Review for Siodmak

(Originally posted on fight-evil.com)

*This is my first-time viewing of the film*

This came as a surprise on a few different levels. Firstly, I was amazed I could find the film at all - on IMDb, it had just seven ratings, which doesn't generally an easy find make. But seconds later, boom - it's on YouTube, put up by the production company. Needless to say, I was pleased.

Siodmak is a simple story, but told in a more complex way. A serial killer has been hunting in New York City for decades, and the only one who believes in his existence is a video blogger, Nick LaRosa, whom no one takes seriously. But with the help of NYPD officer Angel Vega, who has had a tragic run-in with the serial killer, they soon discover some things weren't meant to be pried into. This is interspersed with scenes a day later, after the events that transpired, and focus on a medical examiner's examination of the killer, and learning about what brought him here. It's a more unique way to tell the story, and overall, I think it worked.

While the production was low, I think that most scenes were shot pretty well, and some in unique ways (a sequence near the end, with a reddish-auburn tint, comes to mind). As far as actors go, Masha Mendieta (Vega), Kit Lang (LaRosa), Russell Jordan (Dr. Feliz, Vega's psychiatrist), Krista Chandlee (the medical examiner), Madison Idoate Candelario (Vega's niece), and Michael Valentine (the killer) all stood out, doing a solid job.

Jordan, as the psychiatrist, had an almost Colin Salmon-feel to him. Mendieta and Lang, despite their short screen time together, really worked well, and had some of those small human elements that sometimes go amiss in bigger budget films. The killer, known as the New York Ripper, had a Michael Myers aura to him, helped by his featureless mask, which I rather enjoyed.

The music present was decent also - near the end, a record player can be heard playing hits such as "I Wanna Be Loved By You" (famously lip synced by Baby in House of 1000 Corpses) and "Hush, Hush, Hush (Here Comes The Boogie Man)" (from the credits of Jeepers Creepers), which was a nice touch.

For as much as I liked it, though, a few problems need be addressed, one being the run-time. Siodmak is one hour and fifty minutes long (or 110 minutes) - it's not a short movie, easy to digest. Siodmak makes you work for it. Many of the scenes are interesting, but after the third flashback or the ending portion taking the last thirty-five minutes, it might come across as a bit much.

There were also a few unanswered questions, not to mention what came across to me as a Hollywood ending which I was both disappointed but somewhat unsurprised by. A few audio issues were present, but that wasn't that much a deterrent. For what gore there was, I thought it was decent, though the focus of Siodmak wasn't gore, but the story told.

This movie was an interesting find. Was it an amazing movie? Not really. The story, while told in an interesting manner, wasn't overly original. That said, Siodmak is one lower-budget film that should have gotten more attention. Some surprising kills also stand out, a few I certainly wasn't expecting. It's a decent, above-average film, if you can get through the lengthy run-time. 7.5/10.