Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Michael Allen
Scare Zone is a film that was shot in Orlando, Florida and has gone on to wins some awards as being the Best Picture of Florida (Cenflo). Probably shot at Disneyland, Scare Zone is almost exclusively shot within a Haunted House styled venue. The acting is sometimes overacted with many of the characters unusually giddy and some of the characters are given only shallow attention. Yet, the film is often fun and a guilty pleasure, as the writing does not require in-depth analysis only the suspension of belief for a brief ninety minutes.
The film is a follow the numbers serial killer story, with the addition of a horror fun house an added bonus. Characters get introduced to the horror house right away and the slaughter comes not much later. The non-essential characters are fitted into the usual geek, slut, hero, and more than slightly bent goth girl cardboard cut-outs, but the film is centrally light-hearted. The crescendo comes a little out of left field, as one devout amusement park goer wants more than his money back when the show closes down. The murderer is not your usual looming six-foot behemoth.
The actors are mostly charming, as they hover in the background in favour of a demented love story between cutter Claire (Arian Waring Ash) and a friendly Darryl. The relationship is more slow burn that hot flash, but each of the actors, or actresses do their best with the material provided. A more satisfying ending to Claire and Darryl's relationship could have been explored.
The writing makes Scare Zone feel like a trip to the local amusement park. There is not a lot of complexity in the story, yet, horror fans will find an appeal in the quickly unravelling script. Also, there are a few interesting scenes. One involves the clever combination of a lye vat and acid. Another curious shot occurs in a mostly deserted graveyard, with an unluckly caretaker getting too involved with the killer. The script is out to be enjoyable and it does not set out to reinvent the genre.
Life is rarely full of cotton candy and bubbles, but Scare Zone attempts to make the viewer feel happy, or shocked for a short ninety minutes. How can you fault a film for that? The film is sheer escapism and not meant for careful dissection. So, leave your thinking caps at the door and let the imagination run wild for a short time - Scare Zone will do the rest.
Jon Binkowski's Scare Zone has just finished a showing at the Nevermore Film Festival, which was reported as being a huge success. So, what is next for Scare Zone? Unfortunately, horror fans will have to sit tight for a little bit. Scare Zone is currently creeping around the film festival circuit and will not be available until finished showing at these venues. When a DVD, or Blu-Ray release date are confirmed that date will be posted here. Enjoy the clip from the film below.
Acting/believability/interpretation: 6.5.
Photography/composition/lighting: 6.75.
Editing/continuity/pacing: 7.
Overall: 6.75 acid burning faces out of 10.
The most recent trailer for the project:
Scare Zone - Trailer from FWC Pictures llc. on Vimeo.
More info' at the film's website here:
Scare Zone Homepage
Stumble It!
Posted in: 2010,acting,characters,film festival,homepage,horror,movie poster,movie review,movie trailer,plot,story,thriller,writing
0 comments:
Post a Comment