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MagicalHammer
Reviews
San Francisco Cowboy (2023)
Hey, it's a Doc Zee Film.
The film begins with a title card that reads "Hey, it's a Doc Zee Film" and from there you know you are in for quite the ride. Despite being shot by Leo Moring, a pretty excellent DP, the editing and color correction make make the footage look sloppy. A lot of shots are overexposed and oversaturated. There are numerous moments where you can spot the camera's shadow or see Leo in a reflection.
The plot of Josh going to the city to find is Mom isn't bad per se, it's just a bit of an awkward journey. Jimmy Darling does a pretty good job of sounding like a Cowboy, but his overall acting is a bit flat. The film begins with his dad on his deathbed who ask's his son to kill him and Jesus makes an appearance. Upon his arrival in San Francisco, he ends up wondering into a hotel run by prostitutes and meets Paris, played by Bunny Stewart. A prostitute who ends up tricking him and stealing his wallet. From there, we meet the strangest character of the film, Murphy, with Dano Jason giving quite the performance. Seriously, this guy gives off quite the over the top performance that is fun to watch unfold. Kristin Jacques plays the hotel boss as Madam Dallas, and if you look closely at her wig you can see it move between shots.
The mom plot line seems to get dropped about midway, but the film then tries to pull a twist, which you will most likely guess if you have seen this type of plot line before. (And there are not to many characters in the film to figure out the mystery) For how much Doc Zee talks about this film showing off the beauty of San Francisco, we don't actually get to see much of it. Like, the Golden Gate Bridge is on the poster but not int he film itself or famous other landmarks like Union Square.
And then there's the weird sleazy nature of the film. Doc Zee doesn't miss a chance to include a ton of shots with people making out. Like, we get it, we're in a hotel of prostitutes. This is not the worst feature film I've seen, but Doc Zee has a ways to go to improve on his craft.
Autumn Moon (2023)
Wild Dog's horror monsters at their best.
Michael Fredianelli needs no introduction in the bay area scene. The man is like the Rogga Johansson of filmmaking. (Rogga Johansson is famous in the death metal scene for releasing like 8 albums in the same year). With Fredianelli, he has gotten close to releasing 8 films in the same year and we are now on movie 52, which is called Autumn Moon.
This is an interesting film since it continues the horror monster theme of some of his earlier works. In fact, his vampire film, Apocrypha, released in 2011, could be seen as an representation of the early Wild Dog era. A bit rough around the edges but you could the potential drawing within. The next film in his horror monster series came with zombies and voodoo in Strange Rituals (2017), and could be seen in the middle era of Wild Dogs history. A bit more refined and ambitious. Now here we finally with werewolves, at the current Wild Dogs era.
Honestly, Autumn Moon blew me away. Michael Fredianelli has been refining his craft over 50 feature films, and here we find him and the Wild Dogs Crew in top form. The camera work on this movie is so good. Leo Moring uses a lot of steady cam and shots that move around like a stalker, creating dynamic shots. He also uses a bit of drone and aerial shots to great effect as well. When the camera slowly draws closer to Matt Monaco's character, Brad, you can feel the epicness of his characters entrance.
There are also some cool lighting effects and use of shadows in the film as well. There is a great use of a moon lighting effect used in the films climax that just works, and overall the film just looks damn good. As for the werewolf effects, they are pulled off with class and look believable. A werewolf movie does not work without a good looking wolf, so shoutout to the make up team led by Stephanie Hancock and Tonia Maclean.
Michael Fredianelli has brought together a tight nit cast for this film, with Matt Monaco really stealing the show. I had to double check that he was the same actor from Wild Dog's Justified Force (2019), because his performance and look is so different. It's like Matt Monaco went to live in the woods for a few months to get in touch with his inner wolf to get prepared for this movie. (Which is why I assume we didn't see him in any recent Wild Dogs films). It also helps that Matt Monaco's character gets to say some of the coolest lines in the film as well with some fantastic monologues. When it comes time for him to wolf out, the man does not hold anything back. You feel like you are transforming along with him.
