Sadistic Intentions review: The worlds of horror, romance and heavy metal music collide in Eric Pennycoff’s debut feature.
Sadistic Intentions
Imagine if Richard Linklater added an occult subplot to his Before trilogy, and it might look a little like Sadistic Intentions. Stu (Jeremy Gardner) and Chloe (Taylor Zaudtke) have never met before. They share a mutual friend, Kevin (Michael Patrick Nicholson), whom they have both arranged to meet in a remote location. Stu is there for band practice, and Chloe is there to score some cheap weed. The problem is Kevin is running late and Stu and Chloe are trapped together with nothing else to do but wait and get to know one another. As the night draws on, they start to warm to one another, but then Kevin arrives and all Hell breaks loose.
Sadistic Intentions is a film of two very different halves. The first is very much the Linklater-like awkward romantic comedy with Chloe and Stu starting off as appearing to be very different from one another, before scratching beneath the surface and realising that they have more in common than they first thought. Pennycoff takes his time with this part of the film, allowing the audience the maximum amount of time to get to know the pair. There’s a lot of conversation and fans of more traditional genre films may find themselves squirming in their seats as they wait for the red stuff to arrive.
Once we venture into the expected horror portion, the film suddenly bursts to life. Suddenly, where there was slow, honest conversations, there is now fast and frantic action as Kevin unleashes chaos on Chloe and Stu. As necessary as the first part is for the audience to really get to know Chloe and Stu inside and out, the film would benefit from a little bit more of the second half’s pace.
Given that the film is at least in part about heavy metal musicians, the film obviously has a kick-ass soundtrack. It’s loud and abrasive in all the right places. Visually there’s a stunning storm captured during the climax, the type that bigger budget films computer generates in later to create mood. Pennycoff lucked out though and captured the same feeling for much less.
A solid debut feature, Eric Pennycoff demonstrates a unique voice with this Linklater meets the occult romantic horror.
Sadistic Intentions was reviewed at Arrow Video Frightfest 2019.
