Indie Film Review: POACHED (2013)

Indie film companies Final Hour Films, Spectral Films, and Abject-Terror join forces for the short film Poached (2013) in which two gangsters (played by Richard Woollatt and Matt Lonsdale) meet out in the woods in the middle of nowhere to conduct some business with a third man who is yet to appear.  When they hear a gun shot off in the distance one of them goes to investigate discovering that there is something in the fog that’s more dangerous than they could ever be.

The film seems to borrow some ideas from Ryuhei Kitamura’s Verses (2000) with the set up but the film doesn’t have as much of a follow through.  Gangsters go into haunted forest and meet up with an unpleasant curse only Poached is less concerned with action as it follows the less interesting of the two gangsters.  Written by Lonsdale, Woollatt, and Ben Wilkinson the film suffers from being a vanity project of Lonsdale and Woollatt neither of which bring much credibility to their characters.  Much of the film is saved by the presence of Jed (Joe Meredith), the creature that lives within the fog, and special FX & make-up artist Lonsdale (again) and Chloe Cochrane who give Jed a few bloody good moments in the film.  Unfortunately, Jed only shows up towards the end of the film so you’ll have to wait till the end for the gooey parts.  

This being said the film is a short and despite its shortcomings director Matt Rowan Maw does a capable job with the material and delivers an entertaining twelve minutes that doesn’t drag in the slightest bit.  Thanks should also be given to director of photography Rob Nevitt and music composer Jason Rowan who do help the film along with their contributions.  With all their combined talents Poached becomes at least a suitable film and not one to completely ignore.  I do have to say that the opening montage is very effective in setting the mood but I wish there had been something more done with the premise as gangsters make for uninteresting characters in horror films.

If you would like to know more about Poached (2013) or see the film you can watch it on You Tube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg40I7sxtvI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUE6z7fCiX9uJOoIJMSgW4Ug