Reviews

Filmmakers with no money normally try to do one of two things: either make a standalone short film or a full-length feature, which inevitably ends up bad because of a lack of money. Or you could do what Jason Patfield has done, which is create a series. Frankly, I think it is a great idea to create a series, and in this case, I'm pleased it is a fantasy/horror series.

I had not seen the first five episodes so I cruised on over to IMDb to see what I could find out to make sure I knew what the series was about. Apparently, "Dreadville" isn't a continuing series with the same characters and plot strands from one episode to another. It's more similar to "The Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the Darkside" where different genre stories are provided on an episodic basis. The only similarity between episodes is that each occurs in the weird town of Dreadville. This is an excellent idea because it allows new viewers to come into the series at any time without needing to catch up on the storyline. For a young filmmaker trying to draw an audience, this seems a wise choice to me.

The few reviews I was able to find on IMDb were decidedly mixed. While there were some complimentary comments concerning storyline attempts and special effects, there was also plenty of criticism leveled at the filmmakers over picture and sound quality, as well as acting. But if you are a new filmmaker with no money and no prospect of obtaining money, you can either waste your life dreaming about what could have been, or you can jump into the deep end headfirst and hone your craft while you work. And that is what Patfield is doing.

I don't have any real complaints about picture or sound quality—both were quite clear. Patfield and J.D. Scruggs (the episode director) do use some slow-motion and blurring effects, but I felt like that was more of an artistic choice to lend the film an air of mystery than a lack of knowledge or skill on their part. As far as acting goes, while it's obvious that the actors are all new to film, I thought the acting was really well-done. There were a couple of supporting characters that were pretty bad, but all the leads were quite good.

There are several references on IMDb about gore effects, and while there was some blood here, it certainly wasn't over the top. This particular episode was much like what you might see on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" where the story seems to be fairly pedestrian, but moves into the fantastic towards the end, with a huge twist to finish things up.

I've purposely avoided mentioning the plot because I can't divulge much without ruining the ending for new viewers. Basically, Josh (Steven Rohlf) is a down-on-his-luck young man who is three months late on his rent and owes the local mobsters some money as well. He has only until Friday before his landlord kicks him out, but who cares, because Friday is when the local gangster is coming back to kill him for nonpayment. Josh is obsessed with winning the lottery, fantasizing about how a big win could change his life. He runs into his friend, Rhett, who happens to be a famous plastic surgeon, but finds out his friend has been caught up in a malpractice scandal and is in trouble as well. The two hatch a scheme to disappear, but before they can, Josh decides to play the lottery one last time—and he wins $500,000! The plot is very straightforward up to this point, but then it takes a turn and things get hinky fast.

There is evidence that this is a "no-budget" film. For instance, the character of Rhett is played by a baby-faced Michael Schmid. While Schmid does an admirable job in the role, it is hard to see this young man playing a rich and famous plastic surgeon. But in no-budget film-making, you take what you can get. Some of the special effects, while interesting, were obviously filmed in a creative way in order to save money (for instance, the bullet flying through the air and the shot to the head). But when you realize these filmmakers did this entire 40-minute film with no money and in one 25-hour time period, it is impressive work.

Again, I haven't seen the earlier episodes, but when I compare the reviews for earlier episodes to what I've seen, it seems the filmmakers have made great strides in both learning and practicing their craft. I enjoyed "The Lottery". Decent story, great twist at the end, and relatively high production value for no money. It's amazing what you can do with nothing but desire and elbow grease! I look forward to viewing future episodes in this series. If you are interested in viewing any of this series of film shorts, please go to bublenutz.site50.net, myspace.com/bublenutzproduction, or facebook.com/bublenutz.

