You can check out poster explorations, trailers, pictures, and the first 6 minutes of the movie online.
There’s even an option for getting your name in the new film. Expect a Spring DVD release date.
I have mixed feelings about APSK. At first, I was left with a general feeling of being ripped-off, but afterwards I continued to think about the movie over the next few days and over time I’ve revised my position on it. For starters, given that I DID actually think about the movie after it was over (which I don’t often do) means that it succeeded – for me – at some level. If you are not offended by the subject matter of this movie, and the marketing materials should make it obvious to you – there’s no guesswork here, I would recommend this movie to anyone on this board if for no other reason than to show you that homemade movies CAN get distributed.
Director Ryan opted to go for a certain look/style for the movie – he wanted it to look like homemade torture porn. Conveniently, this meant that the actual shoot required practically no production value. Bad lighting, bad sound, bad angles, bad composition – all present in this movie, and all can be summarily excused on the pretense that a kidnapper/torturer won’t bother with these aesthetic qualities. Very true. Very convenient for the filmmakers. Is it laziness or brilliance? I can’t decide. I’ve seen other short projects by Ryan, so I know he is capable of more artistic imagery. This movie is practically void of what you would call traditional artistic imagery…so you are forced to find it elsewhere. And it is there to be found…I think…and I am still thinking.
The best feature of this movie is the acting performance by Michiko Jimenez. Her nervous naiveté was completely convincing. Shane Ryan’s performance was rather non-descript in comparison – probably on purpose. I suspect his character was not meant to be too overwhelming, giving him that normal “everyday-guy” quality. Also, he spent most of his time behind the camera, allowing Jimenez more time to shine.
The worst part of the movie is the faux scratchy/jittery film effect. It just did not work. You admit in the movie that it takes place in the age of video (VHS rental stores). With film being so impractical, why would Ryan’s character be supposedly working with film?
SPOILERS BELOW
This movie laid some effective groundwork. The pacing was slow, but believable. What I did not care for was the end. This is a little difficult to explain … You, as the filmmakers, asked us to patiently wait through the buildup, the slow pacing, the nervous anxiety with the expectation that there will be an exciting conclusion as the pay-off at the end. In this regard, I feel the ending fell short. It was too calm, too quick, too quiet. I’m not sure what happened with Jimenez’ performance, but when she was being suffocated, I didn’t sense that she was very alarmed. It would have probably been acceptable had her previous performance not been so strong up to that point. All I could think of while watching the murder scene was – “They’re shooting this in a rented motel room and they’re keeping quiet so none of the other patrons get alarmed and call the police.” There should come a point in a torture scene when the victim finally realizes they are doomed. That is when they have their moment to fall into despair and your heart should go out to them. It didn’t happen. There was a good premise here, but I think the viewers might have been owed a better ending.
Overall, I’ll go back to my original statement – I have mixed feelings about this movie. I can’t decide if it the good qualities of the movie make up for its deficiencies. I do, however, suggest that if you are intrigued by the premise…you should check it out and decide for yourself.
