Review: Spoils. By Brian Kirst
Filmed by Texas wunderkinds Abel Berry and Jennifer Stone, Spoils combines the revenge motifs of the classic 1980s slasher films with a dreamy aura inspired by its gypsy outsider characters and its heat drenched Southwestern locations.
These mysterious elements are nicely balanced with some (laugh out loud) crowd pleasing moments involving multiple shots of puking victims and showering waves of toilet upchuck along with a few moments of bloody, howling violence.
Even the films various awkward moments and occasionally odd pacing work within its haunted context and enhance the chilling spookiness of its lead character, Spoils- a clown with a skin peeling glare, wonderfully embodied by actor Bart Butler. That Berry and Stone also, unblinkingly, examine the prejudices and hate still inherent in the macho Deep South is another one of the films towering strengths. That they are able to do this in a typical kids (led by the charming and natural J. DeLarosa as Nick) fixing up a haunted house and meeting gruesome ends fable definitely bodes well for their future projects-including the highly anticipated, teddy bear killer epic Kodie.
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