BreadCrumbs DVD Movie Review
BreadCrumbs DVD Movie Review
BreadCrumbs DVD Movie Review by Staci Layne Wilson. Directed by Mike Nichols, starring Marianne Hagan, Alana Curry, Kristina Klebbe, Douglas Nyback, Amy Crowdis and Dan Shaked.
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Hansel and Gretel retold, BreadCrumbs is the story of a woods-dwelling, apparently orphaned brother and sister act who lure victims into their snare using wiles and playing on pity. Patti and Henry are emotionally stunted teens who've lived through some kind of tragedy, but it's never clearly defined. Whatever it was, it's left them with a craving for peppermint candy… and blood.
Fodder comes in the form of a group of x-rated filmmakers (that statement goes both ways, as there's plenty of penetration on-camera and behind the scenes… in the plot, I mean — BreadCrumbs itself is a very soft R). They're your stock characters comprised of the new young stud, the faded porn queen, hotshot director, cameraman, makeup lady, etc., but fortunately, the cast and dialogue help them rise a bit beyond the standard backdrop.
BreadCrumbs has a very authentic, nicely familiar, formulaic vibe to 80s in-the-woods slasher films, but is slightly less-fangled, it's low budget straining at the seams occasionally. The story, by Anthony Masi, Kohta Asakura, and Mike Nichols is solid. It's a great showcase for Nichols who not only directs and writes, but stars as the fictional film's helmer.
Nichols shows talent and promise; however, BreadCrumbs does crumble towards the end as unresolved questions linger over the twins' origins and their characters don't quite ring true (I think it would have been a lot creepier if they were actually younger but still had the same feral qualities and amorous appetites). Also, there's a strange, shadowy supernatural force which didn't quite add up for me.
When it comes to the horror aspects of the fractured fairy tale, there are some spine tingling scenes of torture when the victims are tied to trees and force-fed handfuls of hard candy; when they become snared in the crude forest-styled traps; and when they're slaked inside the isolated cabin. There are some rather gory deaths, and while some are rather too extended and on occasion overacted, you do get your money's worth.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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