There Comes a Knocking

As much as I love Film Riot, I can't say I'm a fan of this one. While visually it looks fantastic, it's extremely cliche and lacks any real story. Hopefully their next project has a really good story. But I'm still a fan of them, regardless of what I say here!

Folks, its classic film riot. Looks great. Story lacks. I understand it's a concept for a feature but Ive seen film students tell better stories then There Comes A Knocking. Full of cliches. Nothing new or refreshing. Well made however, looks like something you would see in a theater.

Film Riot has been my literal film school for the past few years, and I love them to death. I'm so proud of what Ryan and the team are doing, and I can't wait to see what they do next! This film, looks, sounds, and acts all like a Hollywood film. But, it lacks a story. I know it's a proof of concept, but that's not a reason to not have a good story. I've seen this with other Film Riot films. I'd suggest Film Riot looks to the Blacklist to find a really good script and make that, as they already have everything down pat in the production and post side of things!

Ryan Connolly's latest film is his most potent and captivating to date. Incredible visuals, enthralling sound design, and a great performance left me wanting to explore more of the story. This proof of concept has promise and I would gladly pay to see a feature film based on this.

It's a shame to see someone like Ryan Connolly, after years of videos teaching low-budget/accessible filmmaking methods, make such an empty vessel of a short. Is it shot nicely? Oh yes, very. You can tell a lot of effort was put into the technical aspects of this short, from camera work to lighting, to the set dressing etc. However the story was absolutely lacking in content. I'm still squeezing my brain trying to get anything out of it. It's the most bare bone "ghost horror" short one could come up with. It's baffling to think there's a whole team of people out there who believe this is strong enough to be made into a feature film. All style, absolutely no substance.

In essence, it's no more than a technical filmmaking test.