Rockford, Illinois-based Plastic Age Productions is pleased to announce that our first feature length film, Raymond Did It, is NOW AVAILABLE for preorder on DVD!
Raymond Did It is a slasher film in the tradition of Halloween and Prom Night. When twelve-year-old Bryce Rourke (Trent Harr) is accidentally killed in a playground scuffle, his friends decide to blame Bryce's developmentally delayed older brother for the accident. Raymond (Kyle Hoskins) is taken to a state hospital while the true killer walks free.
Six years later, Raymond escapes from the hospital to seek bloody revenge for his brother's death.
The UNRATED DVD will be released on November 22nd. Fans can preorder a signed copy from writer/director Travis Legge at the Aegis online store.
Signed copies ordered by October 15th will ship by Halloween!
Plastic Age Productions is pleased to announce that indie slasher film Raymond Did It has been acquired for international distribution by R Squared Films!
The plot crunch: “When Bryce Rourke is accidentally killed in a playground scuffle, his friends blame his developmentally delayed older brother, Raymond, for the murder. Six years later, Raymond escapes from the state mental hospital to exact bloody revenge.”
More information on Independent Film Distributor R Squared Films can be found online at rsquaredfilms.com
Raymond Did It is scheduled to play theatrically in New York City's Anthology Film Archives on June 28th at 7:30 PM for details and advanced tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com
What's the difference between mainstream Hollywood horror/thrillers and Indie horror/thrillers? Money? Big names? Access to great locations? The answer is yes, all of the above. BUT, let's explore that a bit by using some of my favorite Indie horrors and comparing them to The Roommate. We'll start off with one I recently watched, Raymond Did It, which had an estimated budget of 40K, a couple of scream queens and they used the crew's houses (if I remember correctly) as their locations. Paranormal Activity burst onto the big screen on a budget of and estimated 15K, a cast of basically "unknowns" and was shot entirely in one apartment. The Dark Hours had a little bit of a bigger budget of 500K (estimated), a more "known" cast and was done in a cabin in the woods. Which brings me to Pontypool my Pontypool. It cracks the 1 mil mark and had the very well known Stephen McHattie in it but was done in the basement of a church. You're probably wondering why I'm bothering you with all this useless knowledge? I promise, I'll get to that and then you'll understand.
Sara (Minka Kelly) is a small town girl who comes to LA to study fashion. She ends up rooming with Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who seems nice enough at first. It's not long before the obsessive and extremely psychotic Rebecca grows envoious of anyone else in Sara's life and decides she would be better off without them.
I am not a Meester fan. In my opinion being able to pout your way through the entire film doesn't qualify you as a good actor. I've seen several of her films and I can honestly say that I didn't like her performance in any of them. Kelly just kinda grinned the entire time and I'm honestly not sure if Cam Gigandet can talk with his eyes open or not. Yes, it's cute and the teeny boppers will love it but come on! Characters that could've elevated the level of the film were ignored, i.e. Billy Zane and Danneel Harris, to the point of one minute they were there and the next gone with some stupid, shitty explanation of what happened to them. Maybe the oddest thing about the whole thing is after going through all the trouble to get rid of all the other people in Sara's life, Rebecca doesn't even target Gigandet. No, giving him a stupid look through a bookshelf is not considered scary or creepy it's just... weird.
This film was just all over the place. Almost like it was shot one way and then someone who wanted to fuck with Christian E. Christiansen snuck in and chopped the fuck out of it. Scenes that could've and should've been left out dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. There was very little discussion of Rebecca's psychosis... HELLO MCFLY... isn't that the whole focus of the story? If someone is a fucking nut job there's always a reason for it, be it an outside influence or just being dealt a fucked up hand in life. Either way, explain it! Someone should tell Sonny Mallhi that a simple little pout or pissy look can't tell the story for him. And not only that, it can sometimes be mistaken for constipation. When it was all said and done, this was nothing but an over glorified CW show that should've just been made for TV. See how nice I am, I'm not even gonna point out the fact that this was merely a rip off of the far superior 1992 Single White Female... oops, I didn't it anyway. My bad.
