Greetings everyone! As my ongoing adventures throughout the Twitter-verse continue, I am finding some incredible opportunity to connect with many smaller indie film production companies, actors, and directors as time goes on. In doing this, it has allowed me to become aware much more consistently of all the creativity out there that is striving to be noticed, hoping to gain that next level of recognition and success. For me, it has been offers to review several indie productions that are out or coming out in the near future. Therefore, I present to you my review of another film in this genre, “Le Fear II: Le Sequel”, officially coming in 2015.
Brought to us by British director/actor/producer Jason Croot, the film is set up in a “mock-umentary” style and introduces us to fictional director Carlos Revalos (Kyri Saphiris), whose looking to finally break into the big time with his newly scripted horror movie which he’s hoping to have funded by a studio head, Dirk Heinz (Andrew Tiernan). When offered a very large sum of money to put toward the production (while also having to agree to some level of investment himself), Carlos sees this as his chance to do something truly amazing. So with his cinematographer Jacques (Hadrien Mekki) in tow, the first adventure begins in getting to the filming location, which turns out to be rather….LESS….than expected. Once there, his Producer Efi (Seye Adeleken) shows up and things start to appear as if the glamorous dreams and vision Carlos had for the production are looking quite grim. As more people start showing up to the “set”, including VERY randy Make-up Artist, Queenie (Victoria Hopkins), Stunt Coordinator, Berwyn (Catherine Balavage), Production Assistant, Jessie (Leila Reid), VFX “master”, Africa (Roxy Sternberg), unenthused Runner, Femu (Scherrikar Bell), and lead actors Oliver & Racquel (Jack W. Carter & Denise Moreno) the entire filming turns into a MAJOR debacle. Conflicts between the crew, less than stellar equipment, horrendous “special effects”, Queenie’s constant attempts to seduce anything that moves, very unsatisfied actors, and a studio head whose visit to the “set” adds even MORE stress to the already fracturing psyche of Director Carlos, combine to make a horror film TRULY…..a horror. Even a local film student, Mickey (Warren Taylor) appears to film the mess as a “behind-the-scenes” offering. And when the appearance of “vampire” Vanessa (Eleanor James) and veteran B-movie actor Dr. Strange (Julian Lamoral-Roberts) take the chaos to yet ANOTHER level, it seems COMPLETELY apparent that the film IS doomed. Trying to still get footage of ANY sort where possible, ANOTHER circumstance causes Carlos to end up having to rely on a replacement actress, Lucy Lou (Aiko Horiuchi), to be in the latter parts of his “movie”. By the time everyone is packing up, it would seem things have gone SO far off base there IS no recovery….or is there? Per usual, any further expansion on details would constitute spoilers and I refuse to do that, as you all well know. Hence, that is that.
I am a fan of a good spoof, especially when I can appreciate the facets of WHAT is BEING spoofed, especially when it comes to horror films, which I generally do not tend to venture towards. There are some CLASSIC examples of this, such as “Shawn of the Dead” and “Student Bodies”. I have to be honest, though, and say that THIS particular film did NOT capture my attention, nor make me laugh like I wanted or expected. And that’s sad to say, because I TOTALLY understand the concept and what was being made fun of, etc, etc. But I’m thinking perhaps it was simply that the OVERALL delivery and execution of the story was just not in my wheelhouse. I never felt INVESTED in it for the types of laughs I thought would be present. When I think back on the absurdity of the tale (which is SUPPOSED to be the case, of course) I guess I was wanting the more biting satirical approach of “Monty Python’s The Holy Grail” combined with the simply silly, off-beat goofiness of “Mr. Bean”. I felt this had ELEMENTS of that for me, but it was not near enough to satisfy my particular vein of British-style humor. Also, again, for my OWN personal tolerances, there was simply too much language and certain other off-color content that distracted me more than entertained me, at least in the context of THIS film. And as stated before, the humor itself was simply too….dry. I could SEE the potential for this to be an ABSOLUTE riot, but it fell flat. Now all of that said, I give COMPLETE kudos and applause to Mr. Croot, the crew, and cast because this movie DOES still represent the creativity and efforts being made out there every day by indie filmmakers who are pursuing their passions, making the most of VERY small budgets, and bringing together other people of like mind and drive to contribute. This alone IS commendable, and I hope it IS clear that I applaud this group for MAKING the film, for getting it done, and I wish nothing but the best for each and every one of them. I just wish the FILM itself had ended up being something I could be honest about and laud over, but I would not be true to my opinion and feelings. In conclusion, to Mr. Croot, the crew, and cast….KEEP pushing forward and making the films you want to make, because good or bad, you are all continuing to pursue your film dreams and having success in doing so. I am thankful to Mr. Croot for offering me the chance to review his work, and hope that it won’t be the last time!
You can: “FOLLOW” Director Jason Croot on his Twitter account or visit his Website and Facebook Page. Also, “FOLLOW” the film’s Twitter account and the Production Company, Foreshore Films, Twitter account and visit their Website
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
