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Released by: Cinema Epoch
Released on: January 17, 2006
Director: Arman Titizian
Cast: Christo Dimassis, Christie Lynn Smith, Francesca Caro, David Cunliffe, Michael Brooks
Year: 2004
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The Movie:
Armen Titizian's directorial debut, Inside Irvin, is an interesting look at a brother and sister who live together and suffer from agoraphobia (in short, the fear of going outside). While it borrows elements from David Lynch's Twin Peaks and Roman Polanski's The Tenent, Titizian does a good job of making the film his own even if those influences are worn plainly on his sleeve.
The story revolves around Irvin Walter (Christo Dimassis) and his sister, Ida (Christie Lynn Smith). The two live together, holed up in their Los Angeles home, where they pretend to get outside by dressing up and listening to opera records. The reality is that neither one of them is capable of leaving the house, for psychological reasons that stem back to their childhood years, Irvin was especially close with their mother (Francesca Caro) who had a tendency to baby him to an obviously unhealthy extent. Ida, on the other hand, laments the death of her father in a car crash years before.
Things become even more unusual when Ida confesses to Irvin that she intends to leave the house soon, she wants to be a star and head to Hollywood and make it big and she knows that she's not getting any younger. Irvin, who has a tendency to drown his sorrows in alchohol, reacts quite harshly to this, afraid that the only person he's able to communicate with won't be there for him anymore. As his fears that Ida will leave him become more powerful, he starts to see his mother again as well as his childhood self in a series of unusual hallucinations. As things become stranger, it is soon made obvious that these two need each other far more than they realize and that their connection is much stronger than it would seem to be on the surface.
If you pay close attention, you'll probably at least have an inkling of where the storyline is heading before you're slapped outside the head with the twist ending but the movie does do quite a good job of building suspense thanks in no small part to two fine performances from Dimassis and Smith. At times these two are completely sympathetic and other times they're rather unsettling and it's interesting to see the two of them play with the subtleties of their characters. Smith is optimistic and ever hopeful while Dimassis is doubting, and very pessimistic. They play off of these qualities quite well and if they over do it once or twice, it isn't that noticeable. The cinematography is also very good, with plenty of nice, sweeping steadi-cam shots capturing the look and feel of their house and the dated furnishings inside.
The movie doesn't move at lightning speed but it is paced well enough that it holds our attention for the duration. For a film that really only relies on two principal players and takes place in one location, the filmmaker's have done an admirable and impressive job of structuring the story to ensure that things look and feel quite professional. The movie was obviously made with a smaller budget but it's all up there on the screen and the end result is an interesting thriller with a good twist and a few truly disturbing moments.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The image on this DVD is framed at roughly 1.85.1 and while the picture isn't flawless, it's perfectly watchable. The main problem is that during the darker scenes, of which there are a few, you'll note some compression artifacts as well as some combing. There's also some really mild motion blurring in a couple of spots where fast movement occurs. During the light moments in the film, things do look quite good and color reproduction is strong throughout but the defects are definitely there. Regardless, even with that said, the movie doesn't look bad - it just could have looked better.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track on this disc is quite good with very clear dialogue and properly balanced levels. The sound effects and the subtle score used in the movie come through nicely without overpowering the principal performers and there are no issues with hiss or distortion.
As far as the extra features go, the biggest of the supplements is a behind the scenes/interview segment with actor/producer Christo Dimassis and screenwriter Kimberly Seilhamer. Through some on camera interview clips and behind the scenes footage spread out over eleven minutes, we get a look at what went into the movie, hear about the challenges of shooting on a single location, and cover working on a lower budgeted film.
Also included on this disc are the film's original theatrical trailer, a photo gallery in slide show format, and eight deleted scenes (an alternate opening, two scenes of Irvin hitting the bottle, a strange bit with an egg and a few more). Chapter selection is also available for the main feature, and the disc comes with static menus.
The Final Word:
Inside Irvin might seem a little too familiar to the films that obviously inspired it at times, but it benefits from some strong and stylish camera work and two impressive performances. For those who appreciate the 'slow burn' style of suspense, it's recommended. Cinema Epoch's disc could have looked a little better but the extras are nicely done and the audio is solid.