ann hale reviews the the first full length horror feature from fist in post films…
The Feed, the first full length film released by Fist in Post films and directed by Steve Gibson, is about the television show Ghost Chasers on their fourth anniversary. They decide to celebrate with a live broadcast of the show, taking place in the haunted Brenway Movie Theater in Pennsylvania. The theater is rumored to be haunted by a malicious ghost who has been blamed for several unexplained murders that took place in the Brenway since the death of the original owner in a fire in the projection room.
At first, the film seems cheesy. The host has an unlikable personality, the psychic seems to over act and graphics are very low budget but, let’s try to keep in mind that the film IS low budget. Despite the budget, with the opening credits, interviews and storytelling, there were several points during the film where I forgot I wasn’t watching an actual ghost hunter’s show. There were commercials placed throughout the show that seemed like real commercials, including one starring Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman himself!
The host seemed like a total tool. He had a severe lack of facial expressions or emotions yet was overly intense about finding anything at all. I found myself thinking about Zack Bagans from Ghost Adventures and Ryan Buell from Paranormal State. I could actually see this guy hosting his own show. Well done, sir.
The psychic felt overdone at first. Television psychics only tell you what is painfully obvious, extremely vague or enough to let you know that they obviously researched the place before they filmed the show. Call me a skeptic. This psychic was able to tell way too much. I found myself saying “Yeah right” out loud several times. I’d say these moments accounted for the majority of times that I forgot I wasn’t watching an actual television show.
The ghosts were done with cheap computer graphics. The first was a girl whose jaw had been ripped apart like in Mirrors. There was also one that reminded me of the ghost in The Grudge, all bent in half and crawling like a spider. The graphics on the ghosts were reminiscent of the little ghost girl in The Lady in White from 1988. But, as I said before, the graphics were mediocre but the film is low budget and so, you cannot expect over the top, overdone graphics a la James Cameron. They did the best they could with what they had.
I can see a lot of potential in this film with a larger budget, but there is a certain amount of honesty in the independent films. It is very obvious that they enjoyed making this movie and I can understand why it received as many film festival awards and nominations as it did.
In the end, I enjoyed the movie. They stayed true enough to the paranormal show craze for me to have forgotten that it was not, in fact, a paranormal show. I have no doubt that this film will find plenty of fans in all of the true Indy horror lovers out there.
