I was graciously sent an online screener of Virginia Obscura before it receives its distribution late next week. Putting a genre tag on Toby Osborne’s feature film would be a difficult task because I see elements of grindhouse, horror, drama, and experimental films on display here. But there is one thing that I’m certain of…
Virginia Obscura is written and directed by Toby Osborne. Cast members include Matt Mitler (Basket Case 2), Thomas Kovacs (My Bloody Valentine), Jennie Brown, Christopher Marrone (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies), and W. Cameron Tucker; with special appearances by scream queens Linnea Quigley and Jessica Cameron.
“A voyeur peeps through a pinhole into a snowbound farmhouse where a masked knife-wielding psychopath dishes out bloody revenge at a twisted family reunion between a young woman and the despicable men who could be her ‘deadbeat dad’.”
Where to start here… Where to start… Ok…
I applaud anyone who goes against the grain of typical movie magic and tries to revisit cinematic history or reuse outdated but beloved film practices. At this point, trying to take the nostalgia route is a perfectly acceptable marking technique, especially for horror fans who grew up during The Golden Age of Horror. At its core I think Virginia Obscura is a psychological horror/thriller modeled after low budget torture flicks of the early 80s. Unfortunately, this style isn’t executed well and all the repetitive backing tracks and slow shots diminished the films purpose. When Mr. Osborne sent me a screener of Virginia Obscura, I was thrilled. I was thinking how bad ass the feature was going to use and all the “daddy issues” puns I could inject into my article. Ultimately what I ended up watching was just very slow and draining and it struggled to keep my attention after the sixteen minute mark. What do I think could have helped this along? Definitely further character development, even outside of the house itself. Why not SEE some plot development instead of HEARING about it? Also, the version I watched was almost two hours long. Cutting the length of time back at least a half hour will help Virginia Obscura tremendously!
Trying to touch on the originality aspect again, I would say for certain that this film can also be considered an experimental horror/drama. Experimental films are a rarity in the current movie circuit, so I have to applaud the director here for “coloring outside the lines” of film again. And don’t get me wrong, there were other positive points to Virginia Obscura. It was acted well, with emotions being conveyed beautifully even from behind masks. The plot was like an episode of “Maury” that went horribly wrong; and really the first time that the dead beat dad theme had been explored so thoroughly (and violently) in horror films. This, unfortunately, just wasn’t enough to help me along during my viewing.
Virginia Obscura is a very solid effort from a promising director. While it may not have been my taste in a movie, I’m sure there is a wide market out for it somewhere – especially with Full Moon backing it so heavily. I don’t doubt for a second that it will be successful to a certain extent, but not completely embraced by certain horror fans such as myself. Virginia Obscura was slow and struggled to find its own identity, but it wasn’t a disaster. My final rating is sadly going to have to be a 5/10.
