Deadly Revisions 2013 - REVIEW

For a couple of years now, we here at TC have been posting press releases and updates on the debut film from writer/director Gregory Blair. The synopsis and outline of the film was always interesting to me plus it stars one of my personal favorites, Bill Oberst Jr. so I was pretty excited for this one. I've been binge watching Supernatural for the past month so I kinda needed something different.

Grafton Torn (Bill Oberst Jr.) is a successful horror writer who has just awakened from a coma with no memory of what happened. Things take an ugly turn when he decides to spend some time alone at his friend Deter's (Mikhail Blokh) secluded cabin. When his doctor suggests that he see a hypnotherapist  to try and recover his memory, Grafton begins seeing Dr. Ally Morris (Cindy Merrill). Each session brings out more and more memories that only pose more questions than answers leaving him in a life and death struggle to figure out what is real and what isn't.

Oberst gives a great performance as a man teetering on the edge of insanity (no, I'm not just saying that). This is the first time I've seen him go from one extreme to the other and he managed to play both parts AND the transition between the two with ease. And let's face it, acting ain't easy or we'd all be doing it. There are also some good performances from Blokh and Merrill. When a film lies so heavily on such a small cast, it's important to have actors that can carry their weight.

The story is a good one and it's well written. A twisted mind bender that zigs and zags until the end and just when you think you have it all figured out, ya don't. Blair throws in one plot twist after another but still manages to make it come full circle. It does start off a little slow but Blair manages to maintain the level of tension throughout. There's not much in the way of blood and gore but the film doesn't need it to convey the point. Being that this is Blair's first time writing and directing, I'd say he's got more promise than most and I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Of course, it's not without it's rough spots. Some of the scenes were a little dark for my taste and the lighting in a few of them was a bit rough but neither were so distracting that it took away from the overall film. Definitely worth a watch.