indiecritical
Joined Apr 2021
Welcome to the new profile
We're still working on updating some profile features. To see the badges, ratings breakdowns, and polls for this profile, please go to the previous version.
Reviews9
indiecritical's rating
I'll get right to the point. Disremembered is not only a great story which will strike a cord for some, it's one of the best micro budget indie films of the year, proving you don't need a large budget to tell a great story.
We're introduced to Samantha, (Angel Bradford in her best performance to date), who believes her friend Becca (Morrigan Thompson, in her strongest performance) is a long lost friend named Veronica. Being held captive, Becca is subjected to mental and physical torture from Samantha who is determined to make Becca believe she's Veronica.
As the present day Samantha toys with Becca we get flashbacks of Samantha's younger life with her friend Veronica in B&W. What I liked about this is that instead of the older Samantha giving long exposition on her life we witness it, which helps the story immensely and could be a film by itself.
The characters are fleshed out nicely and develop throughout the story, though I feel that Tabitha (Beth Metcalf) and to some extent, Becca's girlfriend Madison (Kelsey Baker) were underused. Both are great actresses, Baker being a pleasant surprise, and I wish they would've had more to do. Veronica (Al Vitucci) brings a sense of calm, always being the ray of light in the dark.
Speaking of the acting, while everyone gave solid performances, I must point out that newcomer Olivia Tracy as the young Samantha was a stand out. You feel her innocence when she is with Veronica and when she is subjected to sexual and physical abuse and her performance makes you feel the pain she is going through.
Disremembered is a story of a woman with deep mental issues because of her past which are horrific and heartbreaking. With that being said, this film is not for the faint of heart and should come with a trigger warning for those who have suffered sexual abuse. The cinematography and score adds to the intense atmosphere. The film slowly builds a third act that kicks you in the stomach emotionally.
9/10.
We're introduced to Samantha, (Angel Bradford in her best performance to date), who believes her friend Becca (Morrigan Thompson, in her strongest performance) is a long lost friend named Veronica. Being held captive, Becca is subjected to mental and physical torture from Samantha who is determined to make Becca believe she's Veronica.
As the present day Samantha toys with Becca we get flashbacks of Samantha's younger life with her friend Veronica in B&W. What I liked about this is that instead of the older Samantha giving long exposition on her life we witness it, which helps the story immensely and could be a film by itself.
The characters are fleshed out nicely and develop throughout the story, though I feel that Tabitha (Beth Metcalf) and to some extent, Becca's girlfriend Madison (Kelsey Baker) were underused. Both are great actresses, Baker being a pleasant surprise, and I wish they would've had more to do. Veronica (Al Vitucci) brings a sense of calm, always being the ray of light in the dark.
Speaking of the acting, while everyone gave solid performances, I must point out that newcomer Olivia Tracy as the young Samantha was a stand out. You feel her innocence when she is with Veronica and when she is subjected to sexual and physical abuse and her performance makes you feel the pain she is going through.
Disremembered is a story of a woman with deep mental issues because of her past which are horrific and heartbreaking. With that being said, this film is not for the faint of heart and should come with a trigger warning for those who have suffered sexual abuse. The cinematography and score adds to the intense atmosphere. The film slowly builds a third act that kicks you in the stomach emotionally.
9/10.
It Came from Somewhere was a little gem that took its audience back to the low budget films of the 1950's. Everything from its 4:3 ratio, film imperfections, bad acting (on purpose) and bad effects, it worked cause it succeeded on what it sent out to do, pay homage to cheesy B sci-fi films of the 50's. Unfortunately, its sequel got lost along the way.
They Came Back from Somewhere loses some of the originals charm by moving more into a sometimes silly comedy, which at times works, like the over the top Supreme Leader (Bill Russell), how two new characters walk and a few other scenes that had me laughing out loud. Then there are scenes, interior spaceship scenes in particular, that had me rolling my eyes and asking, why? There are glimpses of what made the first one special sprinkled throughout the film but not enough of it.
