From: Myspace THE GRAND HORROR (DVD)

EXECUTIONER: CRAIG McGEE

Written & Directed by: MaT Kister

Starring: T.J. Roe, Jeremy Cech, Steve Eaton, Rhyann Crooks, Robert Kister, Pam King

QUICK FIX:

On the run from a wild zombie outbreak, six people take refuge in an old theatre somewhere in Nebraska. As soon as they realize that the flesh-eaters aren't breaking through the glass doors to snag their next course of fresh brains and start to question why this is, strange & eerie things begin happening. Could it be that our rag tag group of survivors have just been spared the frying pan only to land in the proverbial fire of a haunted theatre? You bet your ass they have. Let the supernatural mind games & ghostly stalkings begin!!

RAMBLINGS:

For the first time in quite possibly a decade, I'm actually at a loss for words. From what I learned about this flick before I watched it, I honestly have to say that my expectations going in were less than zero. Why, you may or may not ask? For starters, reasons like these:

* It's the company's first feature length horror film.

* All parties involved, from the actors all the way up to the crew, had absolutely no experience in making a feature length film of any kind prior to this.

* Most all of the dialogue was adlibbed on the spot.

* The total budget for the flick was, give or take, $300. Yes, you read that right - $300.

I had no idea that that was even possible. The first Evil Dead flick cost exponentially more than $300 to make waaaaaaaaaay back in the early 80's, and for years it was considered to be the ultimate in low-to-no-budget filmmaking. I'm not comparing ED to The Grand Horror in terms of standing them side by side and picking them apart – they're too different for that – I'm just trying to paint a budget picture for everyone because after seeing this flick three times now, it still boggles my mind. That's why it's also harder for me to review this flick, as it's a true amateur film in every sense of the word, but it's also pretty fucking entertaining to watch. That basically means that while I'm not by any means holding it to the higher standards of a professional film, I'll still give it an honest review based on what I witnessed and how I felt about it all.

The actors/actresses, I'm just going to assume, all came from the same college in Nebraska as the writer/director. I liked them all. From the gung-ho leader T.J. to the scared little girl Pam, they all did a wonderful job. Of course they aren't professionals yet, but they could be someday if they keep working at it. I try not to single out favorites, but in this case I just couldn't help myself. The character of Steve is one of those very rare sarcastic, whiny, cinematic assholes that you root for the death of not because the actor himself is so annoying, but because the acting is so good that he makes you truly hate the bastard and pray for his death, while at the same time hoping he doesn't die because he's so entertaining. There's some funny shit here, trust me. I also had a favorite ghost, in the form of the blood-spitting, machete-wielding Ali down in The Void.

Writer/Director Kister did a great job at keeping things moving along at a decent pace, the story was interesting, and the blood flowed rather nicely. I also sensed a huge infusion of J-horror influence here, especially when it came to a couple of the ghosties. Nothing wrong with that at all, especially when the dripping seawater that we're so used to seeing is instead replaced with blood. I'm looking forward to Kister's next effort with great anticipation now.
Once again, my friends, this is a true indie film in the sense that you're not going to find it at a video store near you anytime soon, if ever. Sad, but true. So as always, I have all the answers for you; the version I watched was an advance screener, but I'm told that the real deal DVD will be ready for purchase sometime this summer. Start saving your pennies now, as I really think that any ghost story fan will groove to it easily. You can keep an eye out for the release date of the DVD as well as keep tabs on the progress of the next Dead Lantern Pictures production at either of these sites:

http://www.deadlantern.com or http://www.myspace.com/thegrandhorror

LAST WORDS:

If you're up for a cool ghost story in the purest sense of amateur indie horror, give The Grand Horror a spin. Sure it has its flaws – what do you expect for $300? But, those flaws don't take away from the enjoyment of the flick at all. I cared about the characters, I dug the story, the suspense was there, the blood was spit forth properly…honestly, what more could you ask for?

3 ½ out of 5 severed heads