Intro
This is the new film from writer/director Scott Reynolds, who brought us The Ugly, a stylishly weird psycho-thriller from a few years back.
Synopsis
Radha Mitchell runs a diner and a motel by herself in a middle-of-nowhere little town. One morning, she opens her diner and strange young man comes in. He’s been stabbed in the gut, and he needs her help. He’s terrified of a group of surfers who arrive shortly after him. He says they’re after him. Should Mitchell believe him?
I…won’t give anymore away of the plot. Suffice to say that there are plenty of twists and turns, and the suspense is damn near excruciating. The film might be accompanied by trailers for the I Know What You Did and Urban Legend series, but it is considerably more accomplished. Reynolds’ approach is less stylized than in The Ugly, but is still great to look at, and his clever script makes fine use of a Hitchcockian MacGuffin.
Audio
The sound is good, solid, but could be better. There’s some nice left-right trickery when Mitchell is putting earphones on, and there is no distortion, but the sound overall feels a bit thin, and is mixed very low. I had to crank the volume WAY UP, and even then the effect was a long way from rattling the windows. The rear sound effects are okay, but like everything else could be louder.
Video
The picture is bright. At times, I was wonder if it wasn’t too bright. But that may be the intent. Certainly a sunset during the credit sequence and a night scene at the climax are just gorgeous, with the colours and blacks absolutely dead-on. The film is presented in both 2.35:1 and 1.33:1. One slight hitch occurs when the picture jumps just over an hour in.
Features
Not much to report: basic menu, trailers (for this, I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, and Urban Legend: Final Cut), and filmographies for Reynolds, Mitchell, Barry Watson and Josh Lucas.
Closing Thoughts
Not much by way of extras, but one fabulous suspense thriller. And remember to keep watching to the end of the closing credits.
Special Features List
- Trailers
- Director and Cast Filmographies
