A BLOODY ASYLUM SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
A NEW RELEASE FROM JAY REEL
AN AWARD-WINNING SHORT FILM CURRENTLY SCREENING ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT
Writer/director/producer/editor Jay Reel is an independent DIY filmmaker based in the US who over the last 20 years has produced a feature and short movies with friends and locals within his home town of Mexia, Texas. My introduction to his work was a few years ago and DAWN YEAR SEVEN (the prequel to his 2003 feature DAWN), a distinctive vision of the vampire genre that forgoes expected tropes and cliches. This was followed up by the multi-award-winning short SHE MADE A MONSTER – without a doubt my favourite of his films. A laugh-out-loud, crazy, fun creature feature that I have rewatched several times. Both can be found on YouTube and I reviewed. While the production values are inevitably limited, what typifies them both is heart and soul, alongside Reel’s obvious passion for moviemaking no matter the challenges and hurdles.
His latest is yet another change of pace with CHRISTAL. A surprisingly touching and reflective supernatural revenge film. Wherein we first meet the titular character’s father as he is dealing with the grief of her murder when she appears to him as a ghost and wanting to lead him to her killer.
Reel told The Bloody Asylum of the inspiration, “Honestly, this one came to mind after my best friend Barry passed away last December. I was working on a ghost story at the time and the focus changed to a story about life and death and good and evil. The feeling was I also needed to add some levity so I didn’t depress the audience too much.”
CHRISTAL is a very personal piece to Reel, which can be felt throughout. In the process effectively eschewing the usual jump scares, blood, gore, and splatter for a more dramatic approach. With a cast of non-professional actors who doing just enough, especially with dialogue heavy scenes, to make the narrative engaging. Megan McGuffee as Christal has a convincing chemistry with Bruce Fitch as Christal’s father, with both sharing riveting third act scenes with Parrish Randall, where the twist took me by surprise.
The choice of black and white gives an appropriate melancholic, moderately dreamlike feel enhanced by co-producer Fitch’s beautiful score. Reel says of this monochromatic choice, “My first film DAWN I started filming in color but after a test knew it had to be a black and white film as it seemed to fit the story and look.” Adding, “Some of my favorite images were captured in this film [CHRISTAL] . Megan (Christal) walking down barefoot on a blazing hot road top. Her peaking up at the foot of the bed, that smile as blood sprays in her face. And the hand coming out of the grave.”
CHRISTAL is unconventional genre fare and does not fall squarely into the horror bracket, which sets it apart from many horror films. While there is no denying it has shortcomings, due to expected budgetary constraints and the non-professional actors, its strength lies in its distinctiveness, substance, heart, and soul at the core. Those who favour independent films of this type and something different, as I do, will appreciate and find much to admire.
In conclusion, CHRISTAL is a fairly gripping, engaging, dramatic character-driven supernatural horror that I will happily return to.
The final words I will leave to Reel
“It’s such an unusual story, I’m both worried and excited about how people are going to react to it.”
CHECK OUT THE TRAILER:
Original The Bloody Asylum Facebook post:
MR GEEKY 