Christian Viel 's
SAMHAIN

Directed by Christian Viel
Starring Bobbie Phillips, Neil Napier, Jenna Jameson and Richard Grieco.
Distributed by Fangoria Films
Canada - 2005 - 83 minutes

 

I was lucky enough to get a rough-cut of that yet-to-be-released movie directly from the director a couple of months ago. You see, in the small Montreal independent movie biz, SAMHAIN has become kind of a myth because of all the problems surrounding it's release. I've been hearing about that movie for years because I'm friend with actor Neil Napier who's starring in the thing but also because Fangoria Magazine has been doing extensive coverage since the original shooting in 2001 (or 2002).

SAMHAIN was supposed to be the 'goriest' movie in years. SAMHAIN was supposed to be the best horror film ever made in Montreal. SAMHAIN was supposed to be the movie horror fans have been waiting for years.

These were high expectations. As you might guess; much too high expectations of course.

OK, before we start, let me tell you what all the fuss is about. SAMHAIN had a decent budget to start with. They were supposed to do some shooting not only in Montreal but also in the States and in Europe. SAMHAIN's cast sounds promising. We are talking about Bobbie Phillips, Richard (fuckin) Grieco and Montreal's best Neil Napier. We are also talking about a handfull of real big pornstars like Jenna Jameson (can't get bigger than that...), Ginger Lynn Allen, Chasey Lain and more. SAMHAIN is also featuring the skills of FX maestro Andrien Morot (one of the VERY best in the business).

Because of that, SAMHAIN was supposed to be big and exciting and everybody had very high expectations about that little indy film.

Of course, after watching the movie, I was a little disapointed. What do you expect? On the other hand, the movie is not bad at all. It's a very decent direct-to-video horror. Much better than most of the crap the big companies are putting out on DVD these days. It's no Shaun Of The Dead but it's a good watch.

Let's start with the good stuff. Let's be positive!

Bobbie Phillips is doing a great job leading the movie. She is taking the movie in the right direction. The other actors are doing a decent job. Even Jenna Jameson comes out credible. Neil Napier (best known for his dual role in Deveraux's SLASHERS but also starring in Helltimate's TIME ENOUGH and BEAST) is also doing a fair job as the sex-driven teenager (?!).

Some of the scenes in the movie are quite impressive. The opening scene with Richard Grieco and Chasey Lane is pretty cool and will please all the gore-hounds out there. Everybody wants to see a pornstar cut in half! Great effects. Good directing. Good stuff. There is also a scene where a guy gets his intestines pulled directly from his ass and a memorable scene where the killer tries to eat one of the chick's silicone implants. Funny stuff. You guys will like it.

Christian Viel is also doing a decent job at directing the movie. Nothing flashy but he makes sure that the movie is getting all the production value it can get by using some nice camera moves and by making everything shot look top notch. Good job.

The main flaw of the movie obviously comes from the script. We could say that the story is a little uninspired and flat. A group of teenagers (?!) go to Ireland for a romantic trip and they end up as prey to a family of inbreeding mutants living in the cellar of a hidden castle. Nothing more. Nothing less. The story is not very original and the writing is pedestrian.

Another thing that will probably piss off some people is that long-haired Richard Grieco (even though his name is everywhere) gets killed less than 5 minutes into the movie. Before you rent SAMHAIN, you should know that Richard Grieco is not the star of this movie.He is only doing a cameo. Bobbie Phillips is the star of this movie.

Finally, in my opinion, the biggest problem with the movie is it's utter lack of energy. It's missing the spirit of independent horror filmmaking. It's missing the enthousiasm of a first big production. It's missing the 'fun' in a gore movie... It's hard to explain but something is missing in SAMHAIN.

Anyway, as I mentionned earlier, SAMHAIN is still a good watch if you like indy horror films. You'll have your money worth. Don't worry about it.

The good news is that SAMHAIN will finally be released in America. FANGORIA FILMS has decided to pick up the movie for a February 2005 release. The movie will apparently be cut about 10 minutes.

Note: I've screened a preliminary version of the movie. The sounds mix was missing. The music was missing. The CGI FX were missing. A couple of scenes were also missing. I've tried to take that into consideration when I wrote that little review.

Big thanks to Christian Viel and the folks at MovieSeal. Visit their website!

LINK TO MOVIE SEAL's WEBSITE