Wednesday, October 08, 2014

Julia Takes Revenge on Everyone (Even the Innocent): A Movie Review

*full disclosure: an online screener of this film was provided by Archstone Distribution.

Director/writer: Matthew A. Brown.

Cast: Ashley C. Williams, Tahyna Tozzi, Jack Noseworthy and Joel de la Fuente.

Julia is a rape revenge thriller, from first time feature filmmaker Mathew A. Brown. This film is set to release at the Screamfest LA film festival and an early review of the film is hosted here. In Julia, one very shy woman walks into an isolated apartment. Here, a horrifying tragedy takes place, one which is familiar to this genre. The next seventy or so minutes involves the protagonist transforming into something more bloody and murderous. Heavy on tropes and castration scenes, Julia is an unsettling horror film. The film utilizes lighting effectively, while the film builds in intensity. Julia is a haunting feature, which is difficult to forget.

The film begins and stays with the character Julia (Ashley C. Williams). She works in a clinic by day. At night, she turns to murder, after being gang raped, by a group of sadistic men. After the attack, she hides out in a seedy bar until she meets a strange group of women. This group of female killers are brought together by an even stranger counsellour. This practitioner of psychology has bizarre rehabilitation techniques. And soon, Julia is chasing down and murdering all sorts of random and known men. Overall, the male gender fares poorly in this outing.

Julia follows a few tropes of the rape revenge genre. In Act I, Julia is raped by a pseudo-friend and his friends. She barely survives the ordeal. Then, she does her best to cope with this tragic experience. But, she begins running with the wrong group of people. An eventual denouement comes in Act III. And, the film's storyline is fairly formulaic. Still, along the way, the film takes a few diversions. Julia and her new friends entrap several, horny men. But, what are their crimes? These minor male characters are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The climax offers in a new villain, who is poorly developed. So, while the film follows certain tropes, it offers a few red herrings and sidesteps, along the way as well.

Castration scenes are rampant in this feature. If you are a male viewer and are squeamish, these scenes can be unsettling. Very realistic, these scenes are repeated in the climax. If a character has a dangler, they are likely to lose it late in the film. What is the purpose of such gruesome scenes? They do not move the story along. But, the character Julia sees the penis as the source of her problems, or the source of her redemption. However, it is evil that truly threatens her, not male sexuality. It would have been more interesting to see Julia become more self-aware, rather than more violent. Still, much of the conflict from the film comes from Julia's hunt for her victimizers. Their comeuppance is focused on the lower extremities and Julia's vengeance is very bloody.

This viewer enjoyed the use of lighting. Much of the film is shot at night. So, lighting is more prominent in Julia, compared to other films. That lighting is often sourced from neon reds or greens. The reds act as foreshadowing for the blood that is about to flow. As well, the use of reds create a hellish looking cinemascape. Many of the scenes take place in dark alleys or isolated locations. Here, the lighting is minimized. Characters can still be seen, but much of the space is shot in shadows. The darkness permeates the film's visual sphere and this viewer liked the use of light and darkness.

Julia will show at Screamfest LA on October 21st and many indie horror fans will find this feature tense and emotive. Rape revenge thrillers are often bloody and that is the case here. The many castration scenes are difficult to watch, in so much detail. Also, Julia follows several tropes from the rape revenge thriller, but there are a few surprises here, too. The climax, while poorly set up, brings a lot of conflict to the screen. And, this viewer thought the film elements were well developed. It is just disappointing to see the protagonist become as cold as her rapists. Everyone is tarnished by the blood in this feature.

Overall: 7.25 out of 10 (very violent, lots of night shooting, a couple of sideplots and lots of minor characters).

A trailer for the film is available here:

A Julia Trailer on 28DLA


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