This was the last film that I got the chance to see at Nightmares Film Festival. This was made in Ohio, where I live so that adds a dimension for me. It was filmed in Ashland, which isn't far either. I heard all weekend about how the effects in this were wild and the poster looked great as well. This was also the World premiere.
Synopsis: when the most nefarious citizens of a small town suddenly make 180-degree turns to righteousness, a young public defender embarks on a journey that reveals otherworldly forces may be responsible.
We start this by seeing a man on a table. Something attacks him, cutting off his arm. Whatever did it, was able to seal the wound at once and little blood was shed. It then shifts over to a courtroom. Darby Vincent (Brey Noelle) is the public defender from the synopsis. This is the grand jury hearing where a husband attacked his wife, but they don't have the evidence to go to trial. Sheriff Ty Williams (Brain Spangler) didn't do his job properly so it is dismissed. Darby then goes to scold him, but they're also having an affair.
Things take an odd turn when she comes home to find her dad, Ron (Jim Azelvandre), who is staying with her having sex with Gina (Kayla Royko). We see quickly that her father is a scumbag who is dying of cancer. Darby goes out to a local bar that her best friend runs, Neila (KateLynn E. Newberry). She tells her what she saw and they share a drink.
Something then happens to Ron. He goes to the same bar, gets drunk and thinks he hears something inside a door. He goes inside and screams. The next morning, he is making breakfast for Darby. He seems to have turned over a new leaf overnight. That is until he dies in the bathroom later that day. He was shaving and black, tar-like substance came out of his neck. Sheriff Williams and the medical examiner, Darius Dillards (LeJon Woods), don't know what to make of this. This is also just the beginning of the nightmare when they find a strange new organ inside of Ron.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I'll start is that this film is wearing its inspirations on its sleeves. I'll give it credit there. There are vibes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing and other films in a similar vein where we have characters who change overnight. I even got a bit of Crimes of the Future with these new organs being developed as well.
Now I'm going to tread lightly from there as I don't want to spoil things. What I'll say is that I do love this concept. It is terrifying since we don't know who you can trust. It is great when you get a character like Ron where we see how scummy he is and then he's changed over to wanting to be better. We also see Dr. Jonathan (Beau Roberts) on the table and then we see him talking to Darby. We know there is something up there. My problem though, there are other characters who are acting normal throughout and we learn that they are taken over. The argument could be made that the new them isn't too different from the old. I think we needed this tightened up a bit to work better for the story.
What I will say is great are the practical effects here. Seeing what we did at the end was great. What happens with Ron and different things in the morgue with Darius look amazing. Credit there for sure. Now there is CGI here as there were things that couldn't do without them. Those don't look as good, but with the budget they have, I get it as well. I will say that the cinematography and the framing do help to hide seams. They do interesting things with sound design as well, that was something I appreciated. This is still done well overall despite my minor issues.
All that is left then is acting. I thought Noelle was solid as our lead. Newberry is her best friend. We show good emotions with different things she reveals as well in support of each other. I do have minor issues with the writing with her character though. Spangler is solid as this sheriff who might be more corrupt than we realize. Azelvandre is great as the scumbag father. He made me laugh and then his change is drastic in the best way. Woods worked in his role. He adds levity that fits without ruining the tone. Other than that, Royko, Hahn, Robets and the rest of the cast were fine for what was needed.
In conclusion, this is a solid, low budget sci-fi horror film. We are getting a variation on the story we've seen before with body snatching and changing personalities. I do think the writing there could be tightened to make more sense. The acting is solid to help bring the characters to life. The practical effects that we got were great. Credit to the framing and cinematography there. The CGI didn't hold up as well, but it doesn't ruin this. I do know this is coming to a new streaming service before the end of the year, I believe it is Cranked Up Films or something along those lines. If interested, keep an eye out for that.
My Rating: 6 out of 10.
