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Wakers
USA 2014
produced by Dylan Mars Greenberg, Rose Cosenza, Blessing C.S., Jude Thomas, Chris Saravia (executive) for Disck Pictures
directed by Dylan Mars Greenberg
starring Blessing C.S., Jude Thomas, Matt Katz Bohen, Lincoln Barron, Darryl Lavare, Summer Greenberg, Scooter Pie, Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Prichard, Azul Zorrilla, Max Husten, Abrina Krasnov, Reverend Jen, Rose Cosenza, Steve Grillo, Chris Saravia, Michael Sheehan, Briar Montana, Mickala McFarlane, Chloe Blackshire, Nyra Nology, Alex Lora, Amanda Flowers
written by Dylan Mars Greenberg, Blessing C.S., Jude Thomas, music by John S. Hall, Dylan Mars Greenberg, Matt Ellin, songs by The Voluptous Horror of Karen Black, Nathan Thomas Miller, Vomit Fist, Max Husten, Green Fluxx, JS Bach, Typhoid Rosie, Asher White, Samuel Edward Banfield, special and visual effects by Dylan Mars Greenberg, special effects makeup by Aaden Grushkin
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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Blessing (Blessing C.S.) can't take it at home anymore, her mum (Abrina
Krasov) is getting more bizarre by the minute, suspecting her of all sorts
of things that ... well, sometimes they're true, and trying to lead her
into Jesus' arms. Also, Blessing's neighbours seem to be uniformly freaks,
so it's no wonder she makes a getaway and gets high with her friends ...
but then one of them dies (Azul Zorrilla) dies, and Blessing is taken in
by the police and questioned - and almost accused of having murdered her -
before she's let go inexplicably. Blessing's friends start to drop like
flies, but neither a visit to a shrink (Lloyd Kaufman) nor to a psychic
(Reverend Jen) can give her any explanation for what's going on, but she
becomes more and more sure that it's not or not just the drugs that are
killing her friends, there might be a godlike unidentified being (Jude
Thomas) behind it all - but that conclusion hardly makes her happy ... Blondie-keyboardist
Matt Katz-Bohen makes a guest appearance as a father reading Blessing's
story to his little daughter (Summer Greenberg). Well, above is
merely an attempt to describe what's really going on, as Wakers is
hardly a narrative movie, rather a nightmarish trip that pays little heed
to something like structure and rather pulls often dissonant ideas out of
the hat as random. And regarding the fact that the director was only 17
when she filmed this and had to work with very low funds and home-made
special effects, this sounds like a recipe for disaster ... only disaster
this movie is not. It's a weird piece of psychedelia somewhat reminiscent
in its "I don't give a damn"-approach of the movies of Andy
Warhol's Factory from way back when, including its blend of drama
and comedy, its improvised performances, amateur actors and rather freaky
characters, as well as many trippy cinematic excursions from the 1960s and
70s, and what's extremely likeable about this here movie is that it
doesn't give a damn about actually being liked by its contemporary
audiences, it seems the filmmaker has put her own vision over everything
else, and that leaves us with a very unique film. That all said, Wakers
isn't all the masterpiece it could have been - basically it drags on a bit
too long to entertain from start to finish, some performances are a bit
too uneven, and the film could have done with a bit more polish (not
necessarily a money question, just some scenes could have been reshot as
the actors seem to try too hard not to laugh and the like) - but being
what it is, it's still a rather strong piece of whacko film, and it will
be interesting to see what young Dylan Greenberg will try his hands on
next! And if this has at all gotten you interested, do find the
movie for streaming here:
http://disckpictures.vhx.tv/
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