP on this film, that's a lot of hats for a feature). And it shows. There were some technical shots going on but usually at the cost of performance and story telling. The film plays slow, and not "slow burn", just slow. The action scenes feel forced. I felt like I was supposed to be scared or thrilled but everything was moving so slow I was usually left just watching, unengaged. There were moments that didn't fit the rest of the film. I can't say it enough: everything felt forced. It felt like they wanted us to be scared, but didn't know how to pull it off, so they just copied a lot of techniques with sound and editing and tried to make it work. And for me, it didn't.

I think it was a good first effort. Hopefully they learn from the mistakes, mostly of letting one man head three departments, and can produce more films.

Compound Fracture isn't a great movie, but it shows that this team has potential, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.

Actually also be aware of the people who are in this. I have met some of them at conventions. And I almost had to laugh when Derek Mears character was supposed to be menacing "attacking" the "camera" ... luckily I could get rid of that feeling quite fast. And the movie may have it's issues and flaws, but don't forget this is a low budget horror movie.

All those things considered may help you like this or at least enjoy it while watching. Having Tyler Mane in a role that is against the stereotype we have seen him is also a nice touch. A nice horror movie with an interesting story to boost ... also the action towards the end helps make it more exciting. The stunts work quite well ... as well.

"Compound Fracture" is one of those movies that has a promising and intriguing storyline. A man is summoned by his stepmother and returns home with his girlfriend and nephew. He finds his estranged father obsessed by surveillance systems and mystic symbols and devices and believes he is deranged. But is he? However, the messy screenplay and the poor character development and performances spoil any potential of this film. My Vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Um Passado Negro" ("A Dark Past")

Given that it's a vengeful ghost type horror, I was interested to see how Compound Fracture would play out. But other than its oddly reminding me of a Metallica music video, I didn't derive much viewing enjoyment from this movie.

Set in a remote property with a thousand security cameras, give or take, we are introduced to a family that depicts a mixture of Addams Family, Hereditary movie and Metallica band. Which is all fine, I can go with that, particularly the Mike character is James Hetfield all over.

Credit goes to the visual art production, but the dialogue, weird acting portrayals and general lack of story pace, are all far more noticeable and detrimental. I feel horror makers since 2010 are trying to put more into their productions, maybe because horrors have proven for a long time, to be carbon copies of each other, within the sub-genres - haunted house, slashers, supernatural, etc. My take on this is it's always better to keep storylines simple in horrors and be sure to pack in as much thrills and spills as possible. There are some parts in this movie that are ok, but too many flat spots take up much of the ninety minutes. The characters I found were dull which is another important aspect of any movie - to have some sort of connection with them so that we the viewers can get interested in what they're doing and where the story is taking us. Other than Mike resembling Hetfield he has little going for him unfortunately.

So if they put as much energy into character and action, as they did in the visual aspect, this would have been a more enjoyable horror experience. As it is, it's pretty drab and uninteresting.

This was a fantastic movie! I LOVED it and highly recommend it. If you like movies that have demons, witchery, supernatural events then this one is for you. Keeps one on the edge of their seat during the who movie. Tyler Mane has become one of my favorite uprising stars ever since I watched him portray Michael Myers in Rob Zombie's Halloween movies. Tyler mane and Renae did a fabulous job writing this movie and Tyler showed his superb acting skills staring in the movie. I thought it was cool how they brought together several iconic killers (Tyler Mane "Michael Myers", Derek Mears "Jason Vorhees" and Muse Watson "Ben Willis") to star in this movie...it made for a great cast. If you are a horror fan this is one that you don't want to miss!!