The Inside Story

This fantasy film from a first-time director appears to have the budget of an episode of Neighbours (with acting to match), but he does wonders with such a small cast and limited number of locations. The central premise is not 100% original (its certainly been seen in short stories and TV shows before) but it is taken in several unexpected directions. Cleverest is the fact that there is no way for the viewer to visually distinguish the "real" world from the fantasy world. The ending is a little anti-climatic but still this is a debut with real promise.

I watched the Inside Story on Showtime...the Foxtel movie channel in Australia...and from the opening 10 minutes or so, I wasn't expecting anything too great. Awkward acting, cheesy sound effects (creaking doors anyone?) and a bit splotch of the lame almost saw me flick channels. But I kept watching, and I'm glad I did. The Inside Story was superbly written, every progression in the plot was stunning, with a roller-coaster of twists throughout keeping me interested and at times amazed through it's entirety.

While some scenes don't seem to fit, and the acting is often terrible, by the end you'll be wanting to see it again. If this film was produced on a bigger budget, with better actors it could have been a massive hit, but unfortunately, it went straight to cable TV. Congratulations to Robert Sutherland for a superbly crafted piece of work.

See this for: the storyline, Michael - the full-of-himself musician specialising in schoolboy toilet humour, Bud Tingwell, the twists.

Australian film is in good hands..if only they could get a distribution deal.

I saw this delightful effort at the Sydney Film Festival. A fantasy/reality/comedy/drama. Great acting, clever story, intriguing plot twists and good looking special effects. Laugh, cry and be on edge with the wonderful cast of characters and the original story.

I hope this film gets out and about - further than the festival circuit....apart from deciding how to market it...it's got commercial success written all over it.

Dean is visiting his uncle Edward (Charles 'Bud' Tingwell from "Innocence"), who has lived in the same house all his life. In fact, Edward's grandfather disappeared at the house years ago and was never seen again.

Dean is strangely drawn to the cellar where he finds a trunk. Locked inside is a book which seems to have all of history recorded in it. Scarier still, as things happen, they appear magically in the book, as if someone is writing it as the events unfold. It might sound like I have given too much away, but there are many more surprises after that.

I'm not a normally a fan of thrillers, so I was scared at times but many people probably would not be. The acting was only adequate, but I thought the story was extremely good and surprising. In fact, the writer (Robert Sutherland, who also directed) won the "Awgie" from the Australian Writer's Guild for best feature film screenplay.

Seen on 11/5/2002 at the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival, where an earlier showing was the U.S. premiere. The executive producer (Robert A. Jones) was there to answer a few questions: The cost was about $2.5 million, the music is all original, it was filmed in Melbourne, and it does *not* have distribution yet. He also said that he found out that an executive producer's primary job is to write checks.

I think this film would be reasonably successful in general release. It's interesting, looks like it cost a lot more to make than it actually did, and I simply enjoyed it.