UNDER A KALEIDOSCOPE marks the directorial debut from writer Addison Heath, who previously wrote CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA. My love of that film is no secret and I've been banging on about it all year. With that film doing the festival circuit, picking up awards and being praised wherever it goes its success can be equally attributed to Addison's incredible script alongside Stuart Simpson's immaculate direction. No sooner had CSV wrapped, Addison had announced that he was working on a brand new feature film and that he was going to direct it. That's no small task and with a team of dedicated friends and fellow filmmakers behind him he set about making UNDER A KALEIDOSCOPE. What an achievement. To my knowledge Addison had only previously flirted with one short, which makes this debut feature length film all the more impressive. It tells the story of Caleb, an agoraphobic filmmaker who spends his days tripping on acid, who befriends an abused neighbour, Beatrice. Communicating through the wall dividing their apartments they form a friendship and Caleb finds himself confronted with a violent and repulsive underworld. Beatrice's husband is a notorious criminal figure known for butchering his victims with a hatchet and Caleb is caught trying to protect his new friend from the barbaric hands of her brutal husband. Addison Heath has delivered an accomplished psychedelic thriller that is beautiful and reprehensible in equal measure. His story is a no holds barred trip into exploitation. With a hallucinogenic set design, the story unfolds in a surreal and eclectic narrative and teeters recklessly between the realistic and the fantastic. The players are all great with Kristen Condon pledging her most sincere and heartfelt performance to date. She really dug deep and tapped into something honest. Aston Elliot is also a show- stealer with his hideously reprehensible character of Roger "The Hatchet Man" Smith. If you've seen CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA then you will recall Elliot playing the equally repulsive character, Rocko. Surely Addison gets a perverse kick out of writing these roles for Elliot and the poor bloke dug in and relished every morbid moment. I love the guy. UNDER A KALEIDOSCOPE announces Addison Heath as a dangerous and exciting new filmmaker on the scene. His two feature film scripts are worlds apart, sharing few similarities. He is clearly a filmmaker with an ability to shift between genres effortlessly and isn't allowing himself to be pigeon holed into any one formula. God only knows what he will come up with next and I sure as hell cannot wait to find out!
From FakeShemp.Net
