AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Myron Clemons
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Freeman
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
BCRice
I think this movie begs the question, "Should points be given for effort?" The verdict's still out.But let's start with the good -- Understanding that this script started as a treatment for a Halloween remake, I'll forgive the similarities and say that the script and dialog is actually pretty well executed. Sure there are a few issues with line delivery in spots, but the script as a separate entity isn't horrible.Second, the music was all completely on cue and built the scenes nicely. It wasn't overused and it never detracted from any of the scenes.Third, I mean -- talk about indie, talk about zero budget. This is what it looks like, folks. A film like "Ink" (which is certainly a class well above this), was made for $250,000. There's a huge difference between zero and $250,000.Where this movie really misses the mark are with issues related to budget but also some missteps by the director.Without using any real camera lenses the framing had a lot of issues. This would have been an easy solve for a few hundred bucks by slapping a 35mm adapter on whatever consumer HD cam he used for the project. I'm assuming it was in the realm of an HV20 or some lesser model. Had this been shot on any kind of DSLR or something with an adapter, some of the framing issues would have been solved. I saw attempts by the director to set up interesting shots, but when you're using a jitty camcorder with no lenses, it's nearly impossible unless you're manufacturing a DOF by having objects or talent always in the foreground, which isn't possible throughout an entire film.Lighting was another huge issue, and being that lighting can be solved using foam board and halogen work lights, I'm going to have to stick it to the director on this one. There are some basics of lighting that need to be studied before this guy's next feature (or fan) film."Crossing the line" -- that's what it's called when you move your talent from one side of the screen to the other mid-scene. This happened too many times. It's a rookie mistake and it's utterly confusing to the audience when it happens. So, to the director: If your actor is on the right side of the frame in a scene, that actor must stay on the right side of the frame throughout. If you want to move between two mid-range shots but don't want to cut from one mid-range shot to the next, then do a quick wide shot and then come back to your second shot.Next is color correction. This, of course, can still be linked to budget. But something as cheap as Magic Bullet Mojo ($99) would have given your scenes a more cohesive blending and would have given your camcorder footage a more filmic appearance.Location colors. This is probably the easiest thing to slip by the indie filmmaker. While you're probably going to have to use friends and family's locations to shoot your film, you CANNOT allow white walls to be in your film. Obviously the hospital is a different animal and most of that will have a blue tint when your color correction is done anyway (assuming you go the Blockbuster route), but when you're indoors you have to paint those walls. If it's a friend's house, paint the walls and then re-paint them white again if that's what they need. Go watch Amelie with the sound off. Watch the frames. Aim there.Last...I know it sucks and I know the director knows it...but sound was a big issue. Not sure what kind of mic was used. At times it sounded like the mic was on-camera which is just the worst thing I can possible imagine for a narrative piece. I can see how much work and effort was put into this film. There was some decent acting, a workable script, good pacing and at times some real effort went into framing certain scenes. But having lackluster audio, an amateurish understanding of talent placement in a scene (as it pertains to audience clarity) and a camcorder with no added glass for DOF, the director left us with a highschool-level product performed and written by adults.I want this director to get better because he has passion for all levels of filmmaking. I gave the movie 5 stars for potential.So, to the no-budget director of this film: 1) Pick yourself up a DSLR or HFS100 w/ JAG35pro or better (Panny and Sony just came out with 5K cams that are game changers) 2) Get some Sanken COS11D lavs and an NTG3 with an Edirol44 or Fostex FR2LE w/ Y XLR splitter cable 3) Grab a PRO AM 250 crane/jib 4) Magic Bullet Looks (or Mojo) And if you can, try to find someone who wouldn't mind training as your sound guy/girl. You're gonna need one.But kudos on your first effort. Your gal was completely solid in the lead role.Good luck!
Pete975
Despite the high praise from reviews which misled me into watching this film I really did not find it a very satisfying watch.The story seems to feature familiar elements from at least two other films - the boy killer locked in hospital most of life till he escapes and hunts down his surviving family which really shows it's Halloween influence. I think the script and the performances of the actors are the elements that really failed to connect with me. Lines were fluffed and stumbled over and screaming was used as a substitute for emoting more than once. The whole demonic thing was dropped into the film almost like it had Fallen out of another film. So much of the film was wasted in scenes of little relevance and yet very little time was used to establish that this was a demonic possession. A completely irrelevant lesbian love scene forces it way into the story for no good reason heaves itself to a climax before expiring brutally just as expected.
Russ Myles
Let me start by saying what a cool movie this was for being made for practically nothing. Chris is such a talented director and to be able to make a film of this kind of caliber for next to nothing is an achievement onto it's own. Methodic is chock full of wonderful homages to John Carpenter's Halloween and even James Cameron's Terminator. Both of which are favorites of mine. The script is very rich in dialog and the humor, though limited is still fun and quirky. I got to see a private screening of Methodic last week and after talking with the director I just really felt it necessary to post something. I'm even more amazed that he got THE sheriff Brackett in his film. I'm talking about Charles Cyphers. It was a real treat seeing him play a hard ass cop. And if there is a sequel I want to see him come back for sure. The Dollman was such a cool villain. Now I don't want to give much away. You really need to see this film for yourself, but when he goes after Lana in that climatic chase I was cheering. Not that I wanted her to die, but just the energy of the killer combined with the rock score got me all excited. And the best part, the Dollman RUNS! I was not expecting that. Usually the killers walks everywhere and pops up randomly, but not this guy. He jumps off roofs, smashes down doors, bursts through closets and RUNS! Oh and his escape from the hospital was great too. It was very..... METHODIC. LOL. All in all I will say this movie was so fun for me and brought back a lot of those classic things I loved about horror. I only hope I can make a movie as cool as this some day.
Masked Superstar Mr. X
I was really impressed with this film overall. It left you wanting more and eager to see the sequel after viewing it. The acting and story were superb. The film progressively got better and better as it went along. Now before you say it's similar to Halloween, it is. The director, Chris R. Notarile states that Halloween was an inspiration for this film and originally he was hoping to do a remake of it. Which Rob Zombie beat him to. Anyway, Chris R. Notarile's new horror icon, The Dollman is on a whole other level though and nothing like Michael Myers. But, the Dollman will scare you just as much if not more! Also, the movie is totally original in the sense that it's the world's first "Basher" film, ever! Now that's impressive.The director really got some talented actors for this film which included: Brandon Slagle, Stephen Muzzonigro, Niki Notarile, Charles Cyphers, Tony Dadika, Dan Werzinger, Thomas Daniel, and Christine Allanach. All of who portrayed their characters really well and helped bring the director's vision to life. The lovely Suzi Lorraine and Damien Colletti also portrayed their characters well in their scenes but had smaller roles. Oh, in case you didn't know, Charles Cyphers was Sheriff Brackett in Halloween 1 & 2 so it was great seeing him in this horror film. Wish he was in it even more.I must say though, out of all the actors I was most impressed with newer actor, Stephen Muzzonigro, who played the Nicholas Matthews / Dollman. His looks behind the mask and movement were great. Then when he came out from behind the mask, he was a totally different character! I also thought he could of played detective Colin McDermott really well (based on his performance outside of the mask). Not taking anything away from Brandon Slagle's performance in playing that role.This was the director's first full length film. That in itself is very impressive considering how good this film turned out. Looking forward to seeing more of his work or the sequel. Methodic's ending definitely leads it into a great sequel where it will answer more questions about the mysterious Dollman too!