I spent a large part of my weekend attending the online version of the Soho Horror Film Festival, perfectly timed to provide films and "company" for horror fans who might also want to celebrate Pride, due to their own identity or, as is the case with myself, due to being an ally who also likes to check out a whole load of new movies whenever the opportunity arises. Here's the main site to keep an eye on all things related to the Soho Horror Film Festival, as well as SoHome Horror, and the next few weeks will see a number of blog entries taken up with reviews of the features I watched over the past few days. I won't guarantee that I loved everything scheduled, and there is certainly a case to be made for the fact that many within the LGBTQ+ community could find a lot more to appreciate (in terms of familiar experiences, journeys, and fears), but I'll do my best to at least get some word out there on every film I watched. And I made sure to watch them all, of course.
Starting off with someone spending a long time chatting on the phone before a knife-wielding killer enters the picture and looks ready to make a killing, Black Theta is an obvious homage to the Scream movies. It manages to be more than just that though, thanks mainly to a sharp script and some fun performances.
Writer-director Tim Connolly also stars as Andy, a young man who finds that his life is defined by one dark and dangerous night that he somehow managed to survive. While trying to process his feelings and regain some sense of normality, Andy soon endangers all those around him.
While it seems to be a very basic film, on the surface anyway, Black Theta has an interesting number of layers. You get the obvious nods and gags, some of which work brilliantly (including an opening scene that shows someone becoming frustrated with a voice-operated remote control in a scenario that has happened to me all too often), you get the characters and geography nicely set up for when a slasher starts the slashing, and you get the conversations between people who have very different approaches to dealing with the worst that life has thrown at them.
Considering how many jobs he has behind the camera (as well as writing and directing, he's credited as producer, composer, one of the cinematographers, and the editor), Connolly makes for a decent lead. He's easy to like, he's funny, and he's pretty believable. Emma Nossal plays the young woman, Jenna, who ends up getting becoming a friend after they meet in a group therapy session, and she's just as good as Connolly. And then there's William Hinson, playing a housemate named Luke. He's not as good as the other two, but has an enjoyably calm presence, at least until things descend into full mayhem. Kieler Avery does well in a supporting role, as do Chris Avetta and Kate Cummings, and there are a lot of other people all jostling to enjoy what could be their fifteen minutes of fame.
It's also a pleasant surprise to see that the killer, and the iconography of the killer, feels as if there's been some attempt to find even the smallest bit of originality to sprinkle throughout all of the more familiar beats.
There are plenty of flaws here though, and I don't want people to forget that this is every inch the low-budget indie. There's not much blood and gore, Connolly doesn't do nearly as well in the role of editor as he does in the role of writer (109 minutes feels far too long for this kind of thing, especially with some obvious pacing issues in the first half), and a large cast of potential victims makes it harder to care about them when that potential is finally realised.
Thankfully, the good certainly outweighs the bad. That script helps a lot, the thematic strands being woven together into the narrative rope are a major plus, and it all bodes well for whatever Connolly might do next, especially if he gets a higher budget to work with.
7/10
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