Fell (2010)

Review by Heather Henshaw

There are so many horror movies out there and a lot of the time you have to watch a lot of bad ones to find a gem. In horror lots of directors go for gore, sex, and all that fun stuff that we all dearly love but every now and then a director takes a different path on the plot of a film and that is exactly what Marcus Koch did on this film. This film is the remains of a failed film that was over 70% done and was literally made in only a few days. Now, most people would think, “Ugh another rushed film that I am going to be tortured with,” but Fell is refreshing and a good story all the way around.

Marcus Koch, the director, is a well known FX artist who has made his name fairly known (he’s even been called the new Tom Savini). He has done some very gory films such as 100 Tears, Nikos the Impaler, and many more, but Fell ventures in to a mind-screw sub-genre of horror. Fell is a story about a guy named Bill (Jeff Dylan Graham) who seems to have mental problems. The movie starts off with Bill trying to scrub blood up off the bathroom floor and a body in the bath tub. Bill has just broke up with his girlfriend Jenny (Katie Walters) and that sends Bill farther into depression almost to the breaking point. Bill mentally deteriorates over a fairly short period of time and how he deals with it is compelling cinema. Bill’s friend Derrik (Kristian Day) comes over and tries to cheer Bill up about his break up with Jenny. Derrik comes over a few times and Bill finally decides to show him the body. During this time after showing the body Bill has many flashbacks to times with Jenny and meeting with the therapist (Barron Christian) about his feelings on the break up. Bill is only concerned with getting rid of the body… and the rest would spoil it for you. Rest assured, Fell’s ending is well worth the build up.

Most indie horror movies have really bad acting that is almost forgivable, for the most part, but this movie is far from one of those. Jeff Dylan Graham does such a fantastic job in this film that it even won him a best performance award for his role as Bill. I have seen Jeff in many films and he has always had a strong presence in the films so to finally see Jeff as the lead role was refreshing. Jeff delivers a powerful performance as Bill, psychologically wearing down throughout the film. I hope to see Jeff in many more lead roles. Katie Walters as well did a great job as Jenny. For someone who has not been in the movie scene long her performance was strong. Katie’s range includes the passionate caring girlfriend to the uptight bitch. That kind of actress can be hard to find who can switch so well but she is defiantly on for the role if needed. Kristian Day despite his not so keen dance moves can act. He is the upbeat friend who tries to get Bill up and living life. Kristian’s role is calls for him to be really caring toward Bill and Kristian pulls it off. I must say this cast was amazingly good and I do not think there could have been any better choices for Fell.

Fell did amazingly well at the Blood Bath 2 Festival in Dallas, Texas. Jeff Dylan Graham took the best actor award and I am sure it will take many more awards at other showings. This movie may not be a slasher, blood and guts film but it is worth the watch and buy once it is out and or being shown in your area. It was nice to see a good horror film that did not really on killing everyone and just add more blood to win me or the audience over! I give kudos to Marcus and the rest for making such a quality movie in just a very few days and on no budget.