JEREMIAH KIPP TRIPLE PLAY

JEREMIAH KIPP TRIPLE PLAY
US
Directed by Jeremiah Kipp

     It was in January of 2011 and this blog you're reading now was only in it's third month of being around. I was trying to get the format of it down and trying different things with it to get it more streamlined. Then I got my first email from a director. That director was Jeremiah Kipp and he asked me if I wanted to review his short film Contact (which you can read by clicking the link. Be warned though I was pretty rough at writing still). Well a little over a year later Kipp contacted me again and asked if I wanted to review three more of his short films. Of course I said yes to this.

CRESTFALLEN (2011)

CAST:
Deneen Melody - Lo
Michael Partipilo - Jason
Nikki Watson - Tara

PLOT:
     When Lo has her life come crashing down on top of her, she makes the impulsive decision to end her own life.

REVIEW:
     Crestfallen is a very somber piece about life and death to put it simply. Yet this hardly does the short justice. Deneen Melody, who plays Lo, shows very powerful emotions without saying a word, yet her expressions explain everything that needs to be understood about why she makes the decisions she does. Kipp handles the story matter very seriously and with care that shows experience on how to shoot something without it becoming overly dramatic and in return becoming a joke. The short film is helped by the score with every defining moment accentuated which in turn makes it more powerful. Even though the short is powerful, it becomes truly moving at the end when Lo makes a second decision after seeing her life slip away.

EASY PREY (2011)

CAST:
Pete Barker - Lucius
Mackenzie Christine Hawkins - Victoria

PLOT:
     An old man is seeking a way out but not in the usual way.

REVIEW:
      Here's a nice little divergence after watching Kipp's previous offering. In this one there's a childlike enthusiasm between the two leads played by Pete Barker and Mackenzie Christine Hawkins. Yes, part of this is shown by showing them as kids, but it's the older actors that make this point the most clear.  Pete Barker as Lucius helped tremendously as he knows how to emote the wonder that was something new and wonderful, after being so racked with sorrow and regret from a long life lived to be giving a gift that erases all of it. The only real hit against this short is Mackenzie Christine Hawkins as Victoria. The reason why I mention this is just that at one point in the story it looks like Hawkins is supposed to smile yet it plays off as just more whatever. Other than this she actually does a good job. Easy Prey is not a bad short film specially toward the end as the deal Lucius wanted isn't what he got and Victoria knows this.  While it is a interesting story, the comedic part of it falls a little flat.

DROOL

CAST:
Laura Lona
Brian Uhrich

PLOT:
   It's best just to decide for yourself. 

REVIEW:
     The best thing I can put about this short is that it would have fit in perfectly with a previous review for an anthology movie that was bizarre. And this short is very bizarre indeed. While Drool is a silent film it peaks volumes if you let it about sexuality and want. The want is shown from two separate perspectives. The first is from Laura Lona's character and the lust she feels toward man. Even though she wants, she doesn't feel the need to go past flirtation. The second perspective is from the male played by Brian Uhrich. This is when the short becomes rough to watch. While the female is content to play around, the male wants more even when the female doesn't. This is an experimental short that will have the viewer making up their own mind and feelings on what is going on. This is stark and vivid at the same time as well as disgusting. But it is also, to me, true horror.

BEST DEATH:
     Lo's loss of faith.

BEST LINE:
     I'm sorry Wilma. I love you, but not enough to spend eternity with you.

FUN FACTS:
     For Nerd Remix's Best of 2011, out of 54 films reviewed, Crestfallen was awarded Best Cinematography, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Short.

     Tara Parian wrote the script for Easy Prey.

     Jeremiah Kipp has directed seven short films with a eighth being directed at the moment.

     The music for Crestfallen was done by Harry Manfredini.

JEREMIAH KIPP BIO:

JEREMIAH KIPP
25-63 48th Street #B2 · Astoria, NY 11103
(917) 586-0586 · jeremiahkipp@hotmail.com

Imaginative Writer and Director with over 10 years experience creating narrative films.
Proven ability to provide the highest level of visual direction, story development, and work with actors.
 DIRECTOR

* Fate
(2012) Music Video. Director. Aaron David Gleason (Artist).

* Drool
(2011) Experimental. Director. Mandragoras Project.

* Easy Prey

(2011) Narrative. Director. Visionfest 5x5 Program.

* Delusion

(2011) International Trailer (USA/Hungary). Director. TreeFa Films.

* Serial School

(2011) Trailer. Director. Paul Pastore Productions.

* The Sadist

(2010) Narrative. Director. Big Caper Films. Starring Tom Savini.

* Crestfallen

(2010) Narrative. Director. Russell Penning Productions.

* Contact

(2009) Narrative. Director. Sinister Six Productions.

* BN4 REAL (Comedy Web Series – 3 Episodes)

(2009) Web Series. Director. Being For Real Productions.

* The Pod

(2006) Narrative. Director. Kipp Miller Productions.

* Disappearing Act

(2005) Narrative. Director. Two Jays Productions.

* The Apartment

(2004) Narrative. Director. Canon/Blue Barn Productions.

