One of the key components that helped Kevin Smith's Clerks connect with audiences was his knack to write characters that talked just like his target audience. The dialogue was felt genuine and it was easy to relate to Dante and his gaggle of customers.
Finding relatable dialogue in film is like trying to match all your socks on laundry day. It ain't easy. And finding intelligent dialogue in a horror themed film is even more rare. But that is exactly what we found in the wonderful gem of a film, The Killing of Jacob Marr.
As we popped the screener DVD into our Playstation 3, we had no prior knowledge of the film's production or synopsis outline. But the film captured our interests from the opening scene where a young boy finds a strange object that drives him to murder both of his parents.
As we then settled in for what was going to be a very pleasurable and rewarding 107 minutes, we followed a group of five vacationers that have rented a remote cabin in the woods – the same cabin that was the site of the family murders 20 years prior. Their entrance to the cabin is immediately immersed in mystery when they notice the cupboards to be full of food and the rooms to have clothes and supplies that would suggest that others might also be occupying the wintery retreat at the same time.
The group elects to stay in the cabin and await the return of any subsequent renters, but when the morning arrives and one couple venture out into the woods, they will regret they ever travelled to the home of Jacob Marr. And whether anyone will survive the evil that lurks outside will be focus of the film's story arc.
The Killing of Jacob Marr was produced with a $15,000 budget (Source: IMDb.com), but that is hardly evident in the resulting production values. Writer/director Brad Rego works the camera masterfully in building the Jenga blocked tension. Brad shows the wherewithal to know what scares audiences (something moving in the background, a face appearing in a window) without resorting to a constant barrage of jump scares.
But it's the dialogue that really jumps off the screen. From how the small cast relates to one another to their smart decision making (another rarity in horror films), The Killing of Jacob Marr separates itself from its peers in the genre by being smart, genuine and routinely funny. The sharp script allows audiences to relate and accept each character (who doesn't have a friend with a dominating girlfriend or the comic relief that doesn't mind being a third or fifth wheel?) and has very few miscues (I couldn't get past one character's utterance of the line "Now, now").
The acting troupe which consisted largely of Morgan White, Brandon Beilis Alyssa Mann, Elizabeth Drake and Chris Keating are all stellar in their respective roles and commit to Rego's script with pinpoint delivery.
In fact, the acting and dialogue were so spot on that when the film got to the eventual gore, it seemed a bit out of place. The violence that does occur in The Killing of Jacob Marr is graphically grotesque, maybe even unnecessarily so.
It is clear that Brad Rego has an appreciation for the horror genre and he is not afraid to meet it head on with a wink wink nod nod. Friday the 13th gets a subtle reference a few times in the film, and one of the lead characters is wearing a sweater that shouts Nightmare on Elm Street.
A release date for the DVD has yet to be established (the film has a theatrical release date of December 11th in Jacksonville, Florida). But if you are lucky enough or you can remember this title when it is available, it comes highly recommended.
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