In his newest film, Joshua Kennedy ventures into Lovecraft territory with THE INNSMOUTH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.
Basing a movie on one of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous tales, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", is a tremendous task for anyone. Just the name "Innsmouth" in the title lets most of the audience know what they are in for, but this movie still delivers the goods, despite the fact that most of the cast is made up of very modern iPhone toting young females. In my opinion it is Joshua Kennedy's creepiest and most subtle film yet.
Roberta Olmstead (Hilda Sofia Bautista) arrives at the Innsmouth School for Girls, as a new and soon perplexed student, trying to fit in and understand all the various mysterious things going on. Classmates Suzi (Stefanie Jo Saenz) and Lori (Mitzi Venus) join Roberta as she tries to get to the bottom of the school and its weird history....but the girls soon find out that what is happening at the school truly is from beyond.
A dark, damp, and moldy atmosphere permeates throughout THE INNSMOUTH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS--there's not a sunny scene in the entire picture. It may have been filmed in Texas, but a New England Gothic tone is present at all times, augmented by Reber Clark's moody score. It's not all gloom and doom....Gooey Films fans will be happy to know that there's an obligatory shower scene, and a catfight.
There's also some very winning performances among the three leading ladies. Newcomer Hilda Sofia Bautista joins a long list of notable Gooey Films heroines. Bautista's Roberta isn't a naive innocent--she has plenty of spunk and sass, and she interacts well with Stefanie Jo Saenz and Mitzi Venus. Bryan Martinez shines in a very Michael Ripper-like role, and writer-producer-director Joshua Kennedy himself plays the strange headmaster of the school, the true shadow over Innsmouth.
This film has a number of impressive practical effects, but Kennedy uses them in a efficient and judicious manner. The result is that the viewer is given a taste of some strange entities without becoming familiar with them, keeping the suspense intact.
With THE INNSMOUTH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, Joshua Kennedy proves once again that you don't need explicit gore & content, or a $200 million dollar budget, to make a proper, effective, and entertaining classic horror film.
I'd like to see this. Is it available on DVD or streaming? I'm also planning to send away for some of Josh Kennedy's films from Oldies.com: Attack of the Octopus People and the double feature Menace With Five Arms/Curse of the Insect Woman. They also have an episode of Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia that features a movie called Mark of the Damned. Do you have all of these? I'd still like to find a copy of House of the Gorgon. Maybe it will be available at the Bash.
ReplyDeleteThis movie is now available to pre-order at Oldies.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete