Dir - Nahnatchka Khan
Overall: GOOD
Boasting the same bare-bones "travel back in time to save a parent's murder while a serial killer is on the loose" premise as Todd Strauss-Schulson's The Final Girls, Totally Killer is loosey-goosey with a handful of its details and sacrifices plausibility in a time of crisis for nyuck nyucks, but it otherwise hits its mark as an R-rated meta slasher romp. The second full-length from director Nahnatchka Khan, and scripted by David Matalon, Sasha Perl-Raver, and Jen D'Angelo, it crams in various pop culture references, is liberal enough with the blood splatter, and mostly plays off of the inherent fish-out-of-water tropes found in all time travel stories. While its cat and mouse slasher set pieces offer few surprises, there are thankfully some clever subversions elsewhere, and the characters, (even if most of them adhere to typical high school stereotypes), are well-drawn enough to warrant investment. Also, Stone-faced scream queen Kiernan Shipka seems to be having more fun here than usual, running around Marty McFly-style while trying in vain to save lives and preserve her own timeline.
Dir - Patricio Valladares
Overall: MEH
Taking a full-length stab at traditional found footage, Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares' Invoking Yell is ultra low-budget and ultra faulty, representing a black metal version of The Blair Witch Project which is only partially not as terrible as it sounds. Slow boil to a problematic extent, things meander aimlessly as three young metalheads venture into the woods, act bitchy towards each other, make metal faces and devil horns while posing a lot, and repeat themselves several times when discussing their chosen genre. Two of these women are in the "depressive suicidal black metal" band of the title, and the other one acts as documentarian, hoping to join what is likely the only all female extreme metal outfit in Chile. We quickly get a handle on everyone's less than agreeable personalities, which makes it problematic and downright boring that such a long build up takes place where nothing of interest happens. On this note though, once something of interest DOES happen, it seems to come out of left field even if many signs point towards it en route. Unfortunately, the final act stumbles wildly, making for a confusing mess that is both visually and thematically unfocused to say the least. Not that the film promised much to begin with, but it delivers even less.
Dir - Evan Marlowe
Overall: MEH
Gimmick movies can easily be dismissed for trumping sensationalism over commendable storytelling. The interesting thing about writer/director Evan Marlowe's Abruptio though is that even if it was not shot exclusively with life-sized puppets instead of actors, it would still be a strange and ambitious work that would leave a lingering impact on its viewers. So yes, the hook is that puppets are running around here killing people, being tormented by aliens who sew bombs into their necks, and suffering psychological breakdowns that need to be shaken out of them via testicle electrocution. Plus some other stuff. Marlowe's choice to go full The Dark Crystal/Meet the Feebles with the presentation is obviously designed to be the main talking point, and it does enhance the surreal nature of the material which often times has the aesthetic quality of a cheap YouTube video. The puppets are unsettling and only human-like to a point, (think a less caricatured version of Genesis' "Land of Confusion" video), so even when they are ranting, raving, and engaging in questionable behavior, their blank and squishy foam faces come off as hilariously odd. The film can be applauded for its ambition, struggling with its impossible quirky tone as it puts its alcoholic with a deep secret through the ringer of soul-crushing torment, Matthew Chookiat Sakveerakul's 13 Beloved-style. At the same time, it bites off more than it needs to, and the goofy puppets take away from its more sincere themes.
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