When last I left the twisted town of Dreadville, I was filled with questions. What were the good folks at Bublenutz Productions trying to accomplish? Where were they going with their eclectic low-budget horror series? It seems that things have settled down and the folks at Bublenutz Productions have decided to give the horror enthusiast a series aimed at wowing and impressing the indie horror fan. While the first five episodes had the feel of experimentation, it's clear from watching the latest two episodes, The Lottery and Love, Death, and Blueberry Pancakes, that lessons have been learned and quality has been improved.

Both of the episodes in question are of similar quality. The Lottery seems to be a little more artsy, while LDBP is a quick and brutal tale. In The Lottery, a loser with a gambling addiction finds that everyone he owes money is out to get him. Help arrives in the form of an ex-friend, who has some trouble with the infamous Dreadville Synidcate. Turns out he is wanted in the mysterious face removal of the mayor's daughter. Things get a little more complicated from there, and the best twist in the series is executed at the end of the short film.

Love, Death, and Blueberry Pancakes is a short but violent piece of short filmier. It features the best acting of the series and genuinely feels like a success. The story follows around a bunch of gangsters who are worried about their lives as someone has been traveling around assassinating all of the nefarious gangland leaders. One dude named Chino, who is supposed to be laying low, comes out of hiding in order to score a little under-aged pinning. The twists rear their ugly heads again, but just like in The Lottery, they are nicely handled. Yeah, the twists in this one are a little predictable, but the execution is fairly solid.

The direction on both short films is solid. The Lottery is a little experimental and some of the scenes featuring needless repetition of dialogs don't quite work the way they are supposed to. LDBP is almost perfectly executed. It has nice pacing, nice scenes of brutality, and is just plain enjoyable.

Both episodes suffer from a case of low-budget-it-is, but it doesn't completely ruin the films. Some of the sets are cheap and so fake looking that they can't help but be real places. The locations are definitely a letdown. The film quality is the best of the series, and the sound design is similarly improved. With a little tighter pacing, some more extravagant sets, and a slight upgrade in acting, these shows could really start to take off and find an audience.

Of course, the best parts of both episodes are the special effects. Honestly, I was sucked into the series right from the beginning as The Lottery begins with an awesome and surreal scene of some dude performing surgery on some chick. It's effectively done and represents the high point of Bublenutz Productions. The effects are practical and effective.

While the first five episodes of Welcome to Dreadville left me dazed and confused, the latest two episodes have me waiting for more. They're not for everyone; don't get me wrong. Only people with an appreciation for the art of indie horror and storytelling will get a kick out of these, but the creators behind this series aren't too far off now from creating something that will be capable of mass appeal. A little more tinkering in the Bublenutz Laboratory ought to do the trick… and more of that sweet sweet gore couldn't hurt either.

Final Synopsis: I truly enjoyed these episodes. Check out their site if you have a hankering for low-budget blood and horror. If you don't… go get yourself in an expensive and non-bloody manner. Click here to check out the Bublenutz site! Points Lost: -1 for some acting in The Lottery, -1 for some weak sets (even though they seem like they were actually real places), -1 for too much tinkering around with Trippe effects in some scenes, -1 for a couple CGI things that weren't quite on the level with the rest of the film Lesson Learned: Stay out of Dreadville.

Burning Question: If you could steal someone's face, who would it be? Welcome to Dreadville: Episodes 6-7 6/10

