Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)
A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

Genre: Horror
Director: Adam Wingard
Starring: AJ Bowen, Amy Siemetz, Joe Swanberg, Brandon Carroll, Lane Hughes
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 6.7  

Summary:
Notorious serial killer Garrick Turrell has just escaped and resumed his killing spree. His former girlfriend and Sarah has recently moved to a small Midwestern town and is trying to put her life back together. She regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where she meets fellow addict Kevin. Kevin is romantically interested in Sarah, but she remains withdrawn: her past continues to haunt her and may soon catch up with her, as Garrick is leaving a trail of bodies in his hunt to find her...



A Horrible Way To Die is a film directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett.  It premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.  It also screened at the 2010 Fantastic Fest in Austin, winning the awards for Best Screenplay (Simon Barrett), Best Actor (A J Bowen), and Best Actress (Amy Seimetz).

The story follows Sarah played by Amy Seimetz, a recovering alcoholic who's ex boyfriend Garrick (A J Bowen), is a serial killer who escapes custody while being transferred.  She begins a relationship with AA group member Kevin (Joe Swanberg) as Garrick continues his murder spree on his way to an eventual confrontation with Sarah.

It is presented in the mumblecore style, heavy on inconsequential everyday dialog.   It is nice to see characters in films speak like real people would, but it can also be boring if nothing ever happens.  Fortunately in this case, there is some action and a clever screenplay that goes beyond the typical formulaic slasher that you might expect from a film with a title such as this one.

What brings this down for me is the horrible camera work.  The entire film looks like it was shot by someone who was drunk or having seizures and couldn't find the focus ring.  Almost every scene is unsteady and constantly goes in and out of focus, it is a stylish technique that has it's place in a first person POV or found footage story, but here it is just distracting and annoying.  Understandable if it is a limitation of skill or budget, but idiotic if it was a conscious creative decision.

Aside from that though, this is a well acted film with a great storyline that keeps the audience guessing.  These guys have the talent to make an excellent picture, hopefully they decide to spring for a steadicam in their next outing.

Bonjour Tristesse

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)
A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

A Horrible Way To Die (2010)

10 comments:

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Ah, that style probably won't appeal to me then. (- -__;;)

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Lol, I suppose not.

Scottmatheson58 said...

The camera work can't be any more obnoxious than say,using a term like "mumblecore".
 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah if you can get past that, it is a decent film to check out.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

No not like Tarantino at all.  Much more realistic and mundane, like overhearing the table next to you at a restaurant or cafe.

The Reel Foto said...

reads title of the film...

...nope. no. NO!

The Angry Lurker said...

A pity as it sounded interesting.

d_4 said...

Well, camera work doesn't really bother me much. It might get annoying but I can tolerate, and if that's the worst con then I guess I could give it a watch, it seems to be fine in the other aspects..

Shutterbug said...

This is the kind of movie that would be great to watch on Halloween! 

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Mumblecore huh? I hadn't heard that term before. While reading the rest of your review I pondered what it meant to be "heavy on inconsequential everyday dialog". If it means just filming what looks like people talking normally about nothing in particular then I'd say I don't care for that at all. Nothing memorable means nothing gained. If you mean something more akin to, say, the conversation about tipping from Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs [1992], something intellectually engaging for the viewer, then I'd have something to check out in this genre.

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