As a huge horror fan, I've been really underwhelmed by the 8 Films to Die For series. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a wonderful idea. Then when I got a chance to actually watch the films themselves, I was very disappointed. I think that The Abandoned was the only film that was really worthwhile out of the first set of 8. When the second set of films came out, the first film I got a chance to see was Crazy Eights, which is easily one of the worst horror films I've ever seen in my life. It left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I didn't bother to check out any of the other films from that year's crop. And I'd completely stopped keeping track of they were up to.

When I ran across Slaughter at a Redbox, I kind of balked because it was from the latest set of 8 Films to Die For. But nothing else jumped out at me, and I vaguely remembered reading somewhere that Slaughter was a good film. I didn't know anything about it and often that's the best way to go into a movie, without any expectations what-so-ever. At the very beginning of the film we see a girl tied-up, dragged through the woods, and finally dropped into a lake by a creepy looking farmer. Then we're introduced to a couple of young girls, who are out just to have fun. A typical beginning to a horror-flick. The photography and editing were done pretty well though, so I thought I might be in for another decent take on the slasher genre, something along the lines of Hatchet. Boy was I wrong.

We're introduced to Faith and Lola, two girls who've just met in a bar and are becoming fast friends. Faith is new to town, she's trying to escape from an abusive boyfriend. When he manages to track her down, Lola asks Faith to move in with her. She lives in a rustic farmhouse with her unseen father and her mostly unseen brothers. It seemed like only a matter of time until dear-old-dad or Lola's pig bullying brother, would decide to torture Faith to death. But this film really takes it's time to develop, they let us get to know these girls. We learn about their hopes and dreams and they're becoming great friends along the way. I was actually starting to dread the moment when the killer would reveal himself, because I was starting to care about these characters.

At this point I think the typical horror fan would be getting bored, because up to this point, there is really no horror to speak of. I was beginning to ask myself what was going on, did I pick up the wrong movie? But I appreciated what they were doing, because so often we're introduced to a slew of young clichéd characters that you don't give a shit whether they die or not, you only want to be entertained by how they're killed. Slaughter is a very different kind of horror film for this reason. There's only two real characters in the film, they're written and acted well enough that we actually care about what happens to them. The film is structured more like a drama than a horror film, until the last act when things start to go wrong and the film hits you on a whole other level.

I'll try not to give anything away, because I think this is a film that needs to be discovered. I don't believe I've ever seen a horror film built quite like this, where you're not totally sure who to root for. The ending is at the same time, extremely dark and very satisfying. It's not nearly as gory or brutal as most horror films these days, but it hits you harder because you care about these girls. You'll be very surprised by this ending. I do think that this is a film that will rub a lot of people the wrong way, because it starts so slowly and ends in an atypical fashion. But for those it works for, this film will be a brand new experience.

First time writer/director Stewart Hopewell has created a really nice piece of cinema, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next. I think that Lucy Holt who plays Lola has a wonderful career ahead of her, if she can land some plum roles along the way. She's gorgeous and talented, and I don't think this film would have worked without her. So, 8 Films to Die For has me back for now, this is the kind of film that I was hoping to see from the label. A different breed of horror film that might not get a chance to be seen otherwise. - Grade: B+

I decided to see Happy Birthday Harris, Malden because it was one of the few comedies playing at my local fest, the Ashland Independent Film Festival. My main reason for seeing it was the trailer below, which I thought made the film look funny in an offbeat way. With the idea of a guy who's psychologically compelled to draw on a mustache every day being something I hadn't seen before. I'm always looking for anything new in film.

The film started off promising, with some fun credits created by animated cardboard cutouts, that tells us Harris's back-story. Unfortunately that proved to be the highlight of the film. I was into Harris for about 10 minutes, they quickly introduce us to the cast of characters; Harris, his brother Melvin, best friend Paul and Paul's girlfriend Susan. Each of their introductions made them seem like interesting characters that would be fun to follow for the next 90 minutes, but unfortunately none of them really grew beyond their first impression. With all of them suffering from major cases of arrested development.