You have to admire the individuals who operate within the no-budget horror realm. Here are people with little to no means but hearts filled with desire and creativity, yearning to reach out to the rabid horror fan within all of us. Most of the time, these no-budget pioneers of gore spend their time crafting short films and occasionally the low-budget feature… but Jason Patfield and his crew at Bublenutz productions have chosen to go in an entirely fresh and different direction… the realm of the horror series. I can count on one hand the amount of horror series that I've seen over the years… I can count on no hands the amount of times these series have been good. Yeah episodic shows like Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, and The Twilight Zone have entertained… but they were all made for TV and completely devoid of anything but the occasional clever twist. In Bublenutz Productions' Welcome to Dreadville series we have a group of people willing to cross the line… fill their series with gore, profanity, and the occasional pimp stereotype. While Welcome to Dreadville is still a project in a deep amount of flux, the growth in skill and quality from the first episode, filmed back in 2006, to the latest episode is heartening. The show comes with many of the problems that you'll find in no-budget horror; bad acting, poor picture quality, and an inconsistency of tone that threatens to keep this series from finding its perfect audience. Still, as the most recently shot episode shows, the folks at Bublenutz are learning. The sound design gets progressively better, the picture stops looking like it was filmed in the middle of a windstorm, and the acting and lighting all improve drastically. Of course, this is the process of learning, something that most low-budget indie directors have to learn on the fly. The good news is that they are learning. However, if Welcome to Dreadville is going to become a successful series, there are a few things that need to be addressed. First off, the series is all over the map. You've got a comical and exploitation-like telling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, an escaped criminal story, a psychological horror piece, a body horror junkie tale, and a torture set piece. Variety is nice… but the series' success depends on there being a unifying theme, or for a lack of a better word gimmick. I thought that the use of detectives as recurring characters was a nice way to move from episode to episode and tie the series together, but it disappears during a few episodes, leaving a few loose ends. For me, when the DVD was over, I didn't feel like I had watched a series, but a group of disconnected short films with the words Dreadville slapped on it. The other major thing that needs to happen with the series is that the pace of the episodes needs to be ramped up a bit. If you're struggling to fill a thirty minute episode with wall to wall horror goodness, the story probably doesn't need to be told. There are way too many moments of quietness and lulls in the action. A thirty minute episode needs to hit like a hammer, fast and hard, if you want to drive your point into the mind of the viewer. Any lingering around or undue character development is bound to cause viewers to lose their attention. Ramping up the carnage within the series is definitely an attainable goal, because the special effects in the films, from beginning to end are solid enough to attract gore fans. One prosthetic on a junkie's arm in the episode entitled Addict was painful to look at and there were a variety of nice kills. This is good news, because we all know if a horror movie is great in every department, but the gore still sucks, then the entire product will suck. Another area that I loved, but saw far too little of, is the presence of humor. The first episode, while the rawest and least technically proficient, was my favorite of the bunch. In the episode, a pimp sees a bumptious babe in red and follows her to her grandfather's house… where he pretends to be the woman's grandfather (aka that Little Red Riding Hood thing I mentioned earlier). This episode is hilarious, and not in the "I'm making fun of this" type of way. It actually has some laugh out loud moments in it… moments that were sorely lacking in a few episodes. Working on a no to low-budget, you can be assured of two things: 1. A shipload of people aren't going to like what you make simply because it doesn't look like the latest Hollywood blockbuster. 2. People are going to laugh at your shat no matter what, so you might as well give them something that they are supposed to laugh at. Look at all the no-budget success stories over the years; they've all been quirky as funk, covered in blood, and just as funny… from Evil Dead to Dead Alive. It takes near perfection to do serious horror and create tension… perfection that the lack of money frequently inhibits. But with the right tweaks here and there and a little philosophical pinning down of what Welcome to Dreadville is supposed to be, it just might be possible. Keep an eye on this one and maybe one day it will attain the level that the folks at Bublenutz Productions are striving for. Dreadville 5/10