The plot is straightforward. Luma (Jake Yanko) is resurrected by his mother (Ann Myrna) and returns to Earth to find his love, Patty (Magdalena Conway) who is mourning the loss of her true love. Quasar (Beth Metcalf), Starfire (Miranda Kilpatrick) and Nova (Mia Katz) are sent to eliminate Luma. Oh, and they bring another creature to create havoc on the town. Along the way they are pursued by government agents Jack and Daniels (clever) played by Wes Melton and Dave Krostal. For me, those two characters were the highlight of the film.
The cast from the first film returns, minus a character or two, and do an admirable job with the script they had to work with, which given writer Steve Hermann's resume, is his weakest to date.
They Came Back from Somewhere is not a bad film and my major gripe is that I wished they would have stuck to the same formula that made the first one a treat to watch where the humor was unintentional while still giving love to a bygone era of bad films.
5/10.
They Came Back from Somewhere loses some of the originals charm by moving more into a sometimes silly comedy, which at times works, like the over the top Supreme Leader (Bill Russell), how two new characters walk and a few other scenes that had me laughing out loud. Then there are scenes, interior spaceship scenes in particular, that had me rolling my eyes and asking, why? There are glimpses of what made the first one special sprinkled throughout the film but not enough of it.
The plot is straightforward. Luma (Jake Yanko) is resurrected by his mother (Ann Myrna) and returns to Earth to find his love, Patty (Magdalena Conway) who is mourning the loss of her true love. Quasar (Beth Metcalf), Starfire (Miranda Kilpatrick) and Nova (Mia Katz) are sent to eliminate Luma. Oh, and they bring another creature to create havoc on the town. Along the way they are pursued by government agents Jack and Daniels (clever) played by Wes Melton and Dave Krostal. For me, those two characters were the highlight of the film.
The cast from the first film returns, minus a character or two, and do an admirable job with the script they had to work with, which given writer Steve Hermann's resume, is his weakest to date.
They Came Back from Somewhere is not a bad film and my major gripe is that I wished they would have stuck to the same formula that made the first one a treat to watch where the humor was unintentional while still giving love to a bygone era of bad films.
5/10.
Following up the serious paranormal romance film Desperate Souls, comes Acrostar's latest period piece, Attack of the Corn Zombies. Set in the 60's, a small town eats some bad corn and guess what happens? You can guess by the title.
The plot is pretty straightforward. After a farmer uses a special ingredient in his fertilizer, who we don't see but we are introduced to his wife, icon Lynn Lowry, the town turns into the walking corn dead. Literally, corn starts to grow from the infected.
For an ultra low budget film, Corn Zombies looks impressive. The film looks like it could have come straight from the 60's with film scratches and film burns. The zombie makeup by Metcalf and Hefner are top notch and are impressive for a low budget film.
With a title like Attack of the Corn Zombies you'd probably be expecting characters that are paper thin and one dimensional. That's definitely not the case, for this is written by Steve Hermann and as with the cheesy It Came from Somewhere, Hermann finds a way to write characters you care for. The character development is surprisingly good and you feel when they meet their zombie demise and that's due to Hermann's writing.
Attack of the Corn Zombies is a fun, enjoyable, seventy five minute romp that proves that Acrostar films is becoming a formidable low budget company.
The plot is pretty straightforward. After a farmer uses a special ingredient in his fertilizer, who we don't see but we are introduced to his wife, icon Lynn Lowry, the town turns into the walking corn dead. Literally, corn starts to grow from the infected.
For an ultra low budget film, Corn Zombies looks impressive. The film looks like it could have come straight from the 60's with film scratches and film burns. The zombie makeup by Metcalf and Hefner are top notch and are impressive for a low budget film.
With a title like Attack of the Corn Zombies you'd probably be expecting characters that are paper thin and one dimensional. That's definitely not the case, for this is written by Steve Hermann and as with the cheesy It Came from Somewhere, Hermann finds a way to write characters you care for. The character development is surprisingly good and you feel when they meet their zombie demise and that's due to Hermann's writing.
Attack of the Corn Zombies is a fun, enjoyable, seventy five minute romp that proves that Acrostar films is becoming a formidable low budget company.