SKINNED ALIVE is a film that was shot in New York City and was formally titled EAT YOUR HEART OUT. But as always, when you sign your film over to a large distribution company they tend to change the titles of films to make them more appealing to the average movie renter. Personally I think EAT YOUR HEART OUT works better as a title, but hey; who the hell am I to judge.
SKINNED ALIVE is a film about a lot of guys I know. (Well part of the plot is anyway) Older men in their late twenties early forties who never had the company of a women before so they result to a call service or prostitution to take the big “V” away from them and presenting them with a new letter “V” that’s more like taking a drive in a car with one hundred and fifty thousand miles on it (If you catch my drift). So in the case of this film, there is this guy Jeffery( Jack Dillion) who can kind of relate to my above comment, who after getting his first taste of a women becomes addicted to having sex with high class call girls. The problem is that Jeff tries to keep them around as company after they screw. Most of them want extra cash to act like their listening to him, but one night he meets a girl named Pandoria (Melissa Bacelar) who’s willing to listen to him, and enjoys his company. The problem is that she is a killer who likes to eat the men she’s meeting for sex. But Jeff is different, he’s nice to her, so she spares him because of his kindness, and the two of them become really involved with one another. Meanwhile a madman (Joshua Nelson) is looking for her, hell bent on killing her. Soon Jeff finds himself caught up in this mess and will have to fight for his life. But that’s what you get when you mess around in Pandora’s box. (I know bad joke…)
Not only did Joshua Nelson star in this film, but he also wrote the script. Nelson is not new to the independent horror scene have acted in and written plenty of indie horror films, such as AUNT ROSE and PINK EYE. SKINNED ALIVE is actually very well written, and has a very interesting and original storyline, sure it has some minor flaws, but nothing to to noticeable, and the dialogue in the script is very well written. Personally I didn’t care much for AUNT ROSE, but I must admit that Nelson seems to have really put a lot more effort in this script, and it just shows the growing process of becoming a better writer over time.
The films has somewhat decent acting, I’m not going to say that the performances were anything great at all, but each actor held their own in their respected roles. Melissa Bacelar was decent as Pandora and so was Jack Dillon in the role of Jeffery, but I felt the real star of the movie was once again Joshua Nelson as the madman looking to find and kill Pandora. One can say Nelson wrote the part for himself, but hey the guy did a great job, and who but better to play the role of a character you yourself wrote. And how can I not mention Alan Rowe Kelly in his small role as Mama, Alan is always one to make a film much more brighter and better, and it was nice to see a familiar face on the screen.
The films production value does reflect that of an independent film. Many of the outside scenes shot throughout NYC are done gorilla style, and many of the shots are pretty straight forward with a lot of wide shots and so on. Not to say that is filmed bad, but it’s obvious that it’s a film done on a limited budget. The make-up effects are decent, although you can tell in some scenes that the blood looks a bit fake especially in one of the first scene were Nelson’s character has a guy tied up to a chair whom looks like he was beaten. It was obvious that the make up was simply just that Make-up, and the lighting didn’t really help in making it look all that real either. But that was just one scene, and for the most part the effects in the rest of the movie are decent. Overall, though it does have an independent feel it’s still a decent looking film.
Overall, SKINNED ALIVE is a decent independent flick with a great storyline with some interesting characters. It does have plenty of topless good looking girls and some decent killing scenes which I’m sure is enough to satisfy all horror fans. It’s got a great twist in story towards the end which is guaranteed to blow your mind. The DVD also has a behind the scenes doc. about the making of the film as well.
– 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
