Director: J A Steel
Starring: J A Steel, Julie Corgill, Glen Jensen, Ben Bayless, Jody Mullins
The One Where I Don’t “Get” Denizen, Because It Turns Out I AM A Film Snob
Out of all of the screeners Phil had sent, I had a feeling about Denizen. Maybe it was the front cover that just had teeth. Violent, scary looking teeth.
Or maybe it was the promise of it being a “J.A Steel Film”, which just sounds like a brilliant name for a Director.
Maybe it was even the fact I had to Google Denizen, as it I had no idea what the word meant. (On doing so, out of interest, it turns out J.A Steel is the main lead in the film, a ferocious looking woman, with Linda Hamilton abs).
So why do I feel so hollow? So empty?
Well, essentially I have learnt a major lesson doing these screeners. There is a major difference between films of different budgets. Now, that’s nothing new. We all love films; we know that is the case. But what has surprised me is how good, and how professional Dark Hour can look, whereas Denizen looks like it was shot in J.A Steels back garden. That doesn’t mean it’s with out its charm, but it just looks and feels so much cheaper than anything else I have watched thus far.
It would be fair to throw this back at me that that makes Denizen perfect Friday night fodder. Maybe a drinking game for every time someone fluffed their lines, but they kept it in. Or every time the creature appears, in what can only be described as a Snipers ghillie suit.
What I love about films is that someone reading this so far, (and hey, thanks for reading!), will be scrambling to rent/buy this a.s.a.p. Each to their own. And amen to that. With out sounding like a film snob though, I’ve never been into B Movies, or straight to DVD films, that feature homemade blood. (Seriously, seriously looked like ketchup).
Shit. I just sounded like a film snob, didn’t I?
I hope not. I’m more than up for a drinking game whilst getting pizzas in and watching a film. It’s just I would choose to watch Commando.
The Arnie reference there is quite deliberate, actually. This is presumably J.A Steels (I still love typing that. Great name. Great name), Predator. We get the Army versus Creature set up that we would want, but the film just makes odd decisions. Like the fact the creature needs to be in water, and be hit by a dart gun thing, that will send electricity to the pylon, whilst stock footage of a fighter plane flies over and bombs a research lab.
Actually, looking back on it, that dart gun was tiny. Really, really small. Maybe I missed the joke? Was it all tongue in cheek? Was it deliberately low budget? I haven’t seen enough to know. Part of me hopes it was deliberate. I like the idea of making an 83-minute film, whilst flicking V’s at any other Hollywood creature flicks.
But in actuality, I like the other option better. J.A Steel is out there, working her ass (and awesome abs) off, making films. Simple as. She isn’t in line to make Terminator 5, so she is out creating her own worlds. Her own creatures. Her own action scenes. (With home made blood). Her own films.
And that is more than most of us can say.
And so, I look forward to “Blood Fare”.
