WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
Natural Selection is a lot fun. It's also a promising first step for director, Mark Bristol, boasting fine work from screenwriters, B.J. Burrow & Allen Odom, as well as impressive technical credits for a film of its budget, most notably eerie and evocative cinematography by Rhett Bear and excellent production design by Jennifer Bristol.
For purposes of quick comparison, the movie which comes to mind as most similar is Natural Born Killers. Though, it must be said, that in Natural Selection the emphasis is placed squarely on dark comedy and not explicit violence.
The film concerns itself with the final days of Willlie Dickinson's reign of terror in the small Texas town of Whitehills. Willie (menacingly played by Michael Bowen), a postman in addition to being a serial killer, finds himself the prey of two psychopaths - one, a serial killer wannabe named Glen who is nicely played by Darren Burrows (Ed from TV's Northern Exposure), and the other, an FBI agent named Dehoven who believes he is hunting vampires. Dehoven is played by David Carradine in a touching homage to his father, John Carradine. It is a delight to watch him pull his glasses on and off and jut his chin out in mannerisms that are pure John Carradine.
Commenting on the action, is a hilarious documentary which boasts appearances by Newsradio's Stephen Root as a bereaved father and Bob Balaban as an addled psychologist who admits he knows nothing about the killer or his motivation but nonetheless feels compelled to expound endlessly on the killings.
Still, the film belongs to Bristol who creates some wonderfully eerie and poetic images. A bound victim struggling in slow motion to escape a darkened house. Carradine's FBI Agent standing under a solitary street light breathing in a crime scene. The same FBI Agent's vampire hallucinations, which are both startling and genuinely frightening. Switching gears to the video based documentary, Bristol shows himself to be equally deft with comedy, including an inspired bit of slapstick involving a shotgun and some dim-witted hunters and a funny, yet achingly painful bit with Stephen Root as the father of the above referenced bound victim.
The film does have it's faults. It is too long by about 5 or 10 minutes and could be edited a bit more crisply, moving from punch line to punch line without spending the time on set-ups, and the use of religious mania to explain the psychosis of Carradine's FBI agent does not work at all. - better if we never know why and just concentrate on his actions.
But, all in all, this is an entertaining and promising first feature of which all involved can be proud. It should be quite popular with college and festival audiences.
Natural Selection is a lot fun. It's also a promising first step for director, Mark Bristol, boasting fine work from screenwriters, B.J. Burrow & Allen Odom, as well as impressive technical credits for a film of its budget, most notably eerie and evocative cinematography by Rhett Bear and excellent production design by Jennifer Bristol.
For purposes of quick comparison, the movie which comes to mind as most similar is Natural Born Killers. Though, it must be said, that in Natural Selection the emphasis is placed squarely on dark comedy and not explicit violence.
The film concerns itself with the final days of Willlie Dickinson's reign of terror in the small Texas town of Whitehills. Willie (menacingly played by Michael Bowen), a postman in addition to being a serial killer, finds himself the prey of two psychopaths - one, a serial killer wannabe named Glen who is nicely played by Darren Burrows (Ed from TV's Northern Exposure), and the other, an FBI agent named Dehoven who believes he is hunting vampires. Dehoven is played by David Carradine in a touching homage to his father, John Carradine. It is a delight to watch him pull his glasses on and off and jut his chin out in mannerisms that are pure John Carradine.
Commenting on the action, is a hilarious documentary which boasts appearances by Newsradio's Stephen Root as a bereaved father and Bob Balaban as an addled psychologist who admits he knows nothing about the killer or his motivation but nonetheless feels compelled to expound endlessly on the killings.
Still, the film belongs to Bristol who creates some wonderfully eerie and poetic images. A bound victim struggling in slow motion to escape a darkened house. Carradine's FBI Agent standing under a solitary street light breathing in a crime scene. The same FBI Agent's vampire hallucinations, which are both startling and genuinely frightening. Switching gears to the video based documentary, Bristol shows himself to be equally deft with comedy, including an inspired bit of slapstick involving a shotgun and some dim-witted hunters and a funny, yet achingly painful bit with Stephen Root as the father of the above referenced bound victim.
The film does have it's faults. It is too long by about 5 or 10 minutes and could be edited a bit more crisply, moving from punch line to punch line without spending the time on set-ups, and the use of religious mania to explain the psychosis of Carradine's FBI agent does not work at all. - better if we never know why and just concentrate on his actions.
But, all in all, this is an entertaining and promising first feature of which all involved can be proud. It should be quite popular with college and festival audiences.