The Milwaukee Film Festival typically offers up some intriguing titles in their midnight movie, Cinema Hooligante program, as well as some films with area connections. This year is no different. There are documentaries and features for genre fans to enjoy. For information about the festival, including showtimes, visit Mkefilm.org.
Time Lapse is a compelling sci-fi thriller that gets a lot of mileage out of what appears to have been a miniscule budget. With only three major speaking parts and two main locations, it almost feels like watching a play, but thankfully, not in a bad way.
The main trio are roommates barely making ends meet. Callie (Friday the 13ths Danielle Panabaker) and Finn (Frailtys Matt OLeary) are dating. Jasper (George Finn) is the third wheel. They discover that an old man who lives in an apartment near them has died after creating a machine that spits of photographs of events exactly 24 hours into the future.
After the obligatory debate over what to do about the dead body and machine, they (unsurprisingly) decide to, respectively, hide it and make some money with it. This draws the attention of Jaspers bookie and results in more dead bodies and lots of trouble.
The characters are fairly one-dimensional, and you cant help but wish it didnt employ stock villains, but Time Lapse is a good little flick. There are effective (if not earth-shattering twists) as the end draws near, and some solid tension about what the next photo will show is developed. A promising feature debut from co-writer/director Bradley King.
A quiet, deliberately paced drama with supernatural overtones, The Other One is an unusual but interesting ghost story that delivers a few effectively unsettling moments. It gets a little too sappy at the very end and the payoff isnt entirely satisfying, but that doesnt prevent it from working well for the bulk of its running time.
Amber (Grace McPhillips) was a schoolteacher who returns to her rural home to take care of her ailing mother, Vera (Nancy Sellers). The latter is suffering from pretty extreme dementia, constantly muttering help me while warning about the other one.As Grace cares for Vera, who wants nothing to do with her, various secrets are slowly revealed. Grace had a brother she never knew about who died as a child, and her fathers true identity is also revealed. She has also suffered the recent loss of her husband, and Vera might not be the only one communicating with the dead.Its a somber movie with a beautiful, melancholic score that helps set the mood.
Theres an absolutely chilling scene at Graces old school that reveals what happened to her husband and is powerful in its restraint. There are also a few creepy moments in her childhood home involving the other one. A good bet for fans of moody, slow-burn movies.
Somewhat reminiscent, in a good way, of the excellent documentary The American Scream, Psychopath is a real gem. Directed by Manny Marquez and executive produced by Jack Turner (We Are What We Are, Cold in July), it chronicles Mannys uncle Victors attempt to construct a haunted house theme park, The Psycho Path, in rural Oklahoma.
Victor is a garbage man who always dreamt of moving to Hollywood to get into the makeup effects business. Along with his wife Suezette, he buys some land and pours hundreds of thousands of dollars into an extremely elaborate attraction featuring a large cast acting out scenes from Sleepy Hollow, The Ring, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and many more.
Prior to opening, Victor encounters a number of obstacles, including but not limited to hunters, grumpy neighbors, money shortages, and legal issues. But he soldiers on, and its easy to root for him and his band of misfits (best friend Mike, overeager local kid Kage, a local acting coach, his supportive family). Poignant, funny, and ultimately a classic underdog tale, Psychopath is a compulsively watchable tribute to a man who wants nothing more than to scare the living crap out of people every October.
