Okay, I'm back. Shades of my own flick, THE BLACK CRYSTAL! Mick has made a movie that I totally identify with - a small town's population suspects that the local witch has something to do with murder victims, yet a new guy moves in and falls for her as the locals make angry faces and threaten to beat him up. I love the forbidden love tale and I happily ate this up.
As I said, THE CRIMPS is one of the best no budget movies I have seen.
I consider the best to be the controversial (because of an incest element) movie, RED COCKROACHES. It was made for $3,000, but uses SAG actors (deferred pay) who, under the amazing direction of Miguel Coyula, pull off the bizarre subject matter convincingly.
Generally, guerrilla features (no budget on up to about $99,000) are not very good, because they lack resources. A feature is so much harder to pull off and sustain than a short movie is. No one makes a bad movie on purpose, it's just what usually happens when high aspirations collide with reality and Murphy's Law takes over. With the exception of RED COCKROACHES, guerrilla features tend to get better as their budgets go up into indie territory. A lot of that has to do with the fact that these movies have hired crew/actors, so they tend to be more professional and are better apt to deal with the many obstacles that overwhelm a lesser budget. I can only guess at THE CRIMPS budget (5 figures??), but it fares well (or better) alongside larger budget indies like Patrick Johnson's SHE'S CRUSHED, Rik Carter's DARK CRIMES, Sonnyboo's HORRORS OF WAR and Pat Kerby's SIREN.
The Review
THE CRIMPS is a paranormal drama written/directed by filmmaker Michael (Mick) Alderman. Viewers who are seeking action and a lot of special effects should look elsewhere. This is a character driven tale, sprinkled with moments of tension, yet takes its time to unfold a mystery that culminates with a horrific conclusion. Violence is minimal, but there is some strong language and female nudity.
Former Coast Guard helmsman, Eddie Hooper, arrives from sunny Florida to rainy Astoria, Oregon (also the backdrop for KINDERGARTEN COP) to search for his missing half-brother, Rob. It seems that a couple dozen men have also disappeared over the last few years. The town folk don't pay the "Missing" posters a lot of heed because most of the victims were out of town travellers.
Apparently, the last person to see Rob (and many of the other victims) alive is the alluring Veronica. Veronica has a goth-ish femme fatale air about her and many local residents suspect her of wrongdoing. As Eddie starts uncovering clues, he is confronted by Detective Webber, who tells Eddie to stay away from his #1 suspect, Veronica. The closer Eddie gets, the more Webber begins suspecting his actions.
Breaking it down
Directing: Mick is more than just a director, he is a filmmaker. It is a testament to his cumulative talents (producing, directing, writing, editing and photographing) that this movie is as good as it is. He is very calculating and patient; taking ample time to plan and execute. I've asked for this movie to be shown at the Las Vegas IndieMeet for the past couple of years, but Mick was Color Correcting or Sound Mixing and there was no rushing it. The quality is apparent.
Mick's strength as a director is that of a capable story-teller. The movie is very consistent. On the other hand, I think he could benefit from being more aggressive. For example: There is a scene of a man getting attacked by sea ghouls (you read that right!). Four monstrous hands grab the victim from behind, but they do so in such a way as to not hurt the actor or mess up the make up. In other words, those hands should have grabbed the actor with the kind of force that startles the viewer. There are some other attack scenes, which are decent, but could have been more scary and violent. I wanted to see a guy seemingly get away from the ghouls, only to be pulled through his car window or something. I mention this, because this movie is good enough to get distribution and being more aggressive could have heightened the scares and given this a couple of - "You know the cool scene where the ghouls attack that guy?!"
Acting: There are some fine performances in this that go above the norm of this budget category. Walt Plummer is solid as Eddie. Though I would have liked to see more expressions from him, he does a good job of carrying the movie.
Briana Ledford plays the prime suspect, Veronica. She looks like she could kill you, if she wanted to but she has those alluring eyes. Her voice is also effective - "Find what you're looking for?"