First narrative short film shot with Canon XL2; used in Canon's DVD demo reel; premiered at DV Expo.

* The Christmas Party

(2003) Narrative. Director. Kipp Miller Productions.

* Snapshot

(2002) Narrative. Director. Kipp Miller Productions.

*Medea

(2001) Narrative. Director. Breakfast Club Productions.

* Hamlet.

(2001) Experimental. Director. Sunday Club Productions.

* Near To You

(2000) Narrative. Director. Sunday Club Productions.

*Richard III

(1998) Narrative. Director, Bravo Network.

* Forest of Dreams

(1996) Narrative. Director. NYU Thesis Film.

THE DEAD HOUR: SEASON 2

THE DEAD HOUR: SEASON 2 (2011/2012)
US
Directed by Daniel Iske

PLOT:
     What scares you? DJ Raven wants to know. She hosts The Dead Hour, a weekly radio program devoted to the shadows just beyond the streetlight's reach, the bumps you hear as you drift off to sleep, the nightmares that wake you up in a cold sweat. She brings these to you, one horrifying tale at a time.

REVIEW:
     The very first director to get in touch with me when I started this blog was Daniel Iske. He had just put out the last episode of The Dead Hour: Season 1 and asked if I would review them.  Well just this past week he sent me an email letting me know that the last episode of season 2 is out. As part of the reason why I'm doing this is to help younger film makers out and letting a wider audience know about their work. I'm actually very happy with how the blog has done as well as evolved over time.

FRIGHTFEST

CAST:
Matt Tatroe - Finch
Stephanie June -  Frankie

PLOT:
     Frankie's first date with Finch is a real snoozer. An all-night horror movie marathon is not her idea of fun. But when the horrors on the screen begin to cross into the real world, Finch may have to be her knight in shining armor after all.

     This was actually a pretty fun way to start the second season. There's plenty of fun references throughout Frightfest to keep fans of the horror genre entertained, from the combination of two werewolf movies to form one title, to the lumbering of a serial killer that is in all reality more funny than scary. Both Lance Buss and Stephanie June play their roles with a certain amount of glee that translates well across the whole short. Plus I have to give director Iske a big thank you for bringing back slow zombies as the best scene in this is when the two main characters have to make their way through a movie auditorium filled with just waking up zombies. Plus the amount of zombies is quite impressive that was gathered for this.

FAME

CAST:
Mark Booker - Sterling
Brandi Facholas - Cara

PLOT:
     If Cara's big break doesn't come soon, it's back to a dead end job, dreaming of what might have been. Then she gets the phone call that changes her life - a job that guarantees her name will go down in history. How much is she willing to give for her fifteen minutes?

     Fame is a departure from the usual as it deals with loss and failure on a much more personnel level than what Iske has done before. The mood is very somber and also a sadness runs throughout the short. Just as you think you have it figured out what is going on, the story takes a wildly unexpected turn to fully bring the whole story to light. Brandi Facholas pulls off a believable performance for most of the short yet wavers a little during the final scene after she pulls off a great reading of her lines earlier that actually had more impact. Facholas' acting through facial expressions as well gives her performance weight that makes it more realistic as well. 

BACKSEAT

CAST:
Matthew Dillon - Jason
Jazmyne Van Houten - Heather

PLOT:
     After curfew on the back-roads, Heather and Jason are getting to know each other better. Heather's mother warned her that guys like Jason only want one thing - but it may be much, much more than Heather bargained for.

     Backseat is my least favorite of the shorts this year. It's not that the acting is bad in it, as both Matthew Dillon, as Jason, and Jazmyne Van Houten, as Heather, both do a decent job in their roles, though Dillon stands out more. The major drawback to Backseat is that it just moves very slowly. The twist in it is also very visible half way through the story. With better pacing and scripting this story could have been one of the better shorts this season, instead it kinda falls flat after the first two episodes. 

INSIDE MAN

CAST:
John Brooks Jr. - Marcus
Andre Davis - Tony

PLOT:
     Forced to move into a new home, agoraphobic Tony finds the security he once relied on no longer exists. When a ghostly visitor comes calling, will Tony face his fears of the outside world or confront the monstrous force residing in his home?

     Inside Man is quite a nice surprise this year as it goes more into psychological horror than physical horror. It's not the horror that is subjected onto Andre Davis' Tony, but one that is deep rooted in his mind. Tony is agrophobic, which means Tony has a fear of open spaces. The real fun starts when Tony's recently received new medication starts having unexpected side effects. Davis gives the best performance in this season of The Dead Hour as the viewer can tell he's in physical pain from his fears, which also makes him unable to function and is so severe it makes him mentally handicapped. John Brooks Jr., who plays Marcus, who is Tony's cousin by marriage, will do anything to ease the burden on his wife that is Tony. For this Marcus is the one true monster in this season.

GROSS ANATOMY

CAST:
Chelsie Hartness - Natalie

PLOT:
     Everyday in the hallowed halls of academia, young men and women devote themselves to the pursuit of knowledge. Tonight, the pursuers become the pursued. Will their book smarts save the day or will this prove to be their final exam?

