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Reviews
The Inner Room (2011)
Very good indie psycho-thriller
Was drawn to this film because it had a couple of actors from the film "Ink" (which is easily one of the best TRUE indies of recent years). I'm not a huge horror guy, so I wasn't expecting much going in. I was pleasantly surprised as the film wasn't really "horror" so much as a psycho-thriller or even a psycho-drama. If you are looking for blood and guts you won't get much of that here, although there is some. Not sure what this film was made for, but it couldn't have cost much - as there are no "name" actors and the vast majority of it takes place in one location (a cabin in the woods). It's definitely a slow burn - but for me I was really into it the entire time and thought it had a nice build up to the end. The film is really creepy and eerie. The style of the filmmaking reminded me a bit of "Dark Water." The performances were great, the main three actors, Jessica Duffy and Marty Lindsey (both from "Ink"), as well as David Dalton all did a fantastic job. I rated it 8 out of 10 because it does seem to drag a bit at times and some of the scenes weren't lit very well. According to IMDb, it is the director's first feature film, so I'm sure he learned some lessons and will continue to grow. He certainly has a nice style for storytelling and I'll be interested to see his next film.
Ink (2009)
Easily one of the best TRUE indies of recent years.
Made for a quarter of a million dollars when Hollywood would have spent at least $100M and wouldn't have been as good. One of the reasons this works so well is because it wasn't made by Hollywood. Sure, could it have benefited by having different actors? Probably... but the acting isn't bad, it's pretty good - especially considering I heard this movie was 100% ADR. The production is top notch all the way around. You can see it for free on Hulu or Netflix, but I'd venture to say most people will want this in their collection if they can appreciate a REAL independent film, I'm not talking a Miramax flick that cost $20M to make. Don't miss this one and don't give up on it (as it does drag a bit from about 20 minutes in until about an hour in) - once you get to the "chain reaction" scene things start coming together and the last 30 minutes or so are SO powerful. The director did such a great job, his first feature "11:59" (which I watched because I liked "Ink" so much) was not nearly as good, but decent. His short film "Spin" is great. Can't wait to see what's next from Jamin Winans.