16 DAYS...

Andy (James Fisher) returns home from holiday and is greeted by his mates from University, along with his on-off grilfriend Grace (Cathy Eccles).

The group are somewhat surprised, then, when Andy announces he met someone on his holiday called Lisa (Helen Keen), and furthermore has brought her back with him to meet his upper-class dad. They are, after all, getting wed in sixteen days' time!

Once the group have made their way back to Andy's dad's house, they busy themselves getting drunk, stoned, and wondering what the fuck Andy is up to.

In-between smuggling dope into Andy's dad's soup and generally turning his well-kept back garden into a congregation for binge drinkers, Andy's friends gradually shift their suspicions onto the mysterious Lisa.

As each day whizzes by in chapter-like rushes, the friends become more and more obssessed with finding out more about Lisa's background, and hopefully unearthing some dishonourable motive behind her whirlwind marriage proposal.

Andy and Lisa are oblivious to all of this because they're too busy shagging, gazing longingly into each other's eyes and preparing the invites for their grand day.

By about day 7, the group are convinced that Lisa is a succubus, and that once Andy marries her she will devour him ... or worse.

So, the group begin following Lisa on her travels in desperate attempts to gather evidence that she is in fact a demon. All of this is done secretly, and clumsily, while Andy walks around with his head in la-la land.

But is Lisa a demon? And if so, will Andy's friends find their proof in time to stop the wedding and kill said succubus? And will Grace ever get her man back?!

16 DAYS is shot on digital medium and is the debut feature from writer/director Lee Isserow. It's definitely got an amatuerish look and feel to it, but this helps endear the film to its viewer.

The story is brilliantly simple, and moves along at a satisfyingly brisk pace. The performances go for realism and while some of the dialogue may be cringe-inducing (the 'cock' jokes, for example), and the fact that the film sometimes looks like a home video, it still manages to intrigue you into wanting to find out whether you're watching a keen mocking observation on group paranoia - or something a little more sinister.

The lack of budget is obvious, but the computer-generated animation that separates each day at least adds a hint of visual originality, while managing to wallow gleefully in it's own cheesy cheapness.

While more of a comedy than anything else, 16 DAYS dips it's wick into several other genres along the way - most notably kung fu and gore.

A promising first effort, then, with some interesting visual ideas, strong performances and a high-concept plot that allows you to switch off and enjoy the paranoia that unfolds throughout the 85 minute running time.

The DVD from Opiate films presents the film in it's original full-frame ratio and looks okay, coinsidering it's digital origins. The sound is a little thin though, and while the music came through loud and clear I found myself turning the volume up frequently to hear the dialogue. This is no doubt due to the way the film was shot, rather than any flaw with the disc.

Extras are generous. Two audio commentaries come first - one from the cast and crew, the other from a demon. The former is enjoyably chaotic, everyone talking and laughing over each other. The latter is a joke that amuses initially but wears thin ... fast!

There's featurettes on the colouring and animation processes used for the film, an embarrassing three-minute clip of two characters recording the audio commentary (I think), and a couple of easter eggs - a gallery of photos from the amusing finale, and original audition footage.

The most substantial extra is the full two-hour rough cut of the movie, complete with primitive credits and unedited scenes that really went on for too long. An interesting comparison to the much superior final edit.

The disc can be ordered direct from www.opiatefilms.com for the ridiculously nice sum of £4 (inc UK p+p).

Other titles from the Opiate team include ROOM, THE CENTRE and NECROMANTIC (no relation to Buttgereit's masterpiece!).

Review by Stuart Willis