I have not watched many good horror films this year. You can tell by the reviews I have posted on the site in the past nine months. It was not until last week that I actually saw a film that I found to be worthy of the best film of the year in Bereavement. However, a competitor has come into the picture in A Horrible Way to Die. A film I had no clue would this great.
The best way for me to describe this film without giving away the plot is to actually copy the synopsis of the film from the back of the Blu-ray box. Serial Killer Garrick Turrell (AJ Bowen) has escaped from police custody and continues to kill. His former girl friend Sarah (Amy Seimetz), a recovering alcoholic, is trying to put her life back together. She meets a new man and begins a relationship with him. However, her past is about to come back and haunt her. Garrick is tracking her down while leaving a trail of blood and mayhem in his wake.
Here is the thing with this film. The first half hour is really slow. There is a lot of character development and if you get lost while watching this one, chances are you might turn it off. My best advice is to really pay close attention, and study all the character and their environments. There are a lot of twists in this film, that all come together at it’s shocking conclusion. You may think you know what is going to happen, and yes one of the twists is very predictable from the start, hell it is even given away in a scene, yet the great writing and detail in this film can suck a scholar of film studies right in. The pacing may be a bit slow, but this film is character driven.
The acting in this film is what makes it shine. AJ Bowen has always been that guy in movies, especially the horror films (excluding The Signal) that he has been in; he never really got the screen time to be looked at as a major player. Sure he has had his fair share of leading roles in indie horror films that I have yet to see, but the major ones he has been in, for the most part, he’s just a number added to the body count. However, in this film his talent shines in more ways than one. If I were a member of the Academy Awards I would honestly consider him for a best actor award for this role. He literally blew me away and was perfectly cast in the role of Garrick Turrell. His co-star, Amy Seimetz was also excellent as Sarah. She fit this character perfectly. She has that look of that cute girl that every guy would want to be with, yet there is that dark secret as to why she is the way she is. The rest of the films supporting cast was also very good in their respected roles, but the lead roles are really what made this film what it was with some fine direction by director Adam Wingard.
On the level of the films overall look and appeal; there are some thing here and there where the film technically could have been better. Some of the scenes had poor lighting and some of the shots used were edited in such a way that it seemed the editor had to work hard to make the scene work. In a sense the scenes do work, but things could have been a bit more tightened and cleaned up. Not to say that it was done poorly, because in fact it did add to the suspense of the film, but it also slowed it down as well. The make-up effects were decent as would be expected in a film that does not really show much in terms of gore, but rather some blood and a few dead bodies here and there. One thing I appreciated about the film is that it was not over the top with the effects. There were some scenes that were left up to the viewer to use their imagination, while others showed you what happened. It was a perfect balance.
If you were to ask me why the title of this film is A Horrible Way to Die I would not have the slightest idea of what to tell you. It just is, yet I don’t understand how it relates to the characters other than those that are the murder victims. I don’t want people looking at the title of this film and expect it to be just another torture porn movie. In fact if you took away the murders it would not even be a horror film. I look at this movie as a dramatic thriller. It has real life elements of horror but it is more of a film that results in something that most people fail to see in their own relationships with the people they know. With that said, I loved this film. It had its ups and downs but in the end, the note that this film ends on, is one that hit me personally. If I were to say what it is, I’d give that twist away. So I’ll let you the viewer decide on your own if you think this film is good or bad. I for one loved it and consider it to be one of the best films I have reviewed for the site this year.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
