Agent Langan (Michael Leigh Cook) is an FBI agent investigating a mysterious cult responsible for multiple murders in Christian Caputo's short film Black Sun, a recently completed film already lined up for several film festivals including First Glance Film Festival, Miami Independent Film Festival, Katra Film Series New York and an ever growing list. In the film, Agent Langan attempts to persuade his old friend, Max Viggorido (Daniel Velez) to help him in the hunt for the cult's members.

A film-noir with a definite dark twist, Black Sun should have no problem finding a home on the indie/underground film festival circuit where its challenging material and approach will likely be embraced. In some ways, the film is a fairly traditional thriller with Velez's Max being a sort of washed out former professor with lots of knowledge but lots of baggage. It's not a particularly unique approach, but it's done here pretty nicely.

As is often true of low-budget indies, Black Sun is occasionally hindered by fairly significant sound mix issues and inconsistent lighting that detracts from the noirish atmosphere. The film's special effects, on the other hand, are often quite impressive with Briana Calcagno's make-up being used to positive effect and Frankie Appelgate's production design also being especially impressive.

As a film critic who works primarily in the realm of indie film, I'll also add a note that Black Sun hit on one of my cinematic pet peeves - inconsistent little details. If you check out their IMDB page for the film, you'll see two different spellings for both Agent Langan/Langen and Max Viggerido/Viggorido. Minor issue? Perhaps, but little details can add up to bigger issues.

<moving off my soapbox now>

Black Sun is just beginning its festival run. If you get a chance, check it out.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic