LOONS / CUTTHROATS

A double bill from Sub Rosa.

A series of animated stills open Michael Legge's LOONS, stylishly recanting the story of how Judge Loon sentenced a local witch - Hepzibah Crowley - to death by burning at the stake many centuries ago. Before she perished, the witch bestowed a curse of insanity upon the Judge - and all future male generations of the Loon clan.

What follows are some well-shot and inspired vignettes depicting the Loon males throughout the years, each of them succumbing to madness. A sepia-tinted silent movie shows a drunken, abusive father turn into a jabbering wreck one morning; a 40's style black-and-white mobster drama finds mob boss Loon holding a meeting with his henchmen, explaining to them that the way forward is to branch out into musical comedies … they respond to his crackpot suggestion by shooting him dead!

Still in black-and-white, next we're treated to a trashy werewolf short set in middle-class 1950's America. This time the Loon male is convinced that he is a lycanthrope. A wry script compliments the knowingly melodramatic performances and Twilight Zone-esque music of LeeAnna Hazel here perfectly.

After the main credits, the story begins proper in a modern day setting.

Jeff returns to his family home to introduce his new fiancée, Terri, to his mother. Upon his arrival Jeff discovers he has a brother, Jasper, who was born insane and has been hidden away in a mental hospital since birth. Coincidentally, it happens to be Jasper's 30th birthday.

Mother takes Jeff to visit Jasper in a sparsely decorated asylum. Jasper believes himself to be a puppet, and dreams of the day he will turn into a real boy. He has, his mother believes, been hit by Crowley's curse.

Jeff will have none if it though - not even when Jasper returns home, professing to be cured from said curse and intent on resurrecting Crowley in a bid to end it once and for all.

But soon, Jeff begins to see clowns everywhere he looks … has he finally fallen victim to the curse too?

Legge (pronounced Led-jee) keeps the ball rolling at an even pace, and seems to handle the fine line between the bizarre humour and sinister undertones a theme such as 'hereditary' insanity breeds quite well.

The performances are generally strong (including Legge himself as Jasper). Where the movie possibly falters, is that the opening vignettes are genuinely stylish and original - rendering the following modern-day story dull in comparison.

Having said that, once Jeff starts seeing clowns everywhere he looks thinks get surreal enough for you to hang around for!

CUTTHROATS - again written and directed by Legge - is a more cutting brand of comedy, attacking the mentalities to be contended and tolerated with in modern 9-5 office jobs.

Scenes focusing on patronising career appraisals and performance markings will perhaps force a wry smile from anyone who's ever worked under such conditions. And, aside from the satire on offer, there is a least one gore effect to boast of in the film (albeit it's one of the cheapest and consequently ineffectual that I've ever seen!).

By and large though, CUTTHROATS outstays it's welcome and quickly became tiresome. Even Legge - as the office's sinister new boss - grates after just having watched him in LOONS.

Still, both films show undeniable skill in terms of low-budget movie-making: Legge knows how to edit his films in order to tell a story effectively. He's also bold enough to make zero-budget comedies as his attempts to break into the industry - quite novel when everyone else just starting out seems to make OTT gore films instead.

But just who the ideal audience for these films is going to be … beats me.

A static menu page offers the following extras:

Commentary track (LOONS only). This is an excellent listen, and heightens your appreciation of the film massively. Legge speaks very fluently about the tricks applied and headaches suffered, while filming on no budget. Tales of Legge disguising himself to take on supporting roles when actors failed to turn up to the set; locations generally being pointed out as "my back yard", "my friend's cellar" and so on … Members of the cast join in occasionally, and it's a fun listen. It's also a worthwhile one if you're an aspiring film-maker yourself.

CHAT FOR MRS ORDER is a short film about an advertising company selling chatlines, looking for the perfect miserable face to sell their product. Enter the elderly Mrs Order, 'discovered' while lounging in her seat on her porch one day. It's an early effort from Legge and co, and to be fair misses it's comedy targets more often that it hits them. Great theme tune though - "Somebody Please" by Obscure.

A 14-strong photo gallery covers the shooting of both films.

Finally, there's the standard 3 pages of text detailing Sub Rosa's commitment to releasing independent films. Yawn.

Both LOONS and CUTTHROATS each have 6 chapters, and are roughly 80 minutes long apiece. Picture quality is decent (full-frame), considering their 16mm origins. Grainy, but acceptable.

One to file under 'Something Different' …!

Review by Stu Willis