The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with the world as a whole, prompting the cancellation of countless film festivals including this year’s Calgary Underground Film Festival. As a result, many festivals have turned to a digital model to continue to present their lineups. To keep up with our latest digital CUFF coverage, click here.
Check out our latest roundup below as we cover the CUFF 2020 entries Homewrecker and Sleeze Lake.
Homewrecker
Directed by Zach Gayne and written by Gayne and its two stars Precious Chong and Alex Essoe, Homewrecker is an indie Canadian horror comedy in the vein of 2018’s Greta. Unlike the latter, this film takes the campiness dial and turns it up to 11. While this was certainly an interesting choice, it would also be one of its major constraints. The film is relatively short, clocking in at 76 minutes, but its repetitive nature will make it feel longer at times. The story is a simple one as a budding relationship between two women grows into obsession. Conceding the fact that it may be due to budgetary constraints, the majority takes place in one location with any effects kept at a minimum where Linda (Chong) and Michelle (Essoe) went toe-to-toe with Michelle being subject to Linda’s many obsessive and increasingly dangerous delusions. Suffice it to say that this film doesn’t travel any new ground in this regard meanwhile not offering much else beyond those delusions. Though they are somewhat entertaining, they get old and repetitive very fast. The film takes a dark turn by the end, however, the lack of any character development only lessened that impact. Perhaps the best part of the film was how well it was shot despite its very indie nature as it did an admirable job at keeping up with the action. In the end, don’t expect much but for what it is, the film is still a decent experience.
Sleeze Lake: Vanlife at its Lowest and Best
Music fans may have Woodstock but what do vanners have? That answer is Sleeze Lake. Directed by Andrew J. Morgan and Nicholas Nummerdor, Sleeze Lake: Vanlife at its Lowest and Best, is an interesting little documentary that touches the surprising world of vanners and van culture, arguably peeking in the 1970s. Led by a group of misfits from the south side of Chicago called Midwest Vans Ltd. (a club that still operates today), perhaps the epitome of this craze took place in 1977 at a makeshift town near a pond made by this group for which they called Sleeze Lake. Hearing these people talk about their experiences and suffice it to say they were wild, mirroring that of a Woodstock. There was sex, drugs, rock and roll, and partying over that glorious weekend. The film featured a lot of celebrating and good times from the perspective of those who have since moved on with their lives. Though the event was meant to be a celebration of vans and van culture, this point would kind of get lost in the shuffle as the film focused more on the partying than an exploration of the subset of society that led to it which would somewhat undercut the point of the film. Nevertheless, clocking in at just under an hour, it is still a fun and quick watch whose mature subject matter won’t be for everyone.
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.