Auteur
(2014/MVD DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: C
Independent
filmmaker Cameron Romero brings us Auteur
(2014), a frightening look into the disappearance of a Hollywood
filmmaker who was up to no good and dabbling in demon possession.
Told in a found footage style, the film is at times slow paced but
keeps you interested with dark photography (lensed by Romero himself)
and the lead in B.J. Hendricks that gives you a 'nice guy' character
to stand behind. If you are a fan of demonic possession and found
footage than this might definitely be worth checking out.
Jack
Humphries (B.J. Hendricks) introduces himself right off as a "failed
documentarian". He's decided that he can rehabilitate his
career by making a film about notorious flameout horror director
Charlie Buckwald (Ian Hutton), who threw his future away when he
walked away with all the footage from his masterpiece, Demonic.
Buckwald now lives as a hermit, somewhere in the Los Angeles area,
and Jack is determined to find him. Whether Jack wants to make an
artistic statement, or whether he merely wants to please his father
who produced Demonic and would like to recoup his
investment, is a question and a source of tension throughout.
This
is Romero's third film, this one paralleling moments of his first
feature film, The Screening, being that they are both about a
mysteriously dark filmmaker as was it were but as films they couldn't
be more different. His highly underrated second film, Staunton
Hill, shows range to the filmmaker as well as that was more of a
backstory Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque thrill ride. Here,
Romero proves that he is quite a different filmmaker than his Father
and has some interesting ideas and a keen talent with photography.
The highlight of the film is Tom Sizemore, who plays himself in a
chilling cameo performance that definitely makes it worth a watch.
Being
that this is a DVD, the sound and picture are captured in standard
definition with a 1.75:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and a lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1 track. A Blu-ray release would definitely be
beneficial along with more extras; here, we are only given a trailer.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
