Released today from IFC Midnight, “Entrance”, tells the story of a 20 something woman who’s mundane existance in the big city has gotten the best of her. Suziey, played by the talented Suziey Block, wakes up each day to make coffee and feed her dog. The monotony of her day-to-day responsibilities are abrutly broken up by a nuumber of strange occurrences. She finds herself being followed, her beloved dog goes missing and strange noises stalk her at home.
Suziey Block is terrific job in a demanding role. Her acting skills are by far the best in the film and exceed most of the acting I’ve seen recently around the festival circuit. Make note of her name because you will be seeing much more of her in the future. There isn’t a ton of dialogue within the film, so I look forward to her in another role. She has a great look and fine screen presence. The supporting cast was descent and did the job. No one really stood out too much, but to be fair, Block was given the majority of the screen time.
The killer, who we find out is a someone from our final girl’s past, lacked a bit of the exuberance that I was looking for. The killers speech to Suziey, as she lays bloody and beaten on the floor, was believable and heartfelt. Thus, I feel as she tried to escape, the masked intruder would have had more passion and drive to catch her. I would have loved to see this axe wielding maniac lose the Michael Meyers walk and break out the Leatherface sprint! The mask was fun and creepy and the blood from the victims was very realistic. The deaths were offscreen but the aftermath was worth every penny. The is a nice effect as an axe is slammed into a woman stuck in a doggy door. The axe goes down and the blood comes up. It was nicely done and you will know it when you see it.
The MTV style of quick and obsessive jump cuts was a nice stylistic choice for the film. This can give the audience an unknowing feel of the unrest Suziey is going through. There was also a great contrast to the jump cuts with the addition of some very long takes. Minutes upon minutes go by before the next cut is made and it allowed for amazing suspense. The camera would follow the character and stay in focus and in frame. This was nicely done by a obviously skilled DP. The shaky and handheld feel of the film is not for everyone but it didn’t bother me. It was very “found footage like” and I found myself waiting for Suziey to address the camera. That may have been an interesting twist…
Entrance is a hell of a suspense filled thriller. The characters were believable, the story flows at a nice pace and the ending is something to die for. The film has found itself limited theatrical play and will also be available via video-on-demand.
