Grotesque

I like Higher Universe. They do a good job and I hope they continue to create new things with the same enthusiasm. That being said, I can't really recommend this movie to anyone.

It's like a friend asking you to watch their home made movie. I can enjoy the movie because I can see how my friend enjoyed making the movie, but how am I supposed to recommend that to anyone who doesn't know my friend? Production quality wise Grotesque is fine. Very watchable by no-budget indie standards. But when everything is done well, nothing really stands out.

The big sales pitch is the gore, but the vast majority of it is people being sliced by knives. Not that that in itself is a problem, there's just no catharsis. Things just happen like checking off items on a list. Even Mildred doesn't really have a character journey. She's not really loveable, she's happily spiteful and murders people at whim. Which, again, is fine, but it's a trait that turns on and off in a deus ex machina like manner.

Compare it to Hot Box, another Higher Universe film that features Elizabeth Chamberlain as Mary, a religious conservative that goes to a house party in effort to convert its party goers. Mary has a goal to convert people, but the story shows that she has a personality which is attracted to the party activities and she struggles to achieve her goal. By the end of the story her character has changed and developed because of her experiences. It's a notable story in a movie that has lots of memorable developing moments amongst its many characters.

Mildred could have her own developing story, but it wasn't built in. Mildred is sad because of her nose. Mildred loses her nose and kills people and this makes her happy. She eventually gets a boyfriend. That's about all we got. Mildred's direct antagonist, her superior at work, is more memorable because she has material goals and personality impulses guiding them. The real story of the movie is essentially the two or three scenes where her and Mildred directly interact.

I've harped on long enough. Grotesque is a nice indie film that was made by talented, fun loving people. It invites the audience to watch the fun, but it misses the mark on actually involving the audience to partake in the fun.

What in the world did I just watch. Elizabeth Chamberlain is Midred, a young lady with a long nose which might be the worst make-up job that I have ever seen. It seems to be made out of a piece of rubber glued onto the face of the actress.

Mildred is mocked at work and at a local bar by patrons and her self esteem is brought to a breaking point which drives her to take revenge on everyone who has wronged her.

Axes, scissors, knives, pool cues and whatever object is available are used to maim and kill her enemies for the length of the film.

The acting is at a porn movie level and only a few of the funny lines work. At least Ms. Chamberlain is likeable but as for the rest of the cast, forget it.

Imagine if you will a movie that relies heavily on prostheitic make up. A facial prosthetic that is right in the main view of the camera from virtually the first shot of the movie.

Now imagine that the prosthetic looks like a 3 year old made it out of modelling clay and applied it by throwing it at the cast member from the other side of a dark room.

Add the acting ability of a dead squirrel. Mix in the script work of someone who has never had a conversation with a human of any kind.

Now throw in a mix of "anyone that's willing to be in front of a camera" despite how they look or sound. Add to this a set that is clearly filled with less people than the situation calls for.

Right has all that soaked in? 6 minutes. That all happens in the first 6 minutes of this disaster of a movie. From then on it just gets worse.

Horrible camera work, horrible sound management, horrible cast, everyone involved in this wreck should be ashamed of this.

Dismissed.

With their tongue firmly planted in cheek people made a silly slasher and this film is great. Too many reviews seem to miss the whole point. Sometimes movies can just be fun. There is a significant sub-genre of slashers that are dedicated to silliness and gore. That's a tough thing to manage and they hit the mark - well mostly. Regardless of any misses there are more than enough hits to make it worthwhile.

This is a pretty forgettable movie from the start, really. The movie tries to make them threatening through their brutality, but it just didn't really work for me. I'm not exactly sure why, but it might have something to do with the performances.

The movie has a surprising amount of plot to it, and the story continues beyond the point where you might expect it to end. Again, it doesn't really work for me. It's just not all that interesting.

This movie is definitely watchable, but it is very forgettable. Its attempts at becoming sort of a legal thriller really don't work. And the actual ending is embarrassing; there's no way around that.