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Review by Terrence Kelsey |
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USA Release: 2009 Glass Eye Pix Rated: Unrated |
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What's a girl to do when everyone thinks she's crazy, when in actuality she is quite sane (and intelligently clever to boot).
Meet Faron (played by rising young starlet Courtney Halverson: THE OPEN DOOR, GODSPEED) - a young, lonely teenager who five years earlier was sent away to a mental institution at the age of 11 for shooting and nearly killing a local weatherman. Apparently, she believed she was on a secret mission by alien beings.
Cut to the present, Faron's reputation hasn't gotten any better. She tries to adjust to life as a normal high school teenager, but her peers and adults alike all fear her, no matter how hard she attempts to fit in.
Even two precocious prepubescent girls, Kaitlin and Jamie (Carly Hayes & Lydia Milner respectively) are afraid of her, though that doesn't stop them from spying on her. See, they know something about Faron, but for their own personal reasons, we're not exactly sure of what that is. But in due time, all is revealed.
The story centers around a game console that certain people in Faron's past have been mysteriously killed over. The tricky thing about this console is that it is not a game at all, and it supposedly has the power do serious damage to the world if it falls into the wrong hands.
Faron, acting like a sleuth, tracks down the whereabouts of the console and soon realizes that she's not alone in her quest. Other nefarious folks are also searching for the console and Faron as well.
The plot of this film deserves a MUCH BIGGER budget than what the filmmakers had at their disposal. Filming within their means, the majority of the action takes place off screen and is explained in exposition. Normally, I would frown on this. But I have to give writer/director John William Ross credit for going forth with this production in this manner, instead of attempting any poorly executed visual fx and action set pieces that their meager budget couldn't cover.
What kept my interest, in what is essentially a genre-oriented after-school special, is the solid performance from Halverson. Carrying nearly the entire film on her shoulders, she does an exemplary job as the troubled lass who simply wants to find acceptance from her fellow classmates.
Another major standout is the fluid dolly shots & steadicam moves from cinematographer Kelly Richard, who shot FREAKY FARON on a digital format. She did a very good job with the lighting and overall look to give the film as close to a cinematic viewing experience as possible. When compared to other "shot on DV/HD" micro-budget movies, FREAKY FARON hands down topples a lot of the competition.
Now, I do have some quibbles with the film. Some of the editing and composition of shots didn't appeal to me. Granted, that's my own personal aesthetic taste. However, I feel that some of the shots, camera angles and editing cuts used in certain scenes felt awkward and clumsy. In other cases , they were way too obvious in conveying the emotions within the scenes.
Also, because of the lack of funds available to realize this sci-fi thriller to its fullest potential, I am compelled to knock a point off. Without ever seeing the console and what it's allegedly capable of doing, I'm left feeling that the film is incomplete.
I'm assuming Ross had to resort to classic Hitchcockian story-telling methods of using the game console as a "MacGuffin". Then again that may have been his intention all along.
Still, FREAKY FARON makes for a good, decent time of flick viewing, if you can forgive the lack of "action" a story like this would normally need to keep the viewer riveted.
I give it 3 Shriek Girls.
This review copyright 2010 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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