
Hot Picks 
- 7x7 2023
|
|
|
Fang
USA 2022
produced by Robert Felker, Richard Burgin (executive) for Chicago Sky View Productions
directed by Richard Burgin
starring Dylan LaRay, Lynn Lowry, Jess Paul, Tom White, Pete Berwick, Glenn Mitchell, Hilary Schwartz, Nik Macik, Karen Donohue, Michael Angelo Gonzalez, Gabriel Fries, Louis DeRosa, Meghan Martinez, Morgan Bass, Richard Burgin, Gabriel Solis, Sara R. Solis, Chloe Adamo, Robert Felker, John Felker, Michael Felker
written by Richard Burgin, music by Zak Ferguson, Richard Burgin, Robert Felker
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
 |
Of late, young Billy's (Dylan LaRay) life has turned into a living
hell: He works a dead end job where he's constantly berated by his boss
(Tom White) while making little enough money to still have to live with
his mother Gina (Lynn Lowry), and of late, Gina has been hit with heavy
dementia, so bad that she's accident-prone, half of the time still thinks
she's a young model and Billy is her long deceased husband and the other
half of the time she can become pretty wicked out of spite. The situation
has become so bad that Billy has stolen some of the valium his mother
needs just to stay calm himself. After her latest accident, Billy and Gina
are forced to hire a careperson, Myra (Jess Paul), as Billy can't take
care of Gina all times of day and night due to work, but Billy doesn't
feel too comfortable about another person living with them. However, he
soon warms up to Myra, and when he's bitten by a rat, which is a pretty
traumatic experience for him, she helps him over the worst. However, after
the rat bite, Billy's health steadily declines despite getting all the
right shots, and so does his mental health, as he starts believing he's
growing rat fur all over his body. And that, coupled with weird
hallucinations that involve a man-sized rat king (Morgan Bass), drive him
further and further over the edge until disaster seems unavoidable ... Fang
is nothing if not a very unusual movie, as it combines elements of social
study with horror mainstays, but does so in a very surreal, triplike way
... that nevertheless feels very natural, thanks to a script that's
cleverly structured, takes its proper time with its build-up and yet never
bores the audience, and that's peopled by fleshed out and relatable
characters, and also thanks to a directorial effort that finds the right
balance between realism and the grotesque. And of course, a first rate
cast (especially the three leads) do their bit to make this a wild and
wonderful genre ride.
|
|

|