- Directed by William Chaffin
- Written by William Chaffin
- Stars Anna Hoots, Jared Noble, Liz Fletcher
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58x2YcC2yko
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a low-budget looking film, but the acting is decent, the story is interesting, and it moves well. It’s in the are-they-crazy-or-not trope, and they pull it off.
Synopsis
Elizabeth unloads her car; she’s returning home after a long trip. At first, she can’t find her parents, but she does see a creepy, pasty-faced woman with long hair and a shroud. She then kills her parents… and wakes up: just a nightmare. She goes downstairs to see her parents are alive and perfectly normal. We see in various ways that Elizabeth has some pretty serious OCD.
The detective calls and explains that Elizabeth’s friend Victoria committed suicide, but Elizabeth swears she wouldn’t have done that. She blames Kyle, Victoria’s boyfriend. She gives the same story to her psychiatrist, Dr. Colby, but she lies about not having dreams.
Elizabeth goes to a party and admits to her friend that she’s gone off her meds, but she feels good about it. She runs into Paul, an old boyfriend. Kyle is there too, and he confronts Elizabeth about her accusations. He thinks maybe Elizabeth murdered Victoria. Later, Elizabeth and the woman in the shroud kill Kyle. Another nightmare?
Matt Graveman, a private investigator, talks to Detective Mattingly about Kyle’s apparent suicide. He explains that he used to be a priest, and there may be something supernatural about this case.
Elizabeth sees the shrouded figure in her house and chases it out to the woods. She watches the figure kill Stacie. And then she wakes up. Another nightmare? Her mother wonders about Elizabeth’s schizophrenia; she was diagnosed just after her sister Stacie died. She admits that she’s off her meds, but it’s all good. Elizabeth thinks her parents made up her schizophrenia to blame for Stacie’s death.
Elizabeth tells Detective Mattingly that she’s off her meds, diagnosed with schizophrenia, and that she’s seen two murders. The detective, rather than treat her like a suspect, sends her to talk to the ex-priest, who believes that Elizabeth may actually be haunted by a demon.
So, is she crazy or is she haunted? You have to watch to find out.
Commentary
It seems obvious early on that Elizabeth’s schizophrenia is making her see things and murder people, but as the film progresses, more supernatural explanations make more sense. Which is it?
It’s clearly a low-budget indie film, but it’s got a good story and good pacing, which is something so many indie films get wrong. It doesn’t get boring, and the suspense builds nicely.
My biggest complaint about the film is that she “witnessed” several murders, clearly admits she’s schizophrenic and off her meds, and the police completely ignore that and go with a supernatural answer anyway? Even if there was a supernatural force behind all this, that’s not going to be ANY detective’s first assumption.