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The Welder
USA 2021
produced by Manuel Delgadillo, Salvatore Zannino, Cindo Santos (executive) for David Liz Films
directed by David Liz
starring Camila Rodríguez, Vincent De Paul, Roe Dunkley, Cristian Howard (= Crist Moward), Anthony Vazquez, Jorge Picó, Renee Roache, Gillian Cura
written by David Liz, Manuel Delgadillo, music by James Hall
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Her stint with the army has left Eliza (Camila Rodríguez) traumatized,
for reasons she won't even disclose to her husband Roe (Roe Dunkley), so
much so that she tends to go sleepwalking every time she's stressed -
something that might mean endangering herself before too long. So Roe
decides to take her onto an absolutely stress-free weekend to a farm in
the middle of nowhere, where there's horses, a pool, miles upon miles of
beautiful scenery, and no cellphone reception, and thus nothing to stress
them in the slightest. Sure, once there, their host William (Vincent De
Paul) is a bit weird and at times overbearing, his farmhand Don (Cristian
Howard) is on the creepy side and utters ominous warnings every now and
again, and no cellphone service or wifi needs to get used to, but other
than that everything's fine. And hey, even if William seems a bit off, his
views on ending racism resonate well with mixed couple Eliza and Roe -
that is, until they find more about William's racist cop brother Duke
(Anthony Vazquez) who has gone missing, find a guy wil a torch and a
welder's mask is roaming the premises, find themselves on the run from
pretty much everybody, and find out William's efforts to stamp out racism
have taken a pretty bodily turn ... A welcomely unusual genre
blend for sure: While initially, The Welder has a backwoods slasher
theme to it and some folk horror overtones, it soon adds body horror and Frankenstein
motives to the mix, all peppered with a healthy dose of social commentary.
And that that even works is thanks to a thoughtful script that stays true
enough to its genre roots throughout to never turn into a brain-heavy
message movie. And solid performances, impressive scenery, and a genre
savvy yet subtle enough directorial effort all see to it that the result
is pretty cool horror entertainment.
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