20151107: Horror Review--Compound Fracture

Name: Compound Fracture (2013)
IMDb: link to IMDb

Genres: Horror, Thriller    Country of Origin: USA.

Cast: Muse Watson as Gary Wolffsen, Tyler Mane as Michael Wolffsen, Alex Saxon as Brandon, Renae Geerlings as Juliette, Susan Angelo as Chloe, Leslie Easterbrook as Annabelle, Derek Mears as William, Jelly Howie as Christine.

Directed by:  Anthony J. Rickert-Epstein.  Written by: Renae Geerlings and Tyler Mane.

Tyler Mane, Muse Watson

The Three Acts:

The initial tableaux:  The movie starts with a homecoming.  Michael Wolfssen and his fiancee Juliette drive to his wealthy father's (Gary Wolfssen) house.  Michael left home in his late teens, and never came back until now, just after his sister Chloe's death. Michael and Juliette bring his nephew Brandon with them. Brandon is not hostile to Michael, but he is not open or talkative in the least, partly because he is having visions.  The family estate looks different to Michael.  Now there are walls, cameras, and all sorts of talismans on display.  Gary lapses into dementia now and then, featuring paranoia and secretiveness.

Delineation of conflicts:  Gary beat Michael's mother, who then left him.  Despite Gary's wealth, he contributed no dollars to treating her subsequent cancer. Michael is not happy on those scores, nor on the fact that Gary beats his new wife, Annabelle.  The paranoia is bearing down on everyone. Also weighing everyone down are the consequences of the manner of Chloe's death.  The reason for the paranoia is not revealed early on, but once it is, the whole remaining family has to work better together to fight it.

Resolution: Not everyone survives but the evil is largely broken.  So it's a bleak film, but not jet black.

One line summary: A broken family fights the curse it put upon itself.

Statistics:
  a. Cinematography: 5/10 There are too many issues with focus, framing, camera movement, and insufficient light.

  b. Sound: 7/10 Better than the lighting.

  c. Acting: 7/10 Muse Watson (NCIS, I Saw What You Did Last Summer), Tyler Mane (X-Men, Halloween reboot), Derek Mears (Friday the 13th reboot, True Blood), and Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy series) all were familiar and competent.  The bit players read their lines, but were not much better than that.

  d. Screenplay: 4/10 Short on motivation, long on 'where is that coming from?'

Final rating: 6/10 I'm glad I saw it, but I would not give it a strong recommendation.  If this group does another film, I hope they spend more time on the script.