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COOKERS
(2005)
Director: Dan Mintz. Hacktors: Brad Hunt, Cyia Batten, Patrick McGaw. Rating/5: 
The lowdown: Hector and Dorena are the cookers of the film's title. Holing up in a derelict old house and blacking out the windows, they prepare for a marathon session of creating lucrative methamphetamine, while regularly getting high on their own supply. Their associate Merle handles duties like bringing them food and allegedly providing security. But is Merle all he seems to be? And are they hallucinating, or are there really supernatural shenanigans afoot in the house? Good points: Cookers is scary. Not solely because it's a disturbing look at how drugs can completely screw you up (kids), but in a spooky, jumpy way too. It's a fascinating cross-pollination of genres, which works brilliantly. The paranoia stews and grows throughout, as the excellent Brad Hunt's character Hector becomes increasingly demented and suspicious, talking at the speed of light and developing his own stunted syntax. There are several creepy moments, which put you in much the same mind-set as the small cast. Is ghostly stuff really going down, or is it purely in their minds? Did we even see what we thought we saw, or did we imagine it? There's more than a hint of Blair Witch about the proceedings, which is no bad thing in my book. Bad points: I'm generally not a big fan of ambiguity in movies. In particular, there have been a few too many movies over the years which sit on the fence between the supernatural and people imagining the supernatural. Sadly, Cookers is no exception, providing no easy answers. For me, this lets it down come the end, but you may love that big, fat question mark. Apart from that, the only other downside to Cookers is that its sheer intensity can become a little wearing. While Hunt's performance is remarkable, his babbling is just beginning to irritate by the final reel. Overall: One of the more impressive indie horror flicks to come along in some time, Cookers is essentially a traditional haunted house movie (or is it?) dressed up with plenty of drug paraphernalia. I had a great time watching it, despite my reservations about the conclusion. One thing's for sure, too: I'll be watching out for Brad Hunt in future. Release Date: Out now on Region 1 DVD (see link below). No UK release as yet. [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-present |