FrightNightDarkReelReview

Dark Reel

Directed by Josh Eisenstadt and Written by Aaron Pope.

Adam Waltz (Edward Furlong) wins a Walk-on Role in a film with Scream Queen Cassie Blue (Tiffany Shepis). Adam is a huge B-movie fan and thinks things are finally going to go his way after he learns that he won the contest. But, things take a turn for the worse once he arrives on the set of ‘The Pirate Wench’. An actress is murdered on the set and the circumstances are all too similar to the 1958 murder of starlet Scarlet May.

The low budget film gains sudden publicity, but with the murderer still on the loose, will anyone survive to finish the film? Big film executive Connor Pritchett is played by Lance Henriksen, Pritchett’s girlfriend and aspiring actress Tara Leslie, played by Mercedes McNab, and Detective Shields is played by Tony Todd! I mean COME ON…Bishop, John Connor, Harmony, and the Candyman…great googily moogily. This film started out with a bang and was extremely enjoyable, although not terribly original.

We have seen the ‘movie with-in a movie’ idea many times – but this one took too much from Scream 3 – where ironically Henriksen played almost the identical role as big studio exec….hhhmmm. So, yeah a little laziness in the concept department, but still fun. The beginning black-and-white prologue was fantastic. Unfortunately, this stylized feeling in the beginning dissipates too soon and we are left wondering why the film noir affection wasn’t sustained through out.

Tiffany Shepis, as Cassie Blue, is exceptional. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Shepis, and she was a beacon. Full of life and funny as hell, she was someone I thought, “She would be my friend, if we had a chance to get acquainted.” I liked her immediately, and her performance stood out. It always cool to see “old friends” and having Lance Henriksen and Tony Todd together in one film was a “buffs” delight. Too bad their performances seemed “phoned in” at times. All in all, I recommend this film, if for no other reason than the sheer star power it offers. I also appreciated the premise and feel of the film. It hit just below its target for me, but worth the view none the less.

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