Bill Honl looks and sounds the part of Detective Webber. I thought he could have been a little more "in your face," wielding his authority in a more intimidating way, but he's good. He is like an indie version of Dennis Franz, see...!
Marcella Laasch, as Sheila, pulls off what I think is the strongest performance, amongst a solid acting troupe. In fact, her part as the wannabe lover is a big part of what sets this movie apart! Kudos to Mick for writing it and to Marcella for pulling it off.
There is also some fine support from Hollie Olson as Ida and Frank DiMarco as Carl. Many of the extras were convincing, like a bully in the bar.
Writing: Definitely a strong point! My sole criticism would be that I didn't see an arc in Eddie's character. Some writers define a character's arc (the internal journey such as a coward becoming a hero) as the story, while the rest is plot. It wouldn't be fair to write this kind of review, without some nitpicking. Obviously, I have written enough for you to realize how fond I am of this movie. That said, the writing on display here is first rate!
Not only does Mick take a story about a factual shipwreck and unravels a satisfying mystery that you can actually follow, but he populates it with really interesting characters. I already mentioned Veronica and Sheila, but the amount of detail to Eddie really makes you want to go along on his quest. There are some nice touches like how he is over-qualified to be a charter boat captain (the job he gets at the movie's onset), his love triangle, how he lives on the boat anchored to the eerie docks, a couple of really good exchanges with his boss Carl, etc. Eddie is someone you get to know and that is very rare these days.
Cinematography: 2001 Productions is Mick's video business, when he's not making movies. The guy knows how to shoot commercials, industrials, etc., so that professionalism is put to good use on THE CRIMPS! The movie starts with a couple of boom shots. For instance, the camera hovers above a spinning fan and floats down into the room as Eddie walks through the front door. Thankfully, these shots (unlike some movies) aren't over-used, otherwise they would start calling attention to themselves. There are just enough dolly, boom and moving shots to suggest a high level of quality.
There are other elements at work, a lot of them gorgeously subtle. Many shots have been fogged and Color Corrected. One of my favorite shots has Eddie looking over the pier and the water is reflecting the wavy light back onto his face. Some shots are at sunset and even though they appear dark, you can see a bay bridge and horizon. Also beautiful are shots of the bay with glimmering water in the foreground, docked boats in the middle ground and big fat moon in the sky! Mick also grabbed wild life shots, like sea gulls, and large seals, which add nicely to the atmoshere.
Music/Sound:
Holy cow! Mick got a composer (Tylor Neist), conductor (Erica Melton) and live musicians. This is pretty special. The rather large ten part ensemble is made up of flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, two violins, viola, cello, horn and trombone all recorded in an old church hall. The live performances, including some cool plucked and trilling of the strings was then mixed in with sampled harp and percussion. There is a repeating "ba bum ba bum bah" Crimps progression that reminds me a little of the score done for the movie SIGNS; it is very distinctive.
The quality of the soundwork is very nice. I would have preferred some more "oomph" when it came to Eddie hitting his head on a pipe (too soft) and breaking a window. Otherwise, the dialogue is crisp and the ambience is kept in the background as it should be.
Locations: Hey, it's Astoria, Oregon! You see the bay, docks, boats, a huge crossover bridge, a tour in a Maritime Museum, various town shots, a coffee shop, bar and creepy Shanghai tunnels. The production makes the most out of relatively few locations which we get to know, just like the characters.
Summing up:
Do you like ghosts, a femme fatale and a man caught up in a mystery? Then this movie is for you. One of the strengths of THE CRIMPS is that it keeps things fairly simple - there aren't that many characters (though plenty of extras), there aren't that many locations, so it's a movie you can get to know and follow. Had there been more characters and locations, it might have become complicated and hard to follow. I think it's just right in a BLOOD SIMPLE type of way. I am reminded a little bit of Hitchcock when watching this.
This movie has a dramatic tone and there is always going to be someone who says "You should have put more comedy in it." Maybe, but I think that is pretty shallow when people say that, because I really respect a serious tale, when done well. Mick writes and executes this with a straight face and it works like a well oiled machine.
Is it showing again in the area soon? 
