BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK
Karina Fontes gives a strong performance as Wendy – an employee at a state park who switches shifts to tough it out through a trail assignment to prove to her friends she can handle it. Yet, while she’s out there, she makes a wrong turn and finds herself lost in the wilderness with a dead body she can’t run away from. That’s where director/writer Roxanne Benjamin‘s horror survivor story starts, and it stays lifeless to the very end. It catches itself in almost every well-worn trap involving Wendy losing her map, her cell phone dies, she breaks her radio. Been there, done that.
This is more about the lead character facing her fears than anything else. And the corpse is less of a scaring tactic and more of just a prop for Benjamin to use to mess with her audience. Neither aren’t nearly as effective as they should be, and throwing in a bear for good measure couldn’t be more predictable. Fontes is the only thing keeping this movie from being a complete borefest. And Benjamin does herself no favors when she attempts to pull the rug out from all of us and go full M. Night Shyamalan. Get ready to do a huge eye roll.
HELLBOUND
A psychedelic, hell on wheels movie that overstays its welcome, and it’s only an hour long. With his first feature, director Ben Winston nails the ‘70s aesthetic with out-of-sight visual vibes. Shooting in beautiful black and white 16mm, his striking technique is an instant attention getter. So, it’s unfortunate when that creative fire gets put out by witches, Satanic rituals, and bloodshed. The more Winston wants to shock us, the more the opposite occurs. His dragged out sexual sacrifices are reduced to being nothing but boring and unnecessary.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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