thePULSEBy Jennifer Russo
As soon as the autumn season hits, we are assured of several things: We will put our car heater on in 50 degree weather, even though its nowhere near as cold as it will be in a few short months; Halloween candy will hit the shelves at least a month too early; and we’ll start seeing tons of commercial trailers for movies featuring blood-thirsty monsters, invisible beings, possessed pre-teens and murderous psychos. Some of these freaky adventures are happening right here in town. Don’t worry ~ ghosts and goblins are not hanging out at Jillian’s (well…usually, anyways), but a couple movies that threaten your sense of reality were being filmed right under your very noses while you were unaware and playing pool.
I have to say, I am not really one for the new era of scary torture movies where people have their tongues cut out and legs boiled off. I love the classics ~ movies like Nightmare on Elm Street that have an inherent cheesiness about them, something you know is so far-fetched, it can’t possibly be real, but it makes you jump in spite of yourself.
The Last Exit is one of those movies. There have been countless movies made about werewolves, whether they are an extremely hairy version of the hairiest man you’ve ever seen on a beach in a Speedo, a Native American hottie turned actual giant wolf or Michael J. Fox in a very obvious, glued-on beard-mullet. We know it’s entirely impossible, the idea is as old as dirt, and yet, we still watch.
New Blood Productions (how fitting) offers a simple, ear-perking tagline for this indie film: “The only thing worse than getting lost is being found.” This holds true in the little Maine town where this movie takes place. A beast is terrorizing the poor L.L. Bean wearers, tearing them apart and leaving only their bloody clothes and lifeless bodies behind. A ragtag group of fearful, yet determined, people attempt to figure out the situation without getting their guts spilled in the process.
What I love about the trailer is that you never actually see the wolf. You see his giant paw; you see his back, his teeth and lots and lots of blood. Though it is very apparent that this is as fake as it can be, I think it’s great because it gives it that old-time horror-movie feel ~ before the almost “too real” special effects came into play. After all, Psycho became a classic because of a knife and a shower curtain. This movie is worth seeing for the “ew” factor and purposely overdone horror.
Another locally filmed movie, Mark of the Dog Rose, is not a gory display of carnage. It does not feature a haunted house on a hill or a demon out to kill the entire town. It has none of these things. The true horror here is that this could actually happen; your greatest fears are realized on the screen. A college girl goes out to have a good time and ends up in the clutches of a killer who spends two weeks beating and raping his victims before he ends their lives. It has been and could be again in the news. Some person that could be anyone you know, who has a dark side that pushes the limits of what you believe they could ever be capable of.
When the cops aren’t able to help fast enough, a brokenhearted brother and the detective’s sister take fate into their own hands, delving deeper and deeper into a killer’s game of wits. Like any cat-and-mouse thriller, you will be at the edge of your seat, trying to find your own clues to catch the madman before it’s too late.
The Last Exit was filmed in the nearby towns of Gardner and Hubbardston and features local actors. For more information, visit lastexitmovie.com.
Mark of the Dog Rose was filmed in several cities in Massachusetts and will premier at the Regent Theater in Arlington on Oct. 13. Find out more at facebook.com/markofthedogrose.
