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When looking at the Saturday listings for FrightFest,I noticed that a trio of "First Blood" (world premier) streaming was happening. Deciding on which one to view, the image of the murderous toy looked so off-beat,I rushed to meet Benny.
View on the film:
Revealing in the discussion after the screening that every penny he had for the last 5 years was put into getting this made,editor/co-cinematographer (with John Bowe) writer/director/ lead actor Karl Holt sows his feature film debut with a irresistible handmade quality, with the level of care shown towards the practical and CGI effects for bringing Benny to life,being mesmerizing.
Hugging Benny as part of Jack's life since his childhood, Holt & Bowe contrast the bright red cuddly colour of Benny, with run down yellows and greens splattered across Jack's cluttered, worn-out life.
Bringing some new colour into his owners life by slashing burning red across the floor from anyone who tries to get between him and Jack, Holt displays an impressive ease in his debut editing credit, via ultra-stylised fluid edits being in synch to crash-zooms and whip-pans balanced to landing on a close-up of dead-pan Jack,then swaying to jet-black slides on stunning set-pieces of Benny on a murder rampage.
Taking the traditional stuffing out of the Killer Doll genre, the screenplay by Holt retains the seriousness of the threat posed by Benny's blood & guts, beheading cuddles, whilst prominently leaning the Horror towards playfully quirky British Comedy, leaping in hilarious exchanges between Jack and family/workmates giving him tough love to get his life on track,as Jack finds the only love reaching out to him, is the murderous love of Benny.
score 10/10
morrison-dylan-fan 26 October 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6207342/ |
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2-4-2021 12:05:13