To Jennifer

James Cullen Bressack is a filmmaker who's quickly taking the underground horror scene by storm. In the past two years, he has produced several micro budget horror anthologies and directed four feature films which have gotten released. The four directing efforts of his to see release are My Pure Joy, 13/13/13, Hate Crime and To Jennifer. James has just finished directing his latest feature Pernicious (featuring effects by Toe Tag's Jerami Cruise) in Thailand. He is a truly energized and enthusiastic young filmmaker who has hit the ground running and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down anytime soon. Today we take a look at the recently released To Jennifer, a found footage horror film like his previous effort Hate Crime, but considerably different in style and tone. Hate Crime was an extremely brutal and vicious found footage horror outing involving Neo-Nazis who invade the home of a Jewish family and terrorize them while filming their psychotic acts with the family's home video camera. Hate Crime has more in common with films like Fred Vogel's August Underground trilogy and things similar. It is essentially a cross between August Underground and the Spanish home invasion flick Kidnapped. To Jennifer has more in common with recent horror movies based on the new digital age with technology like iPhones, and internet Skype correspondence etc. being focused on. These types of films have included V/H/S, Megan Is Missing, Vlog etc. To Jennifer manages to be more than just a copy of those movies though and it has a genuine, original story.

To Jennifer tells the story of Joey (Chuck Pappas). Joey gets his iPhone and decides to make a continuing video journal with it because he suspects his girlfriend Jennifer has been cheating on him. He teams up with his friend Steven (played by Bressack himself) as they go on a road trip to document their adventure in finding their way to Jennifer so Joey can catch her in the act. Along the way Joey acts increasingly strange and seemingly becomes rather unstable mentally. He has a breakdown on an airplane which leads to him and Steven being put on a no-fly list and ends up in the hospital. They later meet up with an old friend who they go visit and party with. Joey has Skype conversations with his mom. His mom appears worried about his condition and wonders why he's never introduced her to Jennifer. Steven starts to wonder what's up with Joey as well. Things become increasingly more creepy and intense as Joey's condition worsens, leading to a terrifying conclusion when the inevitable confrontation with Jennifer comes to fruition.

While not as intense or disturbing as Hate Crime, To Jennifer is an entertaining found footage horror effort that should be interesting to those who enjoy the new "technology-based" horror flicks. It has some genuinely creepy moments, some gory stuff in the final act, and Chuck Pappas does a convincing job in the lead as Joey while James Cullen Bressack as Steven provides the bulk of the film's humor. Indie scream queen Jessica Cameron makes an appearance and Puppet Monster Massacre's Dustin Mills did the film's poster design.

The DVD release of To Jennifer from Psykik Junky Pictures and MVD contains an audio commentary and the film's trailer as extras. I recommend showing your support for Bressack and his films by going to Amazon.com and ordering this and Hate Crime, My Pure Joy and 13/13/13 today. Visit www.psykikjunkypictures.com for more info.

• Mario

@extremehorrorcinema

The acting and the end are good. But the ride getting to the end you can very easily FF. I had to FF through about a combined 15 minutes

How do I feel about "To Jennifer"? The story was a truly smart and creative out play that twists into an even more creative nightmare. I- even though I don't watch reality television-found myself completely absorbed in the affairs of Joey and Steve. I also related to the fact of trips with unpredictable people not going quite the way I expected, and finding it almost impossible to conceive the desired outcome. I never had it result in such a gruesome resolution, but still I related to the entertainment value of a messed-up turn of events. Added to the fact that Steve found everything happening too funny to take seriously, or to see any signs of the true horror in front of him, made the film seem more like watching Youtube video of goof offs- which was clever. You never see the wall until your about to hit it and then it is always too late.

The acting in this film isn't really polished but don't mistake it for amateurish, because the unpolished feel of the characters just lends to the notion that it is a documentary situation of regular guys on a mission. The use of the iphone5 as a filming format is brilliant, and is probably what made the most of this movie viewable, considering it is a slow build to the terrifying outcome as opposed to a set 'em up – knock 'em down horror film. The hidden motive that lies under the falderal of the story,(because face it-whining over a break up and wasting energy to pursue this type premise is foolish), was perfectly timed in it's slow reveal. It wasn't until the rundown hotel and hookers that I started to question the lead character Joey. By then I was so hooked on watching everything play out that, when the ending came, there was no way to prepare for the impact. I found myself once more held in tight anxiety and awe as Bressack brought back that familiar feeling of horror that I normally associate with his work. It was an experience that started from beginning to end in "Hate Crime" but wasn't accentuated until the last scenes of "To Jennifer", but the effect was the same powerful experience.

I think Bressack has found a niche in horror film making. His style plays on realism, twists it into almost surrealistic nightmares that, almost feel to real, and yet are completely entertaining. Even in their brutal exposition, of how the really scary sh*t that happens is a result of really scary people and not monsters, Bressack's film's always manage to define a true sense of horror lying in Man.

I've gotta say, I didn't entirely like all the film. It was pretty predictable, and you can just tell where it's going by many clues and the film doesn't really make it a secret. But still, the climax of the film is pretty effective, and it gets its point across pretty dang effectively when all is said and done. The ending is super disturbing without really showing much, and not in the usual way horror films are. Part of the reason you know where it's going is because of the "horror" label. It also has probably the most disturbing end credits ever, from what I remember. Really good call on a lot of the decisions made here, but I still can't help but feel like the film could've been more consistent and done more in its running time

I went into this movie knowing very little about the storyline, characters, etc. I suggest you do the same.

This flick was a lot of fun!

James Bressack an Chuck Pappas really killed it in this movie. I'm not gonna go into details to prevent spoilers, but I will say this movie was hilarious, creepy, and shot on the iPhone 5?!?! Talk about pure skill.

Awesome work. most definitely a great watch. You should do yourself a favor and become familiar with his movies because every single one is badass in it own unique way. You won't regret it.