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Released by: In Touch With Insanity
Released on: November 6th, 2013.
Director: Derek Purtell
Cast: Lynn Lowry, Robert Youngren, Janet Tracy Keijser, Joshua Nelson, Polina Gorman
Year: 2008
Purchase From intouchwithinsanity.com
The Movie:
Directed by Derek Purtell who collaborated on the story with actress Lynn Lowry, 2008's Schism casts Lowry as a woman who suffers from multiple personality disorder - she could, at any time, be Betsy or she could be Lola or she could be Jackie. Linda's a bit of an activist though, in the sense that she believes that people who suffer from mental illness have just as much of a right to voice their opinion as those who don't. To further this, she hosts an obscure public access talk show that's called In Touch With Insanity where viewers are encouraged to call in and speak to Lola or one of the other personalities that lives inside her, live on the air. It's kind of a weird mix of 'Dear Abby' style advice dishing and Jerry Springer style freak show antics.
Her platform seems to attract other people who suffer from whatever mental illness you'd care to name. They tend to call in and she not only offers what advice she can but will also refer anyone in need to the doctor that she herself receives treatment from, Doctor Fuller (Robert Youngren). What Lola doesn't realize, however, is that some of the people who have been watching her TV show have been murdered in various grisly ways. As the movie plays out we're left wondering whether the murders were committed by Lola, one of her other personalities, some of her equally crazed fans or even Doctor Fuller, who at first appears to be fairly sane but soon proves to have some very unorthodox methods of treatment.
First things first - Schism is a low budget film and it shows some of the same idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies that you tend to associate with low budget films. There's no shame in this, and thankfully there's enough polish here to help the movie rise above, but know going in that not every performance is going to completely convince. Thankfully Lowry does most of the heavy lifting here and Purtell is smart enough to let her. Best known for her work in The Crazies, I Drink Your Blood and of course Radley Metzger's Score, Lowry is no stranger to playing unusual roles. As such, she gives her character(s) some interesting quirks and traits and the movie is all the more interesting because of her presence. If you're a Lowry fan, let it suffice to say that not only does she have a large part in the film, but she manages to make the most of it as well. Given that she worked on the script and helped to co-produce this was obviously a project she had faith in and logic would dictate she's taking the role to heart. The scenes in which Lowry sings at a night club not only show an obvious Twin Peaks influence but also allow her to vamp it up a bit. If they seem out of place in the main narrative, once you think about her psyche and the way her character could act, they actually fit better than you'd expect.
The movie isn't perfect. Robert Youngren isn't the most charismatic guy, either that or he's playing his part with a ridiculous amount of restraint. Some of the supporting cast members are a bit awkward and if you can't buy the central concept of the crazy lady with the talk show the whole thing falls apart - but again, Lowry sells it and Purtell sticks within his budget by staging it all as low budget cable access fare rather than trying to convince us that what we're seeing is big budget network TV content. This lends credence not only to the possibility of a show like this being broadcast (if you've watched any cable access content in a major city, you'll know it can get pretty weird) but also to the possibility that it might connect with the distraught and the troubled the way that it does in the movie. The story also treats the issue of mental illness with enough respect that it never feels like it's really exploiting the concept. Think of this as one as The Three Faces Of Eve or Sybil but with a whole lot more weird activity and carnage.
The movie is well paced and pretty well edited. It's also got a few solid gore scenes, all done with practical effects and done rather well at that, and the movie manages to make the most of some interesting locations, most of which looks like Queens rather than Manhattan so we get a bit of local flavor to keep things interesting. There's a bit of nudity here, never a bad thing, and a gratuitous Lloyd Kaufman cameo that is amusing (that is, if you like Lloyd Kaufman) if unnecessary. The movie does a pretty solid job of treading the line between horror/slasher conventions and functioning as a psychological thriller. For as many scenes of nastiness that we see, like a surprisingly convincing tongue cutting, we're given some legitimate character development and interesting plot twists. As such, the movie tries and succeeds in doing something different. Yes, at times it does feel a bit like a lot of other low budget slasher pictures but the psychological angle, the multiple personality disorder storyline and the genuinely weird atmosphere make this one work.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Schism arrives on Blu-ray basically as a self-released two-disc set. The Blu-ray disc, which is disc one, presents the film in 1.85.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. Generally the transfer looks pretty good, so long as you go in with the right expectations. The colors look nice and natural and while there are some compression artifacts in a few of the darker scenes detail is pretty solid. Skin tones look lifelike and accurate and there aren't any contrast issues to quibble over.
Audio chores are handled by your choice of an English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix or a 2.0 Stereo mix. Both tracks are properly balanced and free of any hiss or distortion. Bass response won't blow you away but the low end is there when the movie needs it to be and the score sounds fine as do the sound effects. The 5.1 mix, not surprisingly, has more depth to it and more directionality as well.
One the first disc we get a trailer for the feature but also a commentary track from Lynn Lowry, Derek Purtell and co-writer Erika Purtell. It's an active track that covers most of the bases you'd expect - where the ideas for the story came from, casting the movie, who did what and where, that type of thing. There's also some discussion of the effects work, some exploration of Lowry's character and her various traits, locations that were used and quite a bit more.
The second disc for this release is a DVD and it contains a wealth of supplements starting with a forty three minute piece aptly titled The Making Of Schism which is made up of some decent cast and crew interviews, and some behind the scenes footage. The emphasis here is interviews though, they make up the bulk of the running time. It's an interesting enough piece, all involved have some stories to tell and it's cut well which results in decent pacing. The BTS effects footage is very cool to see as well.
The disc also includes an eleven minute Making Of The Special Effects featurette that show how some of the gore scenes were handled. This is pretty comprehensive, showing how various latex appliances were used and how the tongue cutting was done. Lowry gets some solo time in front of the camera for a forty minute video interview in which she talks about her work on the picture, as well as her career in general, starting with how she got into acting and then elaborating on her work here specifically. We also get a quick five minute interview with Kaufman about his cameo in the movie. Tobias Cron of Power Skeleton, who did the movie's soundtrack, is also interviewed for about nine minutes.
Rounding out the extras on the second disc are roughly twenty-two minutes worth of deleted scenes. Both discs contain menus and the feature disc contains chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Schism is a solid micro-budget horror picture, one with some inspired creativity and a strong lead performance from Lowry that builds to a satisfying conclusion. Some decent effects and a good sense of pacing also help. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite good and the two-disc set is slammed with extras. A solid release, through and through.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
