Artsploitation's Observance. They Are Watching.
This is an excellent example of how a low-budget Australian movie,
produced on a credit card balance of $10,000, can outclass the more largely
financed suspense and horror motion pictures. The story involves a man who has
gone through some serious personal loss going back into working as a private
investigator, watching a woman for reasons unbeknownst to him. Strange things
begin to occur which question whether such things are actually happening to him,
or if his isolation and paranoia are
causing him to lose control.
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| Too much black oil. Stay away X-Files. |
The film mixes elements that are similar to Alfred
Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Roman
Polanski’s The Tenant and Repulsion, as well as The Ring and The Shining. It definitely will have a certain niche
audience, one that is interested in an art house feature that mixes
psychological horror with beautiful picture quality. There are many striking
scenic shots that are specifically used as surrealistic dream sequences. There
is virtually no score; instead, the film relies on the use of natural sounds in
order to add to the mood and create scares. The production quality is excellent,
especially considering the small amount of money that was used to get this put
together.
The cinematographer was Rodrigo Vidal Dawson and he did an exceptional
job on this. He has a large amount of experience on shorts, as well as working
on Bride of Chucky and the television
series Farscape. The acting is well
done, with the main focus on the lead character, played by Lindsay Farris. His
level of self-destruction is similar to – but not quite as extreme a performance as –
Jack Nicholson’s was in The Shining.
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| Yeah, someone broke in and taped all this crap to the wall. WTF? |
Some people may find this film to be rather pretentious and confusing.
Part of this could be due to the low budget and a kind of madness in the
filmmaking. In an interview with Any
Camera Will Do, the director stated that the shoot time was just eleven
days and that there wasn’t a completed script at the time [1] .
He said that there were issues with shooting time, finances, incomplete sets,
and extreme temperatures. There was also no first assistant director to set up
a schedule, and he felt that the onset delirium added to the overall tone [1] .
Depending on viewpoint after watching this, one mightl either think that it
hurt or helped in setting a certain psychosis into this feature.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with what was created
with such a small amount of funding and so much time restriction. There are so many
creepy scenes in this that easily outdo the more largely budgeted American
horror pictures that are being shoved down our throats. This is one that should
be given a chance.
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Works Cited
[1]
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"Youtube,"
Youtube, 9 5 2016. [Online]. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E83cbVptJXM. [Accessed 9 5 2016].
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