The Craving, Death Valley was considered a title for some releases, was filmed on tuppence (2c), figuratively speaking. I'm certain a bigger budget would have been appreciated but to director Sean Dillon's credit, he pulls off a pretty, worthwhile movie despite limitations.
It has the general appearance of being filmed on an occasionally handheld Google Pixel 4a Black phone. No point in complaining, it's the standard with movies of this caliber.
The production company is called Biscuits and Gravy. Can't say the viewer wasn't warned. I'd have had different expectations from Caviar and Champagne.
The Craving came out in December of 2008 and was up against the likes of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice. Who am I kidding, The Craving is not quite in the league of these releases but does hold its own as a reasonable example of low budget horror.
It includes the expected but gratuitous liberal lashings of nudity and sex of its kind but in fairness the death ratio is five men to 1 woman so it can make some tenuous claims to a liberated view with regards feminism.
The acting is sort of naturalistic, occasionally clumsy but naturalistic i.e. Unaffected. Think the opposite of the great Vincent Price.
Curtis Krick, the script writer, has worked mostly on television series but did have a role in the production of Land of the Lost. His work in The Craving is credible. The dialogue is engaging enough and given the genre and the specific context, believable.
Sean Dillon has worked with Tricia Allan in other films but the standout here is Lesley Patterson. Patterson, as Jeannie, dies a gruesome death of the type which inevitably requires half a mannequin but gives it her all up to and including her demise. As is the case in the world of micro budget horror movies, Patterson is a multi-tasker. She has been a producer, actresses and writer. Most of the cast have occupied several production roles. The Craving is after all part William Castle's legacy.
My copy is part of a five-disc package that leads off with Machine Head as the big inducement to buy. The entire package set me back $2 Australian. (DVDs are going the way of the dinosaur in Australia courtesy of streaming services.) The quality of the disc is quite acceptable whilst acknowledging the earlier mobile phone comment. It has clearish definition and the sound is consistently audible.
Is it a good film? Well, yes. It's no Let the Right One In, which also came out in 2008, but it is an OK monster flick. It probably won't change your life but you shouldn't regret investing 100 or so minutes in it if you are an aficionado of the genre.
