Directed and co-written by J. Horton (Craving, The Campus), A Hard Place was an entertaining indie horror whose special effects, makeup effects, and some iconic horror actors made up for a somewhat lack lustre story.
In the aftermath of a robbery that left one of their targets dead, the leader of a group of career criminals - Zenia (Lynn Lowry - Wolf Hollow, Cynthia, Whispers) takes them to a remote safe house in the middle of nowhere. This group who include among them tough guy, Hurt (Kevin Caliber - Craving, Tales of Frankenstein, The Campus), his violent girlfriend Candy (Jennifer Michelle Stone II - Dr. Gift), mild mannered Fish (Rachel Amanda Bryant - Craving, The Campus), and pragmatic White (Scott Alan Ward - Transient, Macabre Mountain, Craving), soon find themselves in a lot of trouble. Inexplicably, the woods they find themselves in are patrolled by monstrous tree-like creatures, and they quickly attack the group. Rescued by a large tribe of rednecks, the criminals are taken to the rednecks home, where the leader of them - Henrietta (Felissa Rose - Terrifier 2, The Demented, Sleepaway Camp) reveals to the newcomers an ancient feud between the rednecks and their wooden adversaries.
This begins weird and continues the trend by having an in-film zombie film constantly being played. This low budget horror film (featuring Bai Ling - Down Below, Night Caller, Crank: High Voltage) was low budget but was fun. I was a little disappointed when after this prologue it is revealed to be a movie characters are watching at a drive-in.
The actual film itself is also low budget, but not as much. I was immediately drawn to the lighting used for the film, early attacks by the tree monsters during broad daylight made for some lovely cinematography, accentuated by some strange angled shots that added to the unfolding horror. From start to end the lighting was wonderful, as were the special effects. The tree monsters looked fantastic, while people in monster suits, these creatures really stood out, making for memorable zombie-like antagonists. The redneck family had their own secrets as well, the make-up effects on them were also decent. There was CG used during transformation sequences and I was surprised that even these were neat to see happen on screen. There is a large cast, which made for a large body count. People are literally ripped apart, heads are torn off, and most amusing to watch where when the skin is ripped off of victims bodies, leaving just the skeleton behind! Not all of these looked the most realistic, but the energy of these scenes made up for a few dodgy looking body parts.
The large cast are a mixed bunch, and many fall into stereotypes. Most obvious of these was the redneck family who hoot and holler all over the place. Truthfully, I enjoyed the over the top acting, and the fun family dynamic here. The protagonists were also a mixed bunch, it was only really Fish who appealed, with the others criminal nature getting to be too flawed for my liking, especially with the trigger happy Candy. The feeling of outsiders getting caught up in a ridiculous and bloody feud was cool, but the actual plot was a little light on substance. There were not any real surprises to be found, and the story beats went along at a predictable pace. The large cast led to plenty of scenes of mayhem, with it culminating in a giant battle that forms the film's finale. There were maybe too many characters however, with little plot development given to almost all of them.
A Hard Place had some impressive looking special effects, and it was fun spotting all the different iconic horror actors. The story was a bit lacking though, as much as I normally prefer style over substance, I did wish that the plot had been a bit more memorable. Still, plenty of violent death scenes, great costume and makeup design made for an enjoyable horror. A Hard Place debuts on VOD on May 27th, streaming on all major platforms across North America.
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