Grim

Released by: Troma Entertainment
Released on: 3/8/11
Director: Adrian Santiago
Cast: Christopher Dimock, Scott A. Mollette, Brandi Price, Niko Red Star
Year: 2009
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The Movie:

A family of three is riding in the back of a pickup truck. It is quickly obvious they are not there because they want to be. The family is driven to remote location in the woods, the parents executed, the boy injured and left to die alone. He's found by a man, a former lawman, who brings him back to his home where he and his wife raise the boy from the adolescence to manhood. Jump to the future, Nicholas Grim (Christopher Dimock) is sent by his adoptive father to go work for some fat guy, who ends up not really needing the work Grim went to do, so he starts the walk back home.

In the meantime, back at the home front his adoptive parents are paid a visit by the same crew that killed Grim's real parents a decade before. The Armed Militant Forces (UAF) are a gang of dirtbags who seem to be the only governing body in the land, one plagued with poverty. It's run by Atticus Miller (Scott A. Mollette) and with his right-hand man Romeo (Niko Red Star) and they come for the ex-lawman to settle a score. Grim returns home to find his adoptive parents have met the same fate as his natural parents and by the same group no less, and begins his bloody rampage of revenge.

On the surface, Grim sounds like a typical revenge flick and in all honesty it is. The story wasn't much but this movie has a lot going for it. First of all the look of the movie is fantastic. It's was filmed with a high-definition camera, but maintains a gritty feel, like everything is dirty and unkempt. The mood of the film is one of loneliness and isolation, and is very effective in conveying that the main character is at rock bottom with nothing left in his life and nothing to lose. There's no flash to this film. It's down and dirty low budget movie making done with skill and passion, with an end product that was a surprise and a pleasure.

The writer/cinematographer/editor/director seems to be influenced by the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Sergio Leone, and many of the great exploitation films of the 1970s, but without being blatantly obvious in his tips of the hat. One can see places here and there and be reminded of certain movies or scenes, but not point and say “they did that in (insert movie here)”. For example, there are scenes of single shots with long monologues, and shots that show a large area with only a small amount of activity which goes on for much longer the typical movie. Scenes like that remind one of certain director's styles, but without ripping them off or just re-creating something they've done.

Grim is quite violent. The murder of the boy's father is brutal, there's an exploding head, and a truck full of rotting bodies, and a particularly nasty scene involving fingernails. And look for a nice drawn out, old fashioned fist fight to the death, minus all the jumpy camera and quick editing tricks that make everything disjointed and difficult to follow. There's plenty of bullet hits and the blood spray is sort of foolish, but it never went to the level of being absurd. The violence falls into the category of ultra-violence, but it remains realistic for the most part. It is used as more of a narrative tool rather then a go for the gross-out gimmick. The acting is competent for the most part, and considering most of the players haven't been in a lot of films they do a good job. There're a couple of spots that suffer a bit, but it doesn't impact the movie as a whole. But the real star of this movie is the director.

Filmmaker Adrian Santiago is a talent to watch. This is his first full-length feature and this reviewer found it to be very impressive. He shot this movie with a skeleton crew, seemingly doing all the major jobs himself, and the end result is satisfying. At the very end of the credits he thanks all those who didn't think he could make a movie for $2500, and thanks those who watched his $2500 movie. If that is true, and he made this movie for $2500, give that man a budget and see what he can do. He had to have taken tips from Robert Rodriguez's commentary for La Mariachi and read his book Rebel Without a Crew because he took a nearly non-existent budget and made a picture that looks like it was made for at least 50 times the amount he allegedly used.

Grim is admirable. We need to see more output from this talented filmmaker. Do yourself a favor and give this one a spin.


Video/Audio/Extras:

Troma presents this movie in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The movie was filmed in HD, and the DVD transfer looks great. Excellent detail, bold colors, sharp edges, and blacks levels looking as deep as they probably can on DVD. At some points the whites look like they are running a bit hot, but that's probably the way it was filmed rather than the transfer. A lot of this movie is filmed in direct sunlight, so a certain look is inevitable on such a small budget. Sadly, this is not yet available on Blu-ray. If it is someday, it's hard to imagine it looking anything less than fantastic.

The audio is handled with a 2.0 Dolby Digital track. For the most part it sounds fine, but at points the dialogue can get a little too quiet. But the music is balanced nicely, and is never overpowering, and the sound effects (i.e. gun blasts) are likewise at a good level. No glitches to report (sync, popping, hissing).

The extras fall short in that they are mostly not concerning the feature. It starts with an unnecessary intro to the film by Troma poppa Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rochon, which is about 2 and a half minutes. It shouldn't be there. There's the typical “Tromatic Extras” which need to be changed up, as they don't add to the value of the disc when they're the same all the time. There is one on here not seen by these eyes before called “Vintage Troma” which is a 15 or so minute segment of Kaufman in his cluttered office watching a video of a guy peeing inside of a piece of luggage and trying to determine if it's real or not. Other than that, it's the same old stuff. There's a trailer for the feature and a slide show that runs a minute and a half with some production photos. And then there's a director commentary. Santiago walks us through the movie and how they did things as well as pointing out spots here and there that were influenced by movies he loves. He also mentions at one point the movie actually cost a little over $3,000 to make, and talks about the location they filmed to movie on. There are some spots of silence, but mostly he fills the time well and seems to be enjoying himself. The addition of one other person would have spruced it up a bit, but overall it's a good commentary and adds to the release in a very positive way. A great listen to those interested in low budget filmmaking.

The Final Word:

A very surprising release from Troma, Grim surpasses expectations and is a movie that shouldn't disappoint, unless you picked it up hoping for a feel good movie. This isn't one. Instead it's a great piece of no-budget indie movie making that needs to be seen. Seriously, someone needs to give this man some money so we can see what else he can do. He's definitely one to be on the radar for future projects.