If you do not like found footage films then stop reading
this right now, because that’s essentially what this is. It is set up as a
found footage true crime documentary and some gruesome events occurred and they
are trying to tell the story. The filmmakers treat everything that we see as
actual events; weaving together video that includes shaky cam footage, steady
cameras, home films from other smaller cameras, personal confessionals, cell
phones, audition tapes, and his prior television role footage. The story is
about a former child actor who is now in his forties and is unable to get any
roles; he also has a tiny affection for murdering women. If the main character
in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) where an actor, then this would
pretty much be the same movie.
The filmmakers do a good job of mixing the shaky cam footage
with various other settings. I was worried at first that I was going to have to
sit through a whole 90 minutes of shaky video, but thankfully it is minimal.
The opening credits are similar to Seven (1995) and other films that copied it,
showing bits and pieces of information that is relevant to the plot. There are
many good scenic shots of the Los Angeles area and some of the interview scenes
are blocked quite effectively.
Daniel O’Meara plays the main character Alan Miller. He is the
main reason to see this film. His performance completely stands out as he plays
this character that switches back and forth between himself and being an actor.
His ranges of emotions are all over the place in this film; he is nice,
passionate, mean, egotistical, psychosexual, violent, and brutal. There are
moments when he is playing the actor portion of the character and he pulls out
the method acting style and it is reminiscent of a Brando or DeNiro. O’Meara
had started out well in his acting career, appearing in Under the Skin (1997)
and Nude Descending (2002).
While O’Meara does stand out in this film for his overall
performance, Eric Roberts steals the movie. In the short amount of time that he
appears on the screen he is downright hilarious and awesome. That little chunk makes
me want to see him get some smaller meatier roles in larger budgeted
productions.
This is a horror film and so it does deliver on a heavy
amount of violence and gore. The violence is so strong that it borders on
exploitative. There is a crazy scene towards the end that is a bizarre mix of
Bronson (2008) and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. His confessionals at the
end are unbelievable, I could see O’Meara playing the Joker as crazy as that
sounds.
This film is somewhere between good and great. If you love
found footage films, psychological horror, or just the horror genre then you
may want to check this out. I recommend doing a double feature with this and
Creep (2014).
Score 5
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