Die Another Day

I recently watched a small, independent horror film called The Deaths of Ian Stone. What little fame the film enjoys is thanks to it being showcased a few years ago as one of the films in the After Dark Horrorfest. In a nutshell, it's a one weekend film festival that plays in several cities around the world, running around eight low-budget horror films for people to take in.

Traditionally, six or seven of these are terrible. At least, so I've heard. I've never attended any of the films this way, but I have a couple of horror movie junkie friends who try to see them all every year, and even they, who will give almost any film a break, say most of the Horrorfest films have not found wide distribution for reason.

But The Deaths of Ian Stone was supposed to be one of the good ones. For what it's worth, it does have a minor amount of star power attached to it. Well, okay, not star power, but recognition factor. Stars Mike Vogel and Jaime Murray will be recognizable to anyone who saw Cloverfield and season two of Dexter, respectively.

I can't tell you exactly what the film is about without revealing my opinion that the script is the weakest part of the thing, a horror-themed knock-off of the brilliant Dark City. The title character is being stalked by shadowy phantoms of an unknown nature, who kill him in violent and varied ways, only to wake up immediately in a new life to repeat the process again. The same people surround him, but everyone is in a new role, unaware of anything that has gone before. Poor Ian Stone must figure out what the hell is going on and break the cycle. Like I said, the script is the weak point. The movie gets decreasingly sensical, and increasingly like Dark City, the farther it goes along.

But the film has other merits. The acting is pretty solid. In particular, Jaime Murray brings a delicious but different brand of twisted and wicked from the character she played on Dexter.

The real triumph, though, is the visual element of the film. For being made on such a small budget, the movie looks pretty fantastic. The shadowy creatures have a really effective and sinister look to them, and evoke a good amount of tension whenever they appear... at least, until the movie starts to demystify them in the final act. Directors and behind-the-scenes people who can produce stuff like this for next-to-no money are the sorts of people who deserve the sort of ridiculous budget that hundreds of less skilled directors get from major studios to churn out mass market crap.

Overall, though, The Deaths of Ian Stone might not quite be worth my recommendation. If you like independent films, or are really into horror movies, then you -- like me -- will probably find more to like here than dislike. Still, it's not going to jump to the top of your favorite movies list. I rate it a C+.