Roman is a lonely young man who yearns to find love, happiness and companionship. Tormented by his ungrateful co-workers and trapped in a life of tedium as a welder in a local factory, Roman's one pleasure is his obsession with the elusive beauty who lives in the apartment in his building complex. When a chance encounter with the young woman goes horribly wrong, a moment of frenzied desperation triggers a chilling turn of events leading to murder. As he teeters between deranged fantasy and cold reality, Roman's struggle to hide his grisly secret is further complicated by an eccentric neighbor who develops an unlikely attraction to Roman and forces herself into his dark and tortured world.
Review :
I like McKee's work and I like Bettis's work. He's the future of horror - more character study than out and out gore. She is the new face of horror - capable of selling a scene. While this isn't their best work, this is well worth watching.
Filled with the themes that seem to permeate much of their work so far (Namely, relationships and the hurdles one has to jump over to be in them) this is a very odd little movie. Quiet and unassuming, it focuses on the characters rather than the plot. While I'm not sold that McKee should ever be in front of the camera, he doesn't do badly in his title role in this movie.
However the movie loses a few points because of it's slowness and seemingly unfocused narrative. I'm not sold that this should have been feature length - it feels like it ought to have been a short subject.
On the third hand, Bettis is obviously trying new things. Her camera work in this movie is filled with interesting flourishes that really add some eye candy to the movie. And the soundtrack he paired to the images is interesting...
Overall, this is probably a recommended Buy - but rent it first to make sure, as this movie's style is not for everyone.
