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Mass Hysteria
The Devil in Salem
USA 2020
produced by Arielle Cimino, Jonathan T. Coleman, Matt Perusse, Jeff Ryan for First-Names Films
directed by Arielle Cimino, Jeff Ryan
starring Geena Santiago, Jeff Ryan, Scott Swayze, Alexandra Dietrich, Luke Deardorff, Destry Allyn Spielberg, Robert D. Murphy, Matt Perusse, Louis Cancelmi, Charlie Pollock, Daniel Alvarado, Michelle Veintimilla, Jessica Richmond, Molly Sidell, Kellie Moon, Hannah Wagner, Chloe Eaton, Michael Underhill, Dustin Teuber, Ryan Villacci, L.J. Nicolas, Zack Reardon, Kristopher Schooner, Dave Hanson, Carl Schultz, Sarah J. Mann, Anne Sablich, Jill Rogati, Seth Parks, Calvin Berry, Matt Lacorazza, Christopher O'Connell, Ryan Cannister
written by Jonathan T. Coleman, Christopher O'Connell, music by Matt Russell
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Paige (Geena Santiago) has been doing local theatre in Salem,
Massachussets for years, but now finally her manager Chadwick (Charlie
Pollock) is offering her a big role in New York City, so it's good bye to
her hometown with one last show on Halloween - and what else would it be
about than the Salem Witch Trials, with her playing the lead, an innocent
woman accused of witchcraft. However, the show is under no good star from
square one, as while the show is attended by a bunch of drunk tourists who
are more than willing to cause a disturbance, there's a religious zealot,
Samuel Hale (Matt Perusse) outside just waiting to brand someone a witch
and cause public unrest. In the show's finale, Paige's character lets out
a curse, with Paige locking eyes with a tourist that has been a particular
nuisance throughout - and that tourist keels over and dies on the spot. A
traumatic situation for everyone, but of course mere coincidence, even by
police rule - but just the piece in the puzzle Samuel Hale has been
waiting for, so he pronounces Paige a witch ... something which really
takes off after a few more tourists die like the one in Paige's show. So
Paige and her friends - bff and boyfriend wannabe Turner (Jeff Ryan),
co-stars Devin (Scott Swayze) and Margie (Alexandra Dietrich), and
cowardly stage manager Charlie (Luke Deardorff) find themselves on the run
from a misguided but angry mob. They seem to diminish in number because
many more die from the same symptoms as the above, but it seems the less
in number the get, the angrier they get, too. And driven by Samuel Hale,
they don't even ask what's actually killing them. On the run, Paige
eventually finds out - and what she learns isn't exactly calming, on top
of having to fight for her life ... Of course, Mass Hysteria
is not the first film about a crowd misguided by a religious zealot
bringing doom on an innocent - but maybe one of the funniest ones. And
that's funny not even in an over-the-top, gross-out way (though there's
some vomit at hand), but a film that finds humour in the situations the
main characters are thrown in, sees the irony behind the story and shows a
willingness to just entertain - but without forgetting the dramatic
aspects of the plot. And thanks to rather light-footed performances by all
involved, this bridging of drama and comedy works quite beautifully, and
makes up for a rather enjoyable movie.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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