UNHOLY REUNION (2009) :Reviewed by BRYAN ‘SHU-IZMZ’ SCHUESSLER
Stand-up comedian turned indie-film director Ric McCloud has done pretty well for his first foray into the horror film world. The story of a vengeful artist, Adkov Telmig (Phil Berbig), who finds out his wife (Rachel Grubb) has been cheating on him with another man (Donovan Walker), leading him to taking out the both of them with a pick-axe got off to a quick start. We get to see Rachel Grubb pretty much completely naked in this scene and there already are two murders. We then fast-forward in time to just two years before present day with some clips of news footage in which there are a bunch of cameos from some well-known faces in the indie and B-film horror arena. Such actors and actresses as Scarlett Salem, Nicole Fiore, Mark Borchardt, and Lloyd Kaufman, all of which are part of citizens asked for comments on the decision concerning Adkov Telmig. Also, it would not be an indie flick unless Lloyd made an appearance, right? The news footage tells us that the man who murdered his wife in a jealous rage is a painter and is getting life or will be put to death.
The film then speeds up to present day and to Rebecca Davis (Ava Lange) and her fiancee Dixon (Stuart G. Murphy), as they meet up at Rebecca’s parents’ house for a party of sorts. Both Rebecca and Scott both graduated law school in L.A. and our on their way to becoming big-shot lawyers, starting by Rebecca working in her father’s firm. After Rebecca’s parents leave, the party begins to take off with the friends and some family drinking and smoking some weed. After a phone call from Rebecca’s father in which he informs everyone that Adkov Telmig, the murderer that was sentenced to life, has escaped from prison and may seek vengeance upon Rebecca’s father since he helped put him away in prison.
At this point, the film turns into a slasher film. I really felt that the performances given by Ava Lange (Rebecca Davis) and Phil Berbig (Adkov Telmig) were the strongest in the whole film. They were well cast, gave very convincing performances, and really out-shined all others that were in the film. Not too mention, Ava Lange is very hot. I really did not think she was going to be that good an actress, especially with her striking good looks, but she proved me wrong. She probably gave the strongest performance in the whole film, from beginning to end.
Another aspect of the film that I really enjoyed had to be the murder of Rebecca’s sister, Bailey Davis (Cassandra McCloud) whose acting I felt was less than stellar, and that is putting it kindly. I was incredibly over-joyed when she was taken out with a dumbbell to the head. The effects for the scene looked really good, realistic, and had me cheering since I really could not stand her weepy and droopy goth personality her character was in the film, along with the bad acting. I thank the director for deciding to kill her off early on.
As the film progresses, characters at the party are picked off one by one and we still have not seen the killer but are led to believe it obviously is the escaped murderer/painter Adkov Telmig. The film did not have the greatest acting in it, but most of the characters were tolerable to watch on the screen, and I was really surprised by how well-done and thought out some of the fight scenes were executed in the film. There is one scene taking place in the garage where Rebecca’s ex-boyfriend Scott (Jarrod Crooks) is going head to head with the killer. It looks as if this actor has had some kind of Martial Arts training and background because he is doing some pretty funky jumps, kicks, strikes, and blocks. It was nicely edited, had tons of cool shots in the scene, and makes me wonder if director McCloud should take a stab at directing an action film.
Aside from the death by dumbbell scene, the film is pretty light on the gore, scenes here and there with really just blood dripping or splashed on the walls or floors, but the story and twists in the film make it a pleasurable view for a film with such a low-budget. It definitely is worth a watch and is a decent waste of 83 minutes. The film was shot in Shakopee, Minnesota in HD, another film hailing from the Midwest. Myself born and raised in the Midwest, Chicago and its suburbs for all all of my life, I am glad to see independent directors taking their film projects to my neck of the woods. With all the big-budgeted Hollywood films that in my mind are just one flop after another, I really have come to enjoy creativity made on a shoe-string budget. Unholy Reunion is definitely worth a look if you have any fondness for low-budget indie filmmaking.
