Crooked Miles

This is a very creepy horror which builds suspense throughout every scene. The amazing thing about this film is that it was produced over 10 years. It is the result of multiple stories being put together, each one linked by an old spell book. This is a story of humans putting their wants and desires first, even if sometimes the affects are catastrophic for those pushed aside.

The building of suspense is particularly good in the first few scenes and the audience will be on the edge of their seats anticipating the worst case scenario. I like the way that as a viewer you are left a cliffhanger right at the beginning and have to wait for answers. This really helps with the intrigue and sparks the imagination. The music score is incredibly effective at building the tension as everything comes into place. The sound is amplified throughout to give each scene an outer worldly feeling. The sounds are there to disturb and make the audience feel as uncomfortable as possible.

This book travels through the centuries and the audience is brought along for the ride. We are taken back to 1812 as the viewer sees the results of war. We see acts of revenge against a mans heartless friend which lead to heartbreaking events. Before we know it, it is the 1960’s and then onto the 1980’s and 1990’s. Each wish bringing about death and destruction. We see past events repeating themselves as evil passes from one generation to the next.

The stories link together really well and are edited seamlessly so you wouldn’t know that they are a number of short films pulled together. We see each characters cross paths, some are victims and some are the beneficiary of the book. It appears that the location is the same throughout just brought forward to the decade that the story is occurring. Blind date can be seen as a separate short film but works well here.

Sarah-Doe Osbourne as Nichole is the stand out performer as she is able to portray a blind woman who is so desperate to see. She is able to play the many emotions of this character, from the beautiful and elegant lady to someone of pure evil, who in some way you can empathise with. This takes great skill and the writers should take great credit in writing the script for this story. There are not many characters on show that really hit as hard as Nichole. Ethan Boucher also deserves a mention as the young boy Daniel whose life is mixed up with the events of the past.

The director Rob Rotondo has a history of making films from the horror genre and this is clearly a work of passion made over a considerable time. There is great skill here pulling the whole production together. He clearly knows how to set the scene and I love the use of colour and black and white to distinguish between the darker moments and the more lighthearted. He helps the viewer understand the reasoning for the wish but shocks the audience when the wish comes true. There were times that the viewing becomes increasingly uncomfortable and this was mainly due to the use of sound and some erie camera work.

The writers clearly grasped the saying “ be careful what you wish for” they have given each character great depth giving the audience a great deal to discuss. The acts of right and wrong are clearly brought into question. There is also an element of “ would you be prepared to push the boundaries of morality to get everything you desired? There is a good mix of euphoria and terror along with the reality of what have I done?

Overall this is an example of great story telling and a good look at human nature. The director is very skilful at making the audience fear the things they do not see. This is often what horror is about, it is about what the human imagination can create. You won’t look at a musical figurine in the same way again. Make sure you view the end credits as you are in for more surprises.