mizziah74

I wasn't really expecting much from this one, especially since everyone's been coming out with backwoods homicidal hillbilly flicks these days (Wrong Turn, House of 1000 Corpses, TCM Remake, etc), and it's a direct-to-video release (so you never know what you're going to get), but I can honestly say that this was one of the best independent horror films that I've seen in a long time!!!!

The story's nothing really groundbreaking, but it's the way director Jeremy Wallace and crew pulls this movie off that's so refreshing. What I appreciate the most about the movie is that it's very straight forward and serious in its handling of the horror elements of the story (unlike that crappy Cabin Fever flick), which is something you rarely see in horror films these days. The film is very much in the vain of the great 70's horror flicks like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. Like those films, the story is simple in nature, and yet it delivers a wonderful sense of dread and tension with a brutal dose of well-executed gore!!!

I've seen Wallace's first flick, The Christmas Season Massacre, and while I thought that movie was good for what it was (horror spoof), he really took a major step forward as a director with this flick (he even wrote the simple, yet extremely effective score for the film). Wallace's confident direction is aided by some fantastic editing and cinematography by Eric Stanze (director of Ice From The Sun and Scrapbook) and a cast that's way above average for a movie of this budget level, who all turn in great performances (especially Trudy Bequette and Julie Farrar).

Horror fans should definitely check this baby out! Like I said, it's nothing original, but it definitely delivers what it promises, which is more than I can say for most of the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days!

I try to be positive when watching a movie. I usually don't bring many expectations to the table. Generally, I can find something worthwhile in any movie I watch, even when the movie sucks ass. However, except for the ample cleavage, this movie totally sucks in every department.

The acting is very amateurish all around, the writing is poverty-row (at best), the cinematography is quite poor in a lot of places (lots of out of focus shots), and the "special effects" are laughable. Plus, this movie has a couple of the worst child actors I've ever seen! Damn!!!! I wanted to smack them every time they appeared on screen.

I walked into this with an open mind, but for all my efforts, I just ended up getting robbed of money and 80 minutes of my life that I'll never get back!

It's not every day that you see a movie at this budget level that manages to achieve a great deal of complexity and creativity. It was rather refreshing to see that these filmmakers put their limited funds to good use by actually telling a decent story, rather than just parading a bunch of mediocre effects across the screen that come off as being shoddy, due to lack of funds to do them properly.

The project seemed really focused on every aspect of the production, from Robin Garrels literate screenplay, to John Specht's sure-handed direction, to Eric Stanze's tight editing. I was surprised by the competent actors that were assembled for this project, and with the exception of a couple of the smaller parts, the acting was really solid, especially by Robin Garrels and Chris Grega in the leading roles.

Now, this movie will probably not be for everyone. It might even be to "art-driven" for some people's conversative tastes, but for those who have a little patience, I'm sure you'll be satisfied on how all of the story elements come together near the movie's conclusion.

INSANIAC is a cool, bloody, mind-bending, personal experience! Isn't that what independent film is all about?