But there are so many important things about performance
Synopsis
When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 70-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it.. In a 2024 interview with Points of Reviews, Chris Nash spoke about the reason for doing a substantial reshoot: "I would say that we reshot 70% of the film. That number fluctuates depending on my mood, but it's around 70%. We did four weeks of shooting in a completely different location with a different lead actor who succumbed to a medical problem a week and a half into the production. So we had to replace our main "monster man" actor. He's in a costume the entire film, so I thought if we could find somebody the same size, same build, roughly, then we could get away with making the change.
It's just watching somebody walk and move and studying their behavior
How they carry themselves, the gait of their walk, the weight of their footfalls; all of that mattered so much. We only realized how much that mattered once we did a rough assembly of those first four weeks and could see the stark differences. They're almost imperceptible until you realize that this is really the entire movie. But that was only one of the reasons we felt it necessary to pick up production and start again completely. Another, perhaps more selfish, reason was that I'd always envisioned this to be shot in Northern Ontario using that wilderness. That's where I'm from, and where we were initially shooting didn't have the same feeling.
The trees didn't feel the same
Everything felt different and too uncanny for what I wanted. Having the opportunity to reshoot, I was adamant with my producing partners that I would love to return to my hometown and call in every favor I could from every friend and family member. It's not like we had the same budget to work with to get it all done, and luckily, a lot of our crew stuck with us. A lot of our actors stuck with us, and we managed to pull it all together. There is one shot from the original film. It's a five or six-second shot that was included, and it's the most expensive shot in the film by far.".
The chains make absolutely no sound
After shooting Johnny, the ranger has Colt throw a pile of chains at Johnny's feet. Referenced in Film Junk Podcast: Episode 961: In a Violent Nature + TIFF 2024 (2024). Lessons Not Learned (The 1980 Damascus Missile Explosion)Written and Performed by Jess LaneCourtesy of Jess Lane. Disclaimer: this film is only intended for slasher fans. Ones who love the cliches and tropes of the genre and want to see them flipped on their head and played around with. The change of POV, the off camera kills slowly dwindling away until everything in its practical effects glory is displayed with a refusal to turn the camera from anything, and the (in a good way) head scratching ending.This review isn't to gatekeep this film, it's just to let people know who the intended audience is.
The early review to this film were very negative so I was bracing for a bad time but was surprised
I've seen many films where I wasn't the intended audience and the point of the film was lost on me. This is one of those rare love letters to the genre that really requires additional watching of at least the classics to see what the director was going for. Otherwise it's just going to seem like senseless kills and walking around with no substance, where the true substance lies in the established features of the genre itself that it puts its twist on.Overall a fun time with some genuinely great moments and a must watch for slasher fans.