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The film industry faced its greatest challenges during the pandemic and the impact can still be felt in indie cinema today. Indie filmmakers around the world had to develop new methods and techniques to create no-budget films while mainstream cinema had to make rapid changes to their operations. Some of these filmmakers resorted to making film with smaller casts where only relatives and friends were on set in order to minimize the risk of exposure while also being able to maintain social distance.
Others took this opportunity as an excuse to modernize the found footage subgenre. I consider myself lucky as in the past year I had the chance to review indie horror films such as Full Disclosure and Hacked which incorporated the elements of found footage alongside modern features like video calls and podcasts. Recently, I was approached to review an indie horror film known as Fresh Hell created by Ryan Imhoff and Matt Neal. The title was eye catching so I simply could not pass up the opportunity.
A group of friends, who’ve not been in contact ever since the pandemic, decide to catch up by hosting a group video call. Initially, the virtual get together seems harmless, but soon turns into a dangerous affair when a stranger with a beard joins in place of one of their friends.
The tagline, poster, along with the title of the film Fresh Hell piqued my interest the most. I was expecting a grisly and raw unscripted horror to be the summary of this two year horror. What ended up boldly shocking me was the fact that it was a randomly written good quality film that lost its grip loosely. Some parts I am thankful towards, but the film was hard to watch throughout.
Frankly, the acting is quite captivating. Even though the cast mostly consists of amateurs, they are in perfect synchronization. Surprisingly, none of their weaknesses surfaced while they were building up their characters. With that said, I co director Ryan Imhoff definitely saved the film for me. I loved his character The Stranger and how intense he was. I would have loved to see this character in a more traditional film. I loved his personality, intensity, and energy that he brought to the film. While this may have missed its mark with me, I would watch it again just to see The Stranger.
This idea is quite interesting, and the part that completely pivots towards a Zoom call definitely makes it age poorly. Which is not a bad thing considering it is based on a pandemic but a few years later, when everything is back to normal, that movie would be irrelevant. The plot of The Stranger is exactly what I like the trippy cult/dog thing was so out there. The first thirty minutes or so will be difficult for anyone to endure. The only thing that kept me awake was The Stranger. The entire video conference setup is quite odd to me. I have no idea how to put this but I’m not a fan of movies with this format. I first came across it with Full Disclosure last year then it has appeared in quite a few more indie movies ever since the pandemic.
Believe it or not, out of all the films I’ve watched, this is not the bloodiest. There was one register that I found interesting, but I won’t ruin it for you, and some smaller bloody scenes throughout that were nothing too memorable. In summation, Fresh Hell is a good concept that just did not impress me. I’m sure there are some fans of the genre that will like it, but not for me. I did enjoy the performance by Imhoff, and I would suggest watching this particular movie 100 times because of that, but that is the only thing I will suggest without reservations.
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