The Summer of Massacre and One Murder a Minute: A Movie Review

*a screener of this film was provided by Vicious Circle Films.

Director: Joe Castro.

Writers: Joe Castro and Schroeder.

Cast: Brinke Stevens, Clever Hall, and Lisa M. Garcia.

You just never know what you will find when you open a package from Vicious Circle Films. Sometimes you will get the intelligent film such as Sympathy, but sometimes you will get the unwatchable Run! Bitch Run! The Summer of Massacre is somewhere in between these two films as special effects guru Joe Castro focuses on the bloodshed. The story and writing are mostly left behind. Proudly boasting 155 kills (a Guinness World Record), The Summer of Massacre is an experimental film whose purpose is unknown, possibly even to the director and writers.

It takes some courage to try something different and Castro offers one of the few horror anthologies released this year. Story number one shows one bloody murder a minute as a mugging victim takes vengeance on anyone and everyone around him. He is a monster on many levels. Then story number 2, "Lump," involves a hermaphrodite with a large lesion on his/her head. Lori (Nick Principe) has a murderous sister and soon Lori is tumbling over a cliff via wheelchair. Lori also seeks revenge. In story number 3, there is a little more story as a couple on a one year anniversary bond over dinner and dark pasts. The protagonist is a result of a union between his mother and a rapist. Now, his father is back in town with murder on his mind. The next tale is about a pair of gay fireman who are killed by their brothers in arms. They come back, burned and all, to, you guessed it, seek revenge on those who killed them. Their family members are fair game too. The last story involves three serial killers working in Los Angeles. They set off a nuclear bomb when the LAPD get too close. This final tale is the shortest of them all, at five minutes.

This reviewer admits to not being a fan of art house or avant garde filmmaking. Good writing is preferred over here at 28DLA. So, Castro's constant visual display of bloodworks did not impress this reviewer. Others might feel otherwise including Jennifer Holderness at Wildside Cinema: "this is a very original piece of work." Holderness also likes the acting: "the acting is good all around for this cast of mostly unknowns." Good acting from a cast of unknowns is more of an oxymoron than anything else. However, the acting is not where this film fails. Instead, the lack of story, with the exception of story number 4, makes this film almost forgettable. The death of over a 155 people is just splatter across the screen. Once the blood is gone so is the memory of this film.

And Castro develops this bloodshed through a combination of filmed images and anime. One set of images is often super-imposed over another and this reviewer was reminded of 1977's The Hobbit where part of the picture was live action and the remainder was animated. This is no child's film though and this style of filmmaking is interesting if not surreal.

The Summer of Massacre made a poor impression on this reviewer outside of the campground tale involving burned firefighters. The rest of the tales involved senseless violence without purpose. Avant garde films, in general, are no stranger to meaninglessness. Unfortunately, without focused writing, the constant violence gets repetitive after about twenty minutes or so.

Overall: 6 out of 10 (experimental, uber-violent, undeveloped characters, enhanced use of visuals, interesting use of anthology).

*this title releases January 10th with the following special features: a director's commentary, a director's diary, an inerview with Brinke Stevens, cast auditions, Joe Castro's "Childhood Massacre" short film.

The Summer of Massacre at Breaking Glass Pictures (Vicious Circle Films) w/release details:

The Summer of Massacre at BGP

A review of this title at Wilside Cinema (Jennifer Holderness):

The Summer of Massacre Reviewed at Wildside

The film's fan page is here:

The Summer of Massacre Reviewed at Facebook

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Posted in: 2012,blood effects,bloodshed,breaking glass pictures,movie review,special effects,vicious circle films