Dir - Sebastian Godwin
Overall: MEH
The full-length debut Homebound from writer/director Sebastian Godwin is refreshingly brisk and simple in its construction, but it is also an uncomfortable and frustrating watch in some respects. Besides an opening scene where a newlywed couple is driving in a car, (a scene that miraculously does not result in them getting into an accident as is nine-hundred percent the case with other horror movies), the entire film takes place at a spacious manor house in the middle of nowhere. Things follow a formulaic path at that point where we meet three children who ignore the answers to questions, act like assholes, and exhibit concerning behavior as their dad plays along and also exhibits concerning behavior, raising nothing but red flags for Aisling Loftus' befuddled stepmom. Godwin fails to do much of anything unique with the tropes that he has at his disposal here, and it becomes more annoying than anything to watch four fifths of the people on screen do everything in their power to make Loftus's character want to run to the hills while throwing her wedding ring into the wind. The finale is left ambiguous, but it also clearly suggests what we have suspected all along, thus negating much of its intended impact.
Dir - Kevin Kopacka
Overall: GOOD
Austrian-born filmmaker Kevin Kopacka's sophomore full-length Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, (Hinter den Augen die Dämmerung), teeters recklessly on the edge of being decipherable, but it is also a bold experimentation in throwback, Euro-trippiness. Kopacka allegedly self-financed the production which is shot entirely at a castle in Lalendorf, Germany, and this aspect is utilized by the movie-within-a-movie framework. There is a significant rug pull that kicks off the second act, so significant that it grasps the viewer in anticipation as to what could possibly happen next. This is a risky maneuver and certain audience members may throw their arms up in frustration as Kopacka continues to not hold your hand for the rest of the trek, but for those who are patient, there does seem to be an agenda hiding underneath all of the wickedly-realized style and aggressive incoherence. How men and women relate to each other in a patriarchal relationship or the chauvinistic aggression brought on by the reverse, (meaning men who are forced to be subordinate to a wealthier woman), is the main theme, be it one that is clouded by ghostly flashes, abrupt violence, sexed-up tension, limbo/purgatory time displacement, and an orgy that dips its toes into Brian Yuzna's grotesque masterpiece Society. Its sheer ambition is commendable, and that is probably enough at the end of the day.
Dir - Erik Bloomquist
Overall: MEH
A schlocky little indie offering from the sibling filmmaker duo of Erik and Carson Bloomquist, Night at the Eagle Inn plays more like an elongated episode of Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? except with a more adult slant. This is to say that it is a simple yet silly tale set at a single location and with a minimal cast, wrapping itself up in a brisk seventy-minutes and ultimately not amounting to more than just a fun supernatural romp done on the cheap. Shot on location in Vermont, it sets up the age ole haunted hotel trope, this time being visited by fraternal twins who are investigating the death and disappearance of their parents that they never knew. Taylor Turner and Amelia Dudley are well cast as the inquisitive siblings, not just because they are fine actors whose bickering with each other is both adorable and believable, but because they legitimately look like brother and sister, both passable for the same age and sporting big, expressive eyes. The Bloomquists may have put some of their own quirks into their characters here, but some of the set pieces are clumsy and the story itself is more dopey than ingenious. It sticks to its tone though, plus supporting players Beau Minniear and Greg Schweers know how to chew the scenery as the mysterious inn employees, but it still falls short of being memorable.
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