First off, allow me to address some of the complaints other reviewers have had about this film. A film is not a piece of crap just because it has a microscopic budget. And for those who think the production values on this film were crap, they obviously don't realize how much bang the equally microscopic crew got out of their buck. Honestly, if this is the worst film you've ever seen, you need to stop being wowed by the smoke and mirrors of Hollywood and start looking at how well this film achieved what it wanted to achieve with the resources it had. Get some perspective, folks! The Off Season itself is a nice bit of a well-executed ghost story. It is a story, first and foremost. If you're not into watching a story with effectively drawn and well-layered characters, or into listening carefully to important dialogue, or watching subtle actions unfold, this is not the story for you.
And it is a ghost story, not in the Gothic vein with overt monsters and shock horror, but rather in a 21st Century version of master ghost-story-writer JS LeFanu. (If you don't know who he is and consider yourself educated in the history of horror, you need to go further back than The Shining.) The events of the story can be interpreted many ways as supernatural influence, as psychological manifestations, or as a combination of the two. The Off Season is quiet to the point of being eerie and the focus is not on the source of the horror, but rather on the effects of evil on two people struggling to figure out their lives.
The Off Season also requires viewers to be somewhat literate in listening and observing details of performances. Woven into the mundane daily actions of the characters are a lot of clues about their descent into evil. But a viewer has to watch and listen carefully. The two central actors do a convincing job of keeping those clues clear without beating the viewer over the head with them. And they nail their pivotal scenes. It is in those details, combined with the occasional injection of the supernatural that keeps it moving steadily to its satisfying conclusion. Add to that the charming and compassionate performances of veterans Angus Scrimm and Ruth Kulerman and you have a fine sense of variation and pacing.
My only significant story complaint after my first viewing is that the back story of the ghostly evil came late in the film and unfolded a little too fast for me to keep up. But on a second viewing, it was all there.
If the Off Season wanted to be a well-written and nicely executed ghost story that doesn't condescend or insult the viewer's intelligence, it succeeded even on a micro-budget. If you like your micro-budget horror with lots of jump scenes and obvious, overblown effects. . . this isn't the film for you. But if you like your horror more internal and with some actual substance, give The Off Season a fair shake.
And, yes. . the box art doesn't reflect the story or style of this film at all.
And it is a ghost story, not in the Gothic vein with overt monsters and shock horror, but rather in a 21st Century version of master ghost-story-writer JS LeFanu. (If you don't know who he is and consider yourself educated in the history of horror, you need to go further back than The Shining.) The events of the story can be interpreted many ways as supernatural influence, as psychological manifestations, or as a combination of the two. The Off Season is quiet to the point of being eerie and the focus is not on the source of the horror, but rather on the effects of evil on two people struggling to figure out their lives.
The Off Season also requires viewers to be somewhat literate in listening and observing details of performances. Woven into the mundane daily actions of the characters are a lot of clues about their descent into evil. But a viewer has to watch and listen carefully. The two central actors do a convincing job of keeping those clues clear without beating the viewer over the head with them. And they nail their pivotal scenes. It is in those details, combined with the occasional injection of the supernatural that keeps it moving steadily to its satisfying conclusion. Add to that the charming and compassionate performances of veterans Angus Scrimm and Ruth Kulerman and you have a fine sense of variation and pacing.
My only significant story complaint after my first viewing is that the back story of the ghostly evil came late in the film and unfolded a little too fast for me to keep up. But on a second viewing, it was all there.
If the Off Season wanted to be a well-written and nicely executed ghost story that doesn't condescend or insult the viewer's intelligence, it succeeded even on a micro-budget. If you like your micro-budget horror with lots of jump scenes and obvious, overblown effects. . . this isn't the film for you. But if you like your horror more internal and with some actual substance, give The Off Season a fair shake.
And, yes. . the box art doesn't reflect the story or style of this film at all.