The Deaths of Ian Stone
February 11th 2008 23:23
Stan Winston was one of six producers, but because his special effects studio is used for some of the work his name is emblazoned above the title on the DVD cover. In fact it reads as "Stan Winston’s The Deaths of Ian Stone", which is cheeky, since Winston neither wrote the original screenplay nor directed the movie. The script is by Brendan Hood and the director is Dario Piana. It reminds me of Quentin Tarantino blatantly using his name to sell a movie.
Mike Vogel as Ian Stone
Chrstina Cole as Jenny
Other players harass him, Jenny consoles him. He drops her home in the pouring rain, and on his way back by a train crossing he notices a large dark shape lying prone on the road. He inspects it and it makes a nasty grunt so he quickly gets back in the car, but the shape attacks and poor Ian is thrust into the path of an oncoming locomotive.
Ian snaps awake at an office desk. Was that a dream? Work colleague Jenny hands him reports due, and it becomes apparent she’s not his girlfriend. So what was that previous nightmarish experience he just had?
Jaime Murray as Medea with two mystery men
Ian wakes in a drug-addled new reality
Medea peers down at a prone Ian
Michael Feast as Gray
One of the evil Harvesters
The Deaths of Ian Stone is a brisk movie, coming in at around 80 minutes, and despite its what-the-fuck?! silliness and less than satisfactory resolve, it does manage to beguile the viewer for the best part. Rent it out on a rainy night if there’s nothing better to engage in, you could do worse.
Here's the trailer:
Of note: the movie has screened in the States as part of the second installment of the After Dark Horror Fest, which has divided critics and audiences as many of the movies in the first festival (2006) were nowhere near as “horrific” as the hype suggested (The Hamiltons, Wicked Little Things). The Abandoned was above average though, and Reincarnation directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On: The Grudge) might be okay.
The “8 Films To Die For” which screened November 9 -18, 2007, including this movie, were; Borderland (which looks the most stylish and intense), Crazy Eights (starring ex-porn star Traci Lords, Dina Meyer and Frank Whaley), Lake Dead, Mulberry Street, Nightmare Man (gee, some novel titles here), Tooth and Nail (with Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, Robert Carradine), and Unearthed (starring Emmanuelle Vaugier).
Intriguingly a ninth movie Frontiers was slapped with an NC-17 rating by the MPAA, and thus was not included (Doh! Bring it on!). It will receive an “unrated” release this year. Like Borderland it specialises in the horror trend of so-called “torture porn”.
I doubt any of these movies will receive a theatrical release down under, so I’d keep my eyes out in the video store … if you’re game.
Here's the Borderland trailer:
And here's the (bootlegged) trailer to Frontiers, which looks like the nasty-as-hell Grindhouse movie Tarantino anbd Rodriguez didn't make ...
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Comment by Damo
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Hadn't even heard of "Death of Ian Stone" sounds like a mixed bag, may check it out sometime but doesn't appear to be overly impressive.
Frontiers could be an adventure though.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
JD, yes, mixed bag indeed ... some eye candy, some stylish use of light and shadow, but the entire concept is just too silly to be taken seriously.
I like the look and feel of Frontiers too ... the sneaky videoing of the trailer in some US cinema adds to the underground "snuff" feel of it.