Bryan Panacos (Terry) also does a fine job of keeping with up Matt Monaco and plays off his performance well. To my knowledge, this is the first Wild Dogs Productions to feature a gay romance. (Wild Dogs films don't usually focus to much on romantic moments, so forgive me if there one hidden in the WD backlog somewhere). Elijah Macias (Alan) plays Terry's love interest and does a great job as well with the amount of time he is on screen. Their relationship is fill with ups and downs and while it might have worked a tad better with more screen time between the two, it gets the job done.
It's also great to see Wild Dogs mainstay Boynton Paek make an appearance. His mastery of the douchebag bro vibes gets a chance to shine in this film. You also have some great victims with the likes of Mila Avvenire, Savannah Lewis and Mia Parco who clearly have fun with their roles. Also, it was funny to see Mia Parco running down the neighborhood street begging for help. Hearing her knock on a door and ask for help brought me back to editing the neighborhood run scene in Sophie and the Serial Killers since it sounds so similar. I don't know if this is a clever reference to her past performance or just an coincidence, but it is funny.
You also have Andrew Bursiaga, Viv Framer, Shauna Richardson, Mike the Fred, and Emma Geleynse filling out the rest of the family. Overall, this is one of the strongest casts a Wild Dog's Production has seen and it really pays off.
In terms of the story, Michael Fredianelli pulls an move out from The Redemption of Vincent Young as we start in the past. Which is a great excuse for Mike Fred to pull out some retro video games for our characters to play. A bizarre death happens in the neighborhood which haunts Terry as he does not know if it really happened or not. We see young Terry deal with the struggles of being gay during this time period, and come to met his strange neighbor next door who likes to give peculiar manly advice. Once the prologue of the movie is finished, we jump ahead to modern day.
Terry returns home to deal with the passing of his parents, and runs into the same looking neighbor. From then unfolds the mystery which does a solid job of keeping you on your toes and has some surprises in store. The climax of the film has a cool sequence in the woods which really fits the werewolf and moonlit vibe.
Overall, there are few downsides or flaws, which are outshined by the great parts of this film. This is one of Wild Dog's best shot, best acted, and best written films yet. I don't know how long we'll have to wait for Michael Fredianelli to continue the horror monster series. But when he does tackle a Frankenstein or Swamp Monster movie, I'll be here for it! It's sure to be great based on each one improves and showcases the different eras of Wild Dogs.
Secret Bliss (2022)
A great debut short film!
This is Boynton Paek's first short film and first screenplay, "Secret Bliss". At just 20 mins, Boynton has managed to tell a pretty engaging story that leaves you asking some questions at the end. Boynton Paek and Sherill Quinn are the co-leads who really knock it out of the park. When the conflict builds, you can feel the tension as the film nears it's climax. The film also has some great cinematography by Leo Moring and Michael Fredianelli's editing keeps things well paced and engaging. Overall, a great debut and it will be interesting to see which direction Boynton picks next to pursue.
The Long Streak (2019)
The Wild Dogs go for comedy!
Wild Dog's Productions goes for laughs out loud in this film. The movie is about two friends who try to recoup their losses after getting carried away in Vegas. The film's two leads (Boynton Peak) and (Michael Nosé) are fantastic as they pair really well together. Most of the supporting cast do a excellent job to, with maybe one or a few lines that sound a bit weird. The production on the film is really well done and has a great use of cool locations and shots. The party scene in Vegas is definitely one of the highlights of the movie as Michael Fredianelli makes cool use of slow motion and moving the camera through the scene. There is a fight scene in a office that Michael Fredianelli also knocked out of the park. There is also quite a bit of fanservice for those who enjoy seeing naked ladies parting it up. The soundtrack is pretty killer to, with some licensed music including "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead and good party like Vegas beats. My only real gripe with the film is that the ending feels a little rushed and that the film does not quite know where it wants to go with some of its sub plots. But over all, those are small grips that do not detract those for having a good time with this film.