Bystanders (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts | Predators become the prey - video Dailymotion

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1 year ago

Some frat boys get their comeuppance in this darkly comic revenge horror, which has a provocative and inspired premise, but Film Brain thinks it doesn't live up to it.

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00:00The predators become the prey in the horror-revenge film Bystanders.

00:05Brandi Botkin's Abby and her friends go to a frat party,

00:08only to be drugged, abused and then hunted by the boys.

00:12Abby escapes and flags a car belonging to a homicidal couple,

00:15played by Garrett Murphy and the film's writer Jamie Alvae,

00:19who turn the tables on the frat boys.

00:21This is the direct-tour debut of Mary Beth McAndrews,

00:24the editor-in-chief of genre publication Dread Central,

00:27whose film arm is distributing the film,

00:29and the subject matter is a very personal one as a survivor herself.

00:33The revenge film is a contentious sub-genre, often criticised as exploitive,

00:37but defenders argue that it offers a catharsis,

00:39and more recent examples directed by women like Blink Twice

00:42or Coraline Vachon's Revenge have tried to give it a feminist subversion.

00:47It's in that vein that McAndrews and Alvae tap into,

00:50and the premise is an absolute killer,

00:52adding some surprising pitch-black humour into the mix.

00:55And the film is heavy on the catharsis,

00:57even rushing through what should be its first act to get to it quicker,

01:01although thankfully the very worst stuff is only briefly implied.

01:05Playing like Last House on the Left meets Dexter,

01:08with the latter getting name-dropped,

01:09the retribution is often sadistically prolonged,

01:12sometimes uncomfortably so,

01:15even if it is always satisfying to see monstrously entitled brats get their comeuppance.

01:20The concept almost feels like a self-critique

01:23in that we're watching killers versus killers,

01:25but hey, at least one side has standards.

01:28Sadly, despite the potent premise,

01:30the execution doesn't live up to it.

01:34Bystanders falls prey to many of the pitfalls of micro-budget films,

01:37with a very rough sound mix,

01:39inconsistent performances,

01:41and too reliant on minimal camera setups,

01:43all symptoms of having more passion than money to shoot.

01:47You don't even need to look hard to see the film that Bystanders wants to be,

01:50one that's edgy, dangerous and angry,

01:53but it's too unrefined to meet its potential.

01:56But there's enough bloody ambition here

01:57that I hope that McAndrews gets the resources to do our ideas justice next time.

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