Description

Ever wondered what happened to that weird guy you went to grade school with, the one who used to flinch if you even smiled at him? The one you privately voted “most likely to go on a killing spree”? If you’re still curious about him, Adam Green and Joel Moore’s new independent arthouse thriller Spiral offers an entirely believable and wholly unsettling scenario for you.

Writer/co-director Joel Moore (comedian and star of Green’s recent ’80s slasher paean Hatchet) casts himself as an awkward nebbish named Mason who works a boring job in a boring call centre, endlessly answering the same questions day in, day out. His only acquaintance is his boss Berkeley, a childhood friend who keeps him around mostly out of pity. When Amber, a quirky but dysfunctional new female employee (played by Amber Tamblyn of The Ring and The Grudge 2), takes an interest in the curious drawings in Mason’s sketchbook, she forces herself into his life, attracted by his enigmatic loneliness and talent for painting portraits. Mason swiftly becomes obsessed, but is strangely secretive about his past, permitting her only brief glimpses into it. Nevertheless, they begin a bizarre courtship that is both compelling and uncomfortable to watch as the two draw closer together. As Amber reveals more of her body to Mason through their painting sessions, Mason reveals more of his demons to her.

Lensed in Moore’s rainy hometown Portland, Spiral is a slow-burning character study that boasts a unique visual style, several red herrings and a fully original jazz score. As such, it’s been hailed by critics as a “Hitchcockian psychodrama,” somewhat reminiscent of Lucky McKee’s May and Angela Bettis’ Roman for its lonely characters with deep dark secrets. It also showcases a completely different side of 31-year-old Green, who’s already been celebrated as a horror filmmaker for Hatchet as well as a comedy director for Coffee & Donuts (2000). It’s a date movie, so bring one -- but do a background check first.

—Jovanka Vuckovic

Website

http://www.spiralthemovie.com/

Credits

Director: Adam Green, Joel Moore
Screenplay: Joel Moore, Jeremy Danial Boreing
Cast: Joel Moore Amber Tamblyn Zachary Levi Tricia Helfer
Producers: Cory Neal, Jeremy Boreing, Joel Moore, Zachary Levi, Rachelle Ryan, Jim Sowell
Distributor: ArieScope Pictures/Coattails Entertainment