HOMICIDAL HARRY ** USA 2023 Dir: Bob Vresilovic. 107 mins
At their core, Indie Horror fans are simple creatures with uncomplicated tastes. Historically, the success of a new genre release could depend simply on the quality and inventiveness of the kills and the amount of nudity on display. Freddy Krueger carves his nubile victims with a terrifying bladed hand, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees butchers and slashes sexually active teenagers, while Jigsaw rips his victims apart in devious and increasingly elaborate traps. And although elevated Horror, including Heredity, The Witch and Midsommar, recently arrived on the scene, and has shown incredible financial potential and critical success, the original slashers and their shocking crimes have remained the staple for hardcore fans.
Bob Vresilovic is, at heart, a true-blue indie horror fan. As a writer, producer, actor, and director, he formed the HardGore Core team, an independent film company focusing on gory, low budget, underground indie films, alongside a group of his creative friends. After producing a few short films, the team combined their resources, skills, and passion to produce their first feature film, Homicidal Harry.
A mentally unstable man (Nathan Hine) is released from a psychiatric hospital and goes on a killing spree.
Although it would be easy to dismiss another low-budget indie production which relies heavily on
gratuitous gore and bloodletting, the dismissal would be premature. Vresilovic, and friends, have a
predilection to incorporate social issues into their productions: unemployment and drug abuse in Family Home Evening and gambling addiction in Collins, Creepy & Company. With Homicidal Harry, it is clear that their social aim was clearly directed at the current Health Care crisis in North America. Harry (Nathan Hine) is released from a Psychiatric Hospital due to overcrowding and understaffing, with aftercare limited to a handful of tablets. His psychosis remains unresolved and only escalates after his discharge. Hine is an imposing figure, and his performance is believable, and effective as a brutal, psychologically unbalanced, predator, in the vein of Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.
The Homicidal Harry storyline and plot is straightforward and coherent, following the daily exploits and emotional breakdowns of Harry as he meanders from killing a mugger to eviscerating a buxom prostitute, and many others along the way. The predictability of escalation serves as a comfort to horror fans and the indie aesthetic of the kills, dismemberment and decapitations serves as a quickfire filmmaking education to those interested in such endeavours. The sound design forms a powerful backdrop to the violence and chaos, creating an atmosphere of disorder and turmoil, replicating the fractured mind of Harry.
The HardGore Core team shows abundant potential with Homicidal Harry. The drawbacks in production is mostly linked to budgetary constraints and novice acting, which will most certainly be improved if the team continues to express themselves creatively and build their skills through regular productions.
Horror fans will delight in Homicidal Harry and will find a kinship with the creative people behind the project.
Review by Louis Du Toit
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