I am very impressed with the amount of excellent information, questions and comments posted on this REPO board. Many points people made were basically right on point and since I love giving my 2-cents I will, cause we might as well use the freedom of speech while it still lasts (which won't be long) Anyway first qualm with the movie, why was everything had to be sung, I think there were about only 5 lines out of the whole movie that were not sung, this was annoying and funny at times, I know it's a musical, but I mean everything from "SHUT UP" was sung, now how do you sing "SHUT UP" just watch this movie and find out… The next thing is yes Paris is in it, and yes she does a good job. I know it's hard to believe but she didn't have to stray from her true life role, a spoiled little brat with to much makeup and plastic surgery. All in all you really have to like Gore Horror and have an appreciation for Musicals, if you like opera then YOU MIGHT appreciate this attempt unless you do not like Gore Horror, but I know very few people who are Horror fans that own Andrea Bocelli CD'S, this combo is just strange, I know people are comparing this to Rocky Horror, but I would say Rocky Horror is Comedy/Opera, I would say this is more of a Sweeny Todd, but more gory... The GRAVEDIGGER I think was the best performer and I would expect so since he was an original writer on this movie, I think his songs were the catchiest, the worst performance would have to be REPO, (sorry dude you can come after me but my liver is shot anyway) Overall the weirdness of the movie kept my attention, I liked the multiple character backgrounds, the sets were pretty cool, but there was so much more I wanted to see, it was it was missing something? More blood? More action? Maybe more guns? It had enough singing and a good amount of gore, maybe Meatloaf would have made the movie? I just don't know but it was just missing something that would have really drawn me into this movie and could have possible been on my top ten. I can see this movie having some re-watch value and become more familiar with the music, its almost like buying a CD listening to it once, telling yourself "IT'S OK" then about after the 15 listens, every song is now your favorite, I can see that happening with this movie. Overall I can not recommend this movie because I think everyone will process it differently and I hate recommending cult movies plus I really wanted to love it and just walking away liking it.. Jason Patfield Welcome to Dreadville Series

Lots of blood, lots of gore and no storyline, that sums up Carver. Some movies try to be so shocking they comprise the plot, this is one such film.

Carver is neither original, nor groundbreaking; I have seen torture done far too often now days, from Flower of Flesh and Blood to Hostel this upcoming genre has become main stream in my eyes.

Carver claims to be based on a true story, which tells a tale about five unlikable yuppies that embark on a camping trip and end up disappearing. Well, actually we see them get horrible mutilated, dismembered and decapitated one by one with no motive.

Carver delivers a plethora of scenes that contain blood and torture done extremely believable. The camera work is excellent and the acting is passable, but there is no reason to watch this movie other then to be shocked and regardless of what you hear, there is no twist ending.

My recommendation is to rent Carver first because I think most will watch it only once.

I usually check reviews prior to renting films, I had read a couple reviews on Evil Aliens so I thought I was in store for a zombie movie, boy was I wrong, dead wrong.

Evil Aliens tells the story of Michelle Fox, a sleazy reporter hell bent on getting the perfect story. After Michelle gets a lead that a pregnant girl claims to be bearing an alien child, she packs up her crew and heads to the remote island to get the perfect story. Suddenly Michelle finds herself in deliverance country and that's about the time when the movie gets bloody, and I mean bloody!

Evil Aliens is a mi-sh mash of sci-fi, horror and comedy and an pays an exuberant amount of homage to Dead Alive, Bad Taste, Evil Dead, Night of the Creeps, there's so many I can't name them all.

This homage routine works well in the beginning but steadily becomes played out. Yes we get it; Jake West likes horror movies. The over indulgence of blood, especially sprayed in the face of the character becomes numbing, this effect is done so frequently, that after the 15th time it becomes annoying, seriously 15th times if not more.

Jake West does manage to do a great job with the special effects, makeup, character development and sets, the detail inside of the alien's ship is phenomenal and the alien's costumes are realistic as it gets. It balances the sci-fi and horror genre well and throws a mix of comedic overtones which makes it a fun fast paced film.

Unfortunately Evil Aliens is far from perfect; the acting is rigid and in some cases the computer animation is ridiculous, but the biggest problem is originality. Evil Aliens borrows so much from its predecessors, it just becomes predictable.

However any horror or sci-fi fan (Sci-fi fan as in Aliens, Life Force, etc. not Star Trek or Dune) can overlook these slight imperfections and enjoy. I even found a pretty fun drinking game online, so be sure to get some brew and a couple friends together and check out Evil Aliens, it might even be better when you're drunk?