Harris is supposed to be the most messed up because he wears a fake mustache, which his friends and family have been letting him live with, because they believe it helps him deal with the death of his father. Beyond that, he may be the most steady man in the group. (Which now that I'm thinking about it, may have been the point of the film.) Paul is a 25-year-old, somewhat successful architect, who still lives with his grandmother, and is scared of moving in with his girlfriend. When he and Susan get in a fight, he acts like a toddler throwing a fit. Harris's brother Melvin lives in a completely delusional world, which is made worse when a commercial director "discovers" him and constantly refers to him as a future superstar. The scene where they're shooting a commercial in front of a green screen, with imaginary dragons attacking Melvin and two scantily-clad girls, is one of the funniest in the film. Susan plays the stick-in-the-mud girlfriend who wants to pull Paul into the adult world, she causes a major rift in the boys world when she tells Harris his mustache is fake. Paul's grandma, who everybody calls Grams, is also a significant character, she's the kooky voice of reason.

The main problem with the film is that is floats somewhere between a realistic drama and a quirky other-world comedy like Napoleon Dynamite. None of the characters rings true as a real person, and while the acting is universally poor, a lot of the fault falls on the dialog. I'm not sure if this film was badly written or badly improvised, either way, the characters often seem to be having their own conversations, with nobody addressing each other in a real world fashion. Their acting style suggests that they're not trying to create realistic characters, but their actions aren't out-there enough to create an alternate universe.

I really don't like bad-mouthing independent films, there is so much love and work that go into making a film, even more so when budgets are extremely low. So I applaud them for putting this film together, unfortunately it is a jumbled mess. One example of this is Harris's mustache, which constantly fluctuates between being drawn-on and a glued-on felt one, which I'm guessing the filmmakers are hoping we wouldn't notice. Happy Birthday, Harris Malden was written, directed and stars a group that calls themselves Sweaty Robot. Although they went down swinging with this film, there's enough here to suggest that they possibly have a good film in their future. There are a few good moments peaking through, a flash of true comedy here, a dash of real drama there, and I also thought that the film was nicely shot and edited for such a low budget feature. Sweaty Robot, I promise to watch your next film, but if it falls as flat as Harris, I'll probably give up. - Grade: C-

With all the talk about Joaquin Phoenix going nuts, we've forgotten about how talented an actor he is. And if he has gone off the deep end and truly retired from acting, which I don't believe for a second, his last film Two Lovers is a great swan song. This is his film. He's in every single scene, with hardly a shot in the film without him in it, and the film is that much better for it. The film opens with his character Leonard jumping into an icy river, trying to kill himself for yet unknown reasons. Sinking into the deep, he thinks better of it and lets somebody help pull him out. He walks home, where we meet his parents, an old Jewish couple, played lovingly by Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov. Dad proudly owns a dry-cleaning business, which he expects Leonard to inherit.

Leonard is a sad soul, every movement of his comes with great pain, just breathing seems to be an effort. He brightens up a little when he meets a young woman Sandra, whose father has plans on going into business with Leonard's father. In a short scene in Leonard's bedroom, we see that he can be a little witty and charming when there's a cute girl to impress, but the sparks don't fly. He really comes alive when he meets Michelle, played wonderfully by Gwyneth Paltrow. She's gorgeous and interesting, Leonard is instantly infatuated. He does a bit of innocent stalking and they quickly become friends. It's soon clear that Michelle might be even more messed up than Leonard, but her problems only grows Leonard's attraction towards her. Meanwhile he's still seeing Sandra, who wants to take care of him, but he's only doing it to please their respective fathers. The film ends with a note perfect twist that leaves you very conflicted on how to feel.

Two Lovers is the best drama I've seen about love in a long time. There's no conflict in Leonard about who he wants to be with, but Michelle is seeing somebody else and his family wants him to marry Sandra, who seems to be the perfect fit. But his heart wants what it wants, even if she's emotionally unavailable. Phoenix plays Leonard perfectly, he's very quiet throughout, but you can read every emotion in his eyes. Sadly I don't often get drawn into films the way I should, but his anxiousness made me feel anxious, and I was squirming in my seat as the film approached its gut wrenching climax. This is a very quiet movie, with not a whole lot of plot development, just a lot of well written and performed conversations. The film feels absolutely real, as we follow Leonard through a confusing few weeks as his life comes to a crucial turning point. A really beautiful little film. - Grade: B+