Coming soon!
Cast:
Damian Maffei as James
Aimee Brooks as Kristy
Joe Unger as The Carny
Directed by Jay Woelfel
Review:
I almost liked Closed for the Season, which is part of the problem when it comes to reviewing a work in progress. The final cut might be an entirely different film. Before the screening at Monster-Mania writer/director Jay Woelfel (Ghost Lake) stated that there is visual effects and coloring work that still needs to be done. Hopefully he just forgot to mention editing because it desperately needs some of that as well.
The concept and location are ideal for a horror movie. As Woelfel explained, the setting is an abandoned amusement park in Ohio. It was built over 100 years ago and has been empty and unused since about 1978. In the time since its closing buildings and rides have crumbled and plants started growing over everything. The place is naturally spooky without any dressing or alteration.
The story itself ended up being entirely different from what I expected. I figured a bunch of teenagers would somehow get lost in the park, stalked by some ghost and disposed of one at a time. Woelfel deserves credit for trying something more creative than that. Kristy (Aimee Brooks) finds herself lost in the park at night, unsure of how she got there or what she’s doing. She wanders around and finds a house where James (Damian Maffei) lives with his parents, who used to be the park’s caretakers. Together they live a nightmare where all of the park’s legends come true. There is a lake monster, a hungry alligator and even mobsters.
An old carny (Joe Unger) acts as a macabre host of sorts for Kristy and James. He talks in riddles and messes with their heads and generally antagonizes them. At times James will see Kristy die, or vice versa, only to realize that it really didn’t happen and they’re right back where they started. This keeps happening as they struggle to defeat the carny and get out of the park.
The incorporation of a kid’s memories of an amusement park into the story is a nice touch. For James it involves a friend who was hurt on a ride, ending up paralyzed. Kristy lost a teddy bear given to her by a secret admirer and was never able to find it. The urban legends they tell are believable and seem like ones that would develop over the years.
There was a point about an hour and twenty minutes in where it appeared that Closed for the Season had reached a natural conclusion. Had it ended there I would have probably given it a positive notice. Sure there are a few glaring flaws. Some of the dialogue is clunky, it doesn’t utilize the park for suspense as much as it should and at times it plays more like a comedy than a horror movie (with unintentional laughs in the mix as well). But the location is great, it is often morbidly funny (Unger has some very funny lines that are expertly delivered) and the story twists and turns in unexpected ways.
Unfortunately, it did not end at that point. It went on for another forty minutes, clocking in at two hours without credits. The last half-hour drags, to say the least, and at minimum thirty minutes needs to be trimmed before a final version is completed. A large portion of the audience didn’t make it until the end, and I can’t say I blamed them. After the pseudo-ending it spins its wheels and repeats itself.
If they can cut the fat and tweak the visuals (too often you literally can’t see what’s going on), there is a pretty good indie horror film in there. Hopefully the filmmakers are able to pull it off.
