Directed by K.M. Jamison, Serial: Amoral Uprising is the start of something truly captivating. Running at 58 minutes, Serial is an introduction into the life and psychosis of serial killer Trenton Wade Bracks. Taking inspiration from films like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and Maniac- Bracks seems to be a product of several disturbing and notorious real life serial killers. The film is just an introduction into what will be a full feature length film to be filmed sometime in 2010.
The back story of Trenton isn't anything new- and rightly so as the majority of serial killers have a horrendous past- but I became more and more nervous as I saw gaping similarities to my least favorite trailer trash, abused serial killer- Rob Zombie's Michael Myers. But thank goodness that things didn't quite fall into that same route! The character of Trenton may be- if you can believe it more complex and intriguing than the one that Zombie creates. I say this because we don't see Bracks suddenly snap and go on a mass killing spree of every member of his household- nor do we see him torture animals. Rather- we only see the events that most likely led up to Brack's future problems. We aren't shoved this shitty explanation- things are missing but it isn't detrimental to the plot because it keeps us interested and makes us wonder what happened to Trenton between then and the scenes at the end of the film.
I will say that the scenes involving the mother do at times seem to be stretched. Her lines consist a lot of times of-repeats and her overall look can be distracting- I get that she's a coke head with some serious issues of her own but the scene in the basement was a little much perhaps. I did enjoy how that scene mirrors the ending one however so I guess I can't really knock it.
As I said before there is an entire decade where we have no idea what happened to Trenton. In that time his father has been murdered and his mother is in prison- yet Trenton suddenly turns out to be this suave and studly man with a desire to inflict pain and suffering on others. Some parts get a little dodgy in this area- and somehow all of the characters start looking the same- but the complexities of Trenton continue to arise. I still don't entirely understand how things came to escalate so quickly but I'm excited to understand more. Needless to say- I am very eager to see the rest of this project unfold and to get a more detailed and deeper look into Trenton Wade Bracks' life.
There is some decent gore, acting, and shots in this movie but it is overall a more building kind of film. Trenton isn't a machete wielding serial killer- rather he is a product of truth, an honest and brutal serial killer that isn't a huge stretch from past incidences that have actually happened. There is a genuine darkness that Jamison creates with this short film- and his ability to make you invested in a character as dark and messed up as Trenton is, is pretty unbelievable. Go here to check out the film's blog and here for the website, to learn more about the project and to see how it develops.
2 comments:
I have been covering the film for quite sometime and helping kevin spread the word about his film. Loved your review, we both seemed to agree with a lot of material featured in the film.
Wow, this looks really interesting. Great post Andre. The title alone portends to how he might become a serial killer (well at least in my mind) but I'm eager to see how it actually unfolds.
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