     Gross Anatomy is a very good way to end this season. The story is a nice traditional piece of horror where it has the classic boogyman antagonist that just keeps coming. One of the reason why this works so well is that there is no explanation for why this is happening. If this had a longer run time the reason might have been needed to be explained, yet with this it doesn't need it. The acting is done very well by all involved and the camera work actually added to the sense of dread that was already present thanks to the environment the short was placed in. The one drawback to this one is that it starts out a little slow but picks up very quickly.

     The second season of The Dead Hour is a nice way to spend some time. The stories are much better paced than the previous season as well look more professional in the way they were shot and the use of angles have also gotten better as there are more tighter shots as well as the camera is much more fluid. The sound design and spoken dialogue audio have been improved over the last season which makes a big difference as there is more atmosphere added to the whole series thanks to this. The series has improved all around and director Daniel Iske has improved with it as it grows.   

BEST DEATH:
     Jason's revelation that comes to late.

 

BEST LINE:
     It's art. Beautiful tragic art.

FUN FACTS:
     Season 3 of The Dead Hour is already in production.

     Melissa Holder is the only actor to appear in all 10 episodes of The Dead Hour as DJ Raven.

THE DEAD HOUR

THE DEAD HOUR (2010/2011)
US
Directed by Daniel Iske

PLOT:
     A rouge radio DJ tells tales over the air of stories that could have happened or is just possibly heresay.

REVIEW:
     The director Daniel Iske got hold of me in February about reviewing his short web series The Dead Hour. I feel bad about having it take so long for me to actually get to it, but I finally did. So, as this is a series of shorts, I'm going to be doing a quick review of each one separately. 

     DONOR-
  PLOT: In a time where banks are failing, homes are shuttered, and one-and-a-half out of ten people are unemployed, Seth discovers a way to maintain the lifestyle he and his wife have become accustomed to…but at a crippling cost.

     REVIEW:  Wow. What a depressing little story, but yet considering current times it's not that hard to imagine if something like this actually happening. This was a nice little piece of viciousness thanks to the wife who takes advantage of Seth's willingness to provide. Well acted for the most part. Alas, the doctor brought a sense of  comedy where it could have been so much darker and more evil considering what was going on.

     ALCOHOLIC VAMPIRE-
  PLOT: Vic Henderson considers himself a cursed man. He yearns to be free of addiction, but defeat drives him further into a world of deadly indulgence. When the twelve steps continue to fail, can anything bring peace to an addict?

     REVIEW: This one is probably my favorite of the 5 episodes. If any of these get the closest to the feel of HBO series Tales From The Crypt it would be this one. Vic is a vampire that has to drink to be able to kill, and hates himself for it. Even going as far as using A1 steak sauce (check when he opens the fridge, love it nice touch.) At first I wasn't sure about this one yet it pays off in the end with it's humor, though I could have done without the scream at the end. This was 18 minutes well spent.

     COUGAR-
  PLOT: Miss Juniper has just moved into the neighborhood, and she hasn't gone unnoticed by anyone — especially the local, hormone-strung high school boys. As she makes herself at home, the neighbors get a little closer than they expected.

     REVIEW: Michelle Schrage is the best part of this episode in a take on the werewolf genre and country's past obsession with cougars. If there was an episode that could have been more, it would have been this one as so much potential of the cougar's back story is there but never talked really talked about considering she has a trunk full of clothes from all the boys she seduced.  I think the one thing that turned me off of this episode is the insipid and juvenile blabbering of the teenage boys.

     THE HOLE-
  PLOT: After 40 years of working, Arthur Paxton is ready to retire. Or is he? While his wife, Betty, encourages him to relax, his mind refuses to listen. An unexplainable discovery breathes new ambition into Arthur's life, but leads him into a deep hole of unanswered questions.

     REVIEW: The Hole episode while it had a lot of potential and a great premise, I found myself getting rather bored about halfway through its 17 minute run. It was well acted and shot, I just think the pacing could have been better with it. I did like that it hinted that Arthur lost his mind he was so bored and started murdering to give him something to do though.

     CANNIBAL GIRLS-
  PLOT: In the barren fields of middle America, two young girls fight to stay alive following a near apocalyptic disaster. With much of the world's food supply eliminated, they have no choice but to feed on the flesh of other humans. What happens to the mind when living becomes the only thing to live for.

     REVIEW: This one deals with the loss of reality and the extent someone will go to survive. I like the fact that it's left up to the viewer if the second survivor was actually there or a figment of a fractured psyche. Only thing that bothered me in this is that it had the usual "girl fall down and can't get up so I should scream" scene. This one has a lot of potential to become more than what it is.

     All in all not a bad set of stories that was well done for being low budget with some interesting twist to some of the usual horror tropes.

BEST DEATH:
     Seth's death of life so where he can provide for his family.

BEST LINE:
     "Am I detecting a little bourbon here? Oh Harry, you've been a bad boy! I must say, it's going to make this a whole lot easier." From Alcoholic Vampire

FUN FACTS:
     To watch all five episodes, just follow the link: http://www.thedeadhour.com/