Josh Bell
This week’s minor VOD releases feature atmospheric explorations of grief, drugs, and natural disasters, plus a spectral assassin and commandos fighting aliens.
Bury Me When I’m Dead (VOD July 18): By the time something vaguely supernatural happens to grieving flower-shop owner Henry Samsa (Devon Terrell) in writer-director Seabold Krebs’ morose drama, it’s far too late to generate any suspense or dread. Krebs spends the first half of the movie on a soporific terminal-illness story, as Henry’s wife Catherine (Charlotte Hope) learns that she’s dying of brain cancer. The muted color palette, droning score, and hushed dialogue create a sense of numbness for both Henry and the viewer, and there’s no emotional impact to Catherine’s inevitable death. Henry’s feeling of being cursed for ignoring Catherine’s dying wish to be buried in a forest near her childhood home manifests in brief hints and flashes, but it’s never creepy or disturbing. Krebs spends more time on Henry’s battle with Catherine’s wealthy asshole father, who’s determined to ruin his son-in-law’s life. The movie plods along toward a ridiculous ending that undermines the somber, melancholy tone and offers no justification for any of the preceding mysticism. Grade: C-
No Sleep Till (Select theaters July 18; Metrograph at Home July 20): The calm before the storm in writer-director (and Omnes Films member) Alexandra Simpson’s debut feature may be a little too calm, and it takes some time to get on the wavelength of this slow, elliptical ensemble drama set in a coastal Florida town under threat of a major hurricane. Simpson follows a handful of residents who are hesitant to evacuate, but this isn’t a movie about impending danger or sudden disaster. It’s about in-between moments when something major looks like it’s about to happen, but could equally just amount to nothing. That describes the hurricane as well as the apparent life circumstances of the characters, all of whom are stuck in their own liminal spaces. A pair of friends head to Philadelphia for dubious-sounding stand-up comedy opportunities, a storm-chaser fails to catch any storms, a teenage girl returns home to a handwritten break-up note, and other characters engage in various inscrutable endeavors. The minimalist plotting can be frustrating, but the vibes (and the images of the Florida landscape) are enthralling. Grade: B-
Ghost Killer (VOD July 22): Several collaborators from Japan’s cult-favorite Baby Assassins franchise team up for this winning supernatural action comedy, featuring Baby Assassins star Akari Takaishi as a timid college student who becomes linked with the spirit of a dead yakuza hitman (Masanori Mimoto). He insists that the only way for her to get rid of him is to enact his revenge, but first he helps her dispatch some especially toxic men in her life. Takaishi and Mimoto have a fun mismatched-buddy dynamic as the hardened killer and his reluctant accomplice, and Takaishi deftly switches personalities when the characters inhabit the same body. She shifts instantly from terrified to hyper-competent, while maintaining a running dialogue with herself. Both stars show off their fighting skills, but Ghost Killer is just as entertaining when they’re bickering or strategizing. The finale goes on a bit too long, and the inner workings of the main criminal organization are not particularly interesting, but there’s plenty of lively banter and cleverly staged action along the way. Grade: B
Osiris (VOD and select theaters July 25): If characters in DTV action movies are going to spend 75 percent of their time skulking through corridors, then it helps if those corridors look like actual physical locations. That’s one thing that prolific DTV action filmmaker William Kaufman gets right in this otherwise tedious sci-fi thriller, about a group of Special Forces operatives abducted by aliens and trapped in a labyrinthine spaceship. The aliens are essentially off-brand Predators, but they’re also created via impressive practical effects, and they have as much weight and presence as the walls and doorways that the characters are endlessly cycling past. But cool creature design only counts for so much, and everything else about Osiris is underwhelming, from the dodgy world-building to the repetitive action scenes to the generic performances. Max Martini is on grizzled autopilot as the squad leader, and Brianna Hildebrand and Linda Hamilton affect half-hearted Russian accents as fellow captives on the ship. After the characters take out a few badass aliens, there’s not much to stick around for. Grade: C
Snorkeling (VOD July 25): Why do filmmakers come up with such dumb names for their fictional drugs? It’s hard to imagine teens getting excited about something called “snorkeling,” but that’s what this movie presents as the latest craze, a highly addictive hallucinogen inhaled via a mask attached to a canister. When awkward introvert Michael (Daniel Zolghadri) finally talks to his high school crush Jameson (Kristine Froseth), she asks him, “Do you snorkel?” and of course the answer has to be yes. What follows is a familiar story of addiction-fueled romance, presented in such an impressionistic blur that the characters never progress beyond one-dimensional ciphers. Seemingly half of the slim 73-minute running time is filled with clichéd “trippy” imagery, a mix of distorted pink-hued live-action and slightly more creative animation. The characters speak in poetic platitudes, in voiceover and in direct-to-camera interviews whose context is unclear. Maybe the wispiness is meant to emulate a drug trip, but it ends up more like a school PSA from adults trying to sound hip. Grade: C
