| MisterSadistro |
09-02-2008 11:24 PM |
Damn. I completely forgot to post a review on this until I was putting away DVDs tonight. Sorry, Ron ! Here goes:
It's common knowledge I make it a point to annoy most noobs on HDC for spamming their movies without becoming part of "the community" beforehand. 9 times out of 10, either the offending noob is never heard from again after their initial post or finally lose their cool enough to break the rules of etiquette and get banned. Either way is fine with me since they're gone. Indie filmmaking, especially horror films, is something I adhere to like a religion. Since HDC has that particular forum, I stick around there most of the time trying to balance between advice to people seriously interested in making horror films and methodically weeding out people who are only interested in self promotion. Ron DeCaro was that one person in 10 that stuck around. When he asked if anyone on HDC was interested in reviewing the same film he was spamming (and he was a noob at the time !), I sent him a PM right away for it. I didn't expect to get it of course after berating him all week for being a spamming noob, but sure enough it was in my mailbox that week. Damn. If I thought somebody who hated my guts on a public place asked me for a movie of mine for review, I'd at least have to think about it :D
I watched 'Eating Razors'. It wasn't great as far as I was concerned. I did an honest review. Some of the makeup fx were on the hokey side, some of the camerawork was shaky (my personal peeve) and some scenes lasted longer than needed (I always try to get out of a bad scene ASAP myself when I edit). On the other hand, there was also some terrific video fx in the editing that screamed "Yes ! Why is he not doing more of this because he's good at it ?" towards the ending. I felt it was some of his best work and said so. It was obviously a one man effort throughout- good or bad and I applaud that.
There was another film I didn't see ('The White Lie' I think it was called) so I can't say if the third time is a charm. So I move along to 'The Gateway Meat'.
The editing is tighter this time around and the addition of the LaBonte brothers on makeup fx leaves 'Razors' in the dust. No more scenes of people watching 'Conan' on tv as filler since there is often something to see (mostly extremely unpleasant). A lot of it offset by some very scenic footage which makes it seem even more disturbing at times and I don't think that idea was an afterthought. It is truly rewarding to be able to watch a filmmaker grow over time and DeCaro is making leaps and bounds in the gore genre. His work is often intriguing, yet revolting at the same time.
My complaints ? The camerawork hasn't improved much since 'Razors'. A static shot suddenly shakes at the end of a still shot. Cut it before it does ! You are doing some fantastic looking stuff with fx in editing so clipping a shot just a beat shorter should be nothing to you. There are also some clever shots angles (ala the bicycle) that go on too long to lose their effectiveness of how clever they were.
Some of the actors need their scenes cut down. I know having bad actors is a chore, but the wheelchair guy was awful and since it was pretty much continuous, it dragged. I'd say that scene itself wasn't needed. 'The Butcher' was pretty well established early on as he was. It seems like non-fx edits aren't your strongest points when dialogue are concerned (esp with bad acting). I'm really not lecturing. I'm just making an observation.
My biggest complaint is the storyline. I know there's a tie-in between this and 'Razors' that is leading up to your feature film, but since I haven't seen 'White Lie', I have no clue what it is or if that is part of the trilogy. Except for the blurb on the boxart and some references to a portal in the movie, the story was lost on me. That's a shame because it makes it comes off as an August Underground movie at times and I know there is an intention behind it.
Overall, I'd say the fx and editing fx were top notch. These were things when I reviewed your first film as being strong points. They have only gotten stronger since then which is commendable. If you are able to fix the few complaints that are nobody's except mine, I can't wait to see the feature. Good luck and keep it up.
CK
|