So, back to my opening remarks... If Paranormal Activity and Raymond Did It can come off as good as they did with a budget of less than 40K and unknown actors, why the fuck is Hollywood still throwing money into huge productions and overpaying actors who wouldn't know what to do with a script if the directions were tattooed on their eyelids. The Roommate cost 16 million dollars to make and what did they end up with... A ripped off (Single White Female) belly button ring and no blood, a tumble dried little kitty and no blood, a murder and no blood and a sex scene so bland a Baptist preacher could sit and watch with his teenage daughter. Kinda makes you wonder where 16 million dollars went huh? Calling this film a thriller is like calling Twilight a horror film, no one will believe you and it's quite possible you might get hit. Avoid this film, avoid the DVD, it's not even worth a free Netflix instant queue viewing.
While most people scour the Internet and movie news sites looking for the "next great movie" that's coming out, I just kinda hang back and keep an eye on the indie scene. As far as I'm concerned that's where the greatness is coming from these days. After all, wasn't Hatchet just an indie glimmer in Adam Green's eye when it came about? Or how about Feast, Pontypool, Ginger Snaps, Eden Lake, May or one of my new faves, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon? The list could literally go on and on. Watch any of these films and you will see what a micro budget, some imagination and a little hard work can deliver. It's getting to a point where I don't even go to the theater for big studio horror anymore. What's the point? It's all over done, re-done or just plain done. There's absolutely nothing original coming out of H-Wood anymore. At least not as far as horror goes. I'd rather just wait for a screener or DVD release and kick back at home with a few friends (who am I kidding, I don't have friends) and a little alcohol. Don't get me wrong, indie horror has it's share of stinkers too but when a gem like one of the aforementioned films comes around... instant gratification.
I'm quickly becoming aware of the effort that goes into a micro budget film be it short or feature length and I'm gaining a new respect for the people that make it happen. From directors/producers who put in their own money to actors who put their best face forward on a strictly no/low paying gig.
Raymond Did It is a slasher film in the tradition of Halloween and Prom Night. When twelve-year-old Bryce Rourke is accidentally killed in a playground scuffle, his friends decide to blame Bryce's developmentally delayed older brother for the accident. Raymond is taken to a state hospital while the true killer walks free. Six years later, Raymond escapes from the hospital to seek bloody revenge for his brother's death.
This is not your typical indie horror cast. Lindsay Felton from VH1’s Scream Queens plays Tammy, who was Raymond's only friend and the only one who had any remorse whatsoever about Bryce's death. Also from Scream Queens, Jessica Palette appears as Jayme, and horror veteran Elissa Dowling stars as the manipulative Paige. Newcomer Kyle Hoskins plays Raymond in his first feature-length film and he tears the screen up with his imposing 6'5" bulky stature. He's not really given much to say but just knowing the back story of the character, it's easy to sympathize with his character and it doesn't hurt that he pulls off the timid nature of Raymond pretty well.
Travis Legge pulls out (IMO) a very solid micro budget horror here. It doesn't have the normally shoddy sound that is infamous in these kinds of Indie films. The score is reminiscent of John Carpenter's original Halloween. (I can think of one shot in particular that brought me right back to the streets of Haddonfield.) The down side, there are a couple of choppy scenes (not overly noticable) and one or two rushed kills but the gore makes up for it. One little hint... washing machine. Not to mention the ending kinda leaves it open for a sequel. Will there be a sequel Mr. Legge?? C'mon, you can tell me.
In my opinion Legge has created one of those gems that come along every so often and he's someone who will do very well amongst the horror fiends and I for one can't wait to see what he does next..... Perhaps The Social Media Massacre with me?? Time will tell.
