REVIEW OF THE ROOST DVD
I love it when this happens. A movie arrives, unbidden mind you, in my mailbox and a friend comes over to look at the never-ending pile of what must be viewed picks that particular film up and says, "This looks like it might be fun." A peek at the box art suggests exactly that, it might be fun, it might also be the movie equivalent of Dramamine-minus the drama. But this time my eye caught the name of the production company- Glass Eye Pix.
Glass Eye Pix is the home of filmmaker director writer actor janitor Larry Fessenden whose films Wendigo and Habit are widely regarded as classics of independent horror cinema. Turns out Fessendon served as Executive Producer on Roost as well as playing a bit part. Basically, anything Fessendon is involved in gets my attention. I'm still dying to see The Last Winter and Wendigo Gets better everytime I watch it. Mostly Glass Eye product seems to be made by people who desperately love film and want to expand its boundaries.
What did I expect exactly? That The Roost would be fun, have imaginative well executed special effects and offer solid suspense. I absolutely got all that. This isn't a great film but it is a solidly entertaining B-Film and even offers a ghoulish looking Tom Noonan (Manhunter, The Pledge, ) as a TV Horror Show host who periodically breaks in on the action of the mundane plot to let us know we’re watching a movie. Of course he doesn’t need to since the plot is the most basic any horror film could ask for.
A group of friends break down and walk to a lonely farmhouse where, unbeknownst to them mom and pop farmer have just been slaughtered by wicked looking vampire type bats. Of course they get separated; of course they wander off to the huge old barn alone in the dark. And of course these bats turn everyone they bite/kill into zombie like flesh eaters. Some won't like the experimental qualities of film's look and there's no doubt the graininess employed is a bit much at times but on the whole the scares are original, the makeup genuinely gruesome and the whole film is clearly made by people who care about the genre.
Be warned that people who don't like this movie seem not to like it at all- even a little bit- my guess is they are thrown by the lack of originality in the premise and aren't monster movie fans. The Roost steals it's best bit from Michael Hanecke's Funny Games (see if you can spot it) but it none the less emerges as an above average entry in a genre that needs new life and new blood.
As with almost all Glass Eye pictures the DVD contains at least one great Special Feature. In this case it's a student film from director Ti West that's funny, suspenseful and makes it clear we'll probably be seeing interesting things from a filmmaker clearly in touch with the horror form.
