I watched THIEF at the Indigo Filmfest and was positively surprised! What starts out as a shallow mystery drama evolves with an increasing run time to a real horror movie - including a witch, black magic, dark basements and a curse from the past. The movie differs from most ordinary amateur films because it is neither very brutal nor deliberately trashy. Instead, an extraordinary story is told which mixes elements of (Italian) horror movies with social drama. Even non-fans of horror might like THIEF because it deals with topics that concern most people: fear of loss, guilt and its consequences.
The budget of the movie was obviously not very high but the filmmakers Moritz Hellfritzsch and Anna Piotrowksi and their team have made the best of their possibilities. The actors are mostly good, especially main actor Yannick Hehlgans is great as Mario! Sebastian Badenberg - already known from several other independent movies such as BREAK or SLASHER - plays the role of the parapsychologist and delivers a performance that is fundamentally different from his previous killer roles.
Furthermore THIEF's atmospheric score by Parklake is especially mentionable and reminiscent of the works of Fabio Frizzi, Goblin or John Carpenter. Not only the music reminds you of the seventies genre cinema but also the action is full of references to classic horror movies such as "The House with Laughing Windows" or "Four Flies on Grey Velvet". THIEF may not be perfect - some actors are obviously not professionals, the editing is sometimes bumpy in some places, the set design is mostly quite Spartan - but as a very low budget movie it is definitely unique and an interesting mixture of different influences.
One of the most mature amateur movies I have seen so far. Thumbs up!
(7/10)
The budget of the movie was obviously not very high but the filmmakers Moritz Hellfritzsch and Anna Piotrowksi and their team have made the best of their possibilities. The actors are mostly good, especially main actor Yannick Hehlgans is great as Mario! Sebastian Badenberg - already known from several other independent movies such as BREAK or SLASHER - plays the role of the parapsychologist and delivers a performance that is fundamentally different from his previous killer roles.
Furthermore THIEF's atmospheric score by Parklake is especially mentionable and reminiscent of the works of Fabio Frizzi, Goblin or John Carpenter. Not only the music reminds you of the seventies genre cinema but also the action is full of references to classic horror movies such as "The House with Laughing Windows" or "Four Flies on Grey Velvet". THIEF may not be perfect - some actors are obviously not professionals, the editing is sometimes bumpy in some places, the set design is mostly quite Spartan - but as a very low budget movie it is definitely unique and an interesting mixture of different influences.
One of the most mature amateur movies I have seen so far. Thumbs up!
(7/10)
