★ 6 / 10
**_Mishmash pseudo-documentary about a red-eyed killer in the
Wuchak
**_Mishmash pseudo-documentary about a red-eyed killer in the Midwest_** Released in the summer of 2021, this is an indie written/directed by comedian Don…
**_Mishmash pseudo-documentary about a red-eyed killer in the Midwest_**
Released in the summer of 2021, this is an indie written/directed by comedian Don Tjernagel that only cost $5000, yet is proficiently done and worth watching for its entertaining bits, along with its (surprising) spiritual insights, at least for those interested. It doesn’t convey the narrative in a conventional manner, but opts for combining several different storytelling formats, like interviews, TV news reports, YouTube influencers, paranormal investigators and so forth. This isn’t anything new as Bram Stoker did the same with his 1897 novel “Dracula.”
The way it’s put together is impressive and visually stimulating; think of the kinetic editing of “Death Tunnel,” just on a micro-budget. The few attractive females are a plus, such as Jamie Doroslovac and Kyla Faith. While some parts are serious, others shoot for amusement, like the arrogant psychologist or annoying influencer.
Unfortunately, I didn’t sense the story building up to much worthwhile in the last act, as was effectively done in “Heavy Metal Horror” from seven years earlier (which is also a pseudo-documentary). In other words, it needed tweaked for a more rewarding payoff IMHO.
It runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in the Waterloo area of northeastern Iowa, including Fairbank, Oran, Fayette and (maybe) Clear Lake; as well some stuff done in Vienna, Ohio, and Los Angeles.
GRADE: C+/B-
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★ 2 / 10
Kind of a Mess
anthonyender
I am always willing to give a chance to a super low budget entry but this one plays more like a collection of unfinished student short films just spliced…
I am always willing to give a chance to a super low budget entry but this one plays more like a collection of unfinished student short films just spliced together to add up to a feature. Some scenes are from a mock YouTube reality series, some are newscasts, some are just footage of a radio DJ talking on the air (with a voice that is NOT made for radio!) and some are just girls rolling on the floor. I went along with it for a while because it seemed like an intentional effort to make use of stuff that was obviously filmed on the fly, (and probably not during the same shooting schedule). But even though it is ostensibly about a glowing eyed entity, which also has to be the most ridiculous effect ever seen in a low budget movie since Robot Monster, it is just mentioned every so often, or we see the entity wandering around. No real story, No characters to follow, at least not by the halfway point when I finally gave up and turned it off. On top of the other irritants, the director obviously discovered he has a scratched film filter in Adobe editing suite because he throws everything on top of this film that he had access to. Acting is horrible for the most part and the sound recording makes everyone annoying. Looking over the director filmography it honestly looks like he has spliced two of three movies out of the same material and/or concept. And I seriously question the 10 star reviews declaring the director has done it again! (which definitely sounds like friends or plants) and that probably tells you everything you need to know about this mess.
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what the sht!