The Moose Head Over The Mantel Review: A Goofy Title Home to a Fantastic Story
Starring Kristen Vaughn, Rebecca Gray Davis, Stephen Heskett
Directed by Jane Rose, Shannon K. Hall, Matthew Gray, Jessi Gotta, Bryan Enk and Rebecca Comtois
When you’re offered the chance to check out a film with a title like The Moose Head Over The Mantel, there comes a sense of “I’ve simply GOT to check this one out” that comes along with it, and suffice to say aside from the odder-than-odd title, I was pleasantly surprised at what my eyes had taken in.
Directed by a 5 headed beast (all the names are listed above, and I’m not typing them again), this film covers around a century of activity, all set inside the same home, and oddly enough it’s all caught through the eyes of, you guessed it: the moose head over the mantel. I know what you’re thinking, and trust me I was thinking the same thing too – can a movie like this actually be taken seriously? Well, the answer is yes and it’s crafted rather intelligently. Each time span of activity was lensed by a different director, and they each brought their own flavor to each respective time-frame. We get to see the varying horrors that each family that has resided in this home has had to suffer with, including the effects of an alcoholic parent, a pyromaniac son, an abusive partner and even a little devil-worship – we’re talking sunny day all around under this roof, and it’s a miracle that the place didn’t cave the hell in years ago!
Each and every director’s style of cinematography, soundwork and storytelling has its own pulse, and it really helps each respective story move from one span to another. What really works as well is the mixture of terrors – it doesn’t always need to rely upon a supernatural essense – all it takes is a skewering of the human element, and you’ve got something that can scare people to the bone. If there were a downside to this production, it would be the extremely low-budgeted look at times – if there were a bit bigger allocation attached to this film, it would be something to behold, but hey – I’m not going to complain. In the end of all things, we’ve got a goofy title backed up by a fantastic story, and the hard-work put together from a quintet of directors that deserve to have this one looked at by a much larger audience. Give this Head some love if you have the opportunity – it won’t let you down!
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Film
Summary
At the end of the day we’ve got a goofy title backed up by a fantastic story, and the hard-work put together from a quintet of directors that deserve to have this one looked at by a much larger audience.
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