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The film begins like a common road horror film such as The Hills Have Eyes and The Hitcher. Natalie Beesley is a hitchhiker who gets a ride from an upbeat traveling salesman Bill Busey. Once Bill crosses the line, Natalie gets her revenge and it becomes evident that there is far more to this girl than anything Natalie reveals. This causes her to encounter a drug dealer Brad Jurdi who is doing a pick-up for the dangerous criminal Rob Jones. Afterward, the two later trade spots with Jack Trejo at the fantastically named ‘Last Chance Hotel’ and things shift to a darker turn. These turns in the story intrigue me with the same excitement. They remind me of Tarrentino’s writing in From Dusk Till Dawn.
The scary figure of the piece is ‘Reaper,’ who is the main character of the story. This figure is an electricity wielding person that has escaped from a murderous cult he was formerly a part of. He manages to escape the prison’s death row after an electrical fault occurs and he learns to manipulate electricity during his surviving attempts. For example, during a shocker, he unleashes his magic. There are several allusions to religion here that are called out by the nervous motel owner Caine Justin Henry.
I thought that the characters in this film were well developed. This is even more impressive for a genre that normally focuses on killing off characters rather than telling believable stories. Trejo is easily able to master the role of a morally responsible hardened criminal, a character he has played many times before. He even brandishes a Machete in tribute to the best known character that he has played. Natalie is Beasley’s character and she is surprisingly great and I feel like she is growing new branches with this character as the story unfolds. Despite only appearing briefly, Bussey is great as Bill and really helps to kickstart this film; this is an impression I got from his success in the From Dusk Till Dawn TV series. I was also delighted by Jurdi’s performance as self-interested criminal Brad.
Clearly, the film does shadow it’s budgetary limitations but considering the post feedback while speaking to production design, special effects and cinematography, it is clear that animation is not a top priority. Without a doubt, the ‘Reaper’ character is the least detailed segment of the movie. It is not particularly bloody, there are no shocking scenes, but it does have a lot to boast for when it comes to the writing, direction, and top notch acting.
Whether or not the Reaper character would be good enough to base a sequel on is not for me to decide, but for a self contained film, it is indeed fun and worth watching for the devotee of this type of horror movie.
Signature Entertainment has taken care of the British distribution for Reaper, which is available on demand as well as in very limited DVD edition.
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