Supposedly the film's entire budget came from drug money; if you've seen this film, this sounds reasonable. It's yet another movie inspired by Maniac (1980).
CHARACTERS
- Jon Beest (Bill McLaughlin) psychopathic killer
- Michelle (Alia Lorae)
- Nick (Francisco De Jesus) Michelle's boyfriend
- Beest's father (Demetri Kallas)
- victim (Donna Lauria)
- victim (Lorrie Francois)
- Detective Lloyd (Edgar Moye)
- Donny (Vinny Ward) Jon's friend
- Laurie (Niki Rubin) tenant
- Jen (Lyndsey Brown) tenant
RATING: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 3/10
REVIEW: [6/6/21] I'll give it some props for that harrowing scene with Michelle and Nick; very effective and traumatic. Otherwise, this tries too hard to be gritty, without even a second of levity. A waste of perfectly good drug money. [4/10]
SECOND SPIN: [12/29/24] Well, I'm lowering an already low score. First, I re-watched this because I remembered the home invasion scene being very effective and raw. And it is. But what I didn't remember was how they fucked it all up with an obnoxious lens filter. It's like they had an amazing home invasion sequence, and then thought - hey, you know what would make this better? Let's make it like the viewer has cataracts, pink eye, and is nearsighted. Even better, we'll then drench it in a raspberry hue for no reason whatsoever. So, I will say (putting aside the filter crimes) it is a really brutal and well made scene - with Alia Lorae doing a great job completely nude. Unfortunately, after this scene the movie basically turns on a dime and becomes boring and pointless.
SYNOPSIS
Jon Beest (Bill McLaughlin) is a psychopathic killer plagued by the voice of his father (Demetri Kallas) in his head. Jon lives in a house of horrors, full of women he's torturing and killing. One victim (Donna Lauria) lies bloody and naked on the floor. Another victim (Lorrie Francois) cries in the corner. Suffice it to say, Jon's place is not a nice place to be. Michelle (Alia Lorae) is out for a jog. Jon hits on Michelle, but she rejects him. Big mistake. Michelle goes out with her boyfriend Nick (Francisco De Jesus) who's been getting threatening calls from Jon. (Michelle had used Jon's cell to call Nick; so now he has his number.) Jon breaks into the apartment and ties up Nick. Michelle is taking a shower, completely unaware of what's going on in the other room. She hears something. At first she thinks it's Nick outside the shower curtain... But of course it's Jon. He strangles and knocks out Michelle. He drags her unconscious across the floor. Michelle wakes up and crawls to Nick. This is a truly grueling scene. The only really effective scene in the movie; a gruesome and rough depiction of a home invasion if there ever was one. [Alia Lorae delivers a helluva performance; very brave as she's fully naked, covered in blood for a very long scene.] Jon cuts Michelle's throat right in front of Nick.
Detective Lloyd (Edgar Moye) is assigned the double homicide. Jon finds another victim at the subway station. He knocks her unconscious, drags across the floor and decapitates her. Jon's only friend is nerdy Italian weirdo, Donny (Vinny Ward). He's a landlord, and has just acquired two new tenants: Laurie (Niki Rubin) and Jen (Lyndsey Brown). Jen is attracted to Jon. She's from a small town and is intrigued by this big guy from the big city. Detective Lloyd is still on the case. (yawn) Meanwhile, Jon is busy killing a prostitute. Jen tells Donny that Jon has been calling her and acting weird. He's calling her the "chosen one". Jon kills Donny, then abducts Jen, keeping her captive at his place. Jon is douses his place in gasoline, preparing to set it on fire. Detective Lloyd arrives right on cue. Jon goes down in a blaze of glory. A completely stupid and needless epilogue where Jen is abducted by satanists, led by Jon's father. THE END
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