STARRING Kim Sønderholm, Lloyd Kaufman, Gry Bay WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Kim Sønderholm MPAA RATING
Equiv. to "R" RUNNING TIME
90 Mins. DISTRIBUTED BY
Apotheosis Film
"Little Big Boy: The Death Stalker Murders" Out on DVD 8/21
Little Big Boy: The Death Stalker Murders is a rather intriguing indie horror/faux doc about an esteemed if somewhat maniacal horror filmmaker named Jimmy Duncan (writer/director Kim Sønderholm), a filmmaker who seems to be channeling the memories of his traumatic childhood through his graphic and offensive horror features. The film kicks off with Duncan on the verge of shooting his highly anticipated fourth feature, The Death Stalker Murders. Unfortunately, as stress builds up and things keep going wrong on the set Duncan finds the fragile line between reality and fantasy blurring and his already unusual directing methods take a decidedly perverse and dangerous turn for the worse as he becomes physically abusive to his extras and, following a break-up with his girlfriend and the film's star (Alice Haaber), he begins placing increasingly deranged demands on his actresses with potentially devastating consequences.
Picked up by U.K.'s Apotheosis Films for an On Demand and DVD release with a street date of August 21, Little Big Boy: The Death Stalker Murders starts off with an emphasis on horror comedy before taking its darker and far more graphic turn. While the film never quite achieves the level of notoriety touted in its PR materials, one has to admire the folks at Apotheosis for the brilliant ways in which they're marketing this technically proficient, well acted and fairly entertaining film.
While it's never true nor expected that a low-budget horror flick should make any sort of statement, it was hard not to get the feeling that this is one film that would have benefited from a stronger stand by the filmmaker either by - 1) Making the film offensive enough to match its storyline or, 2) Turning the film into a less graphic yet socially relevant film that actually takes seriously the plot thread of Jimmy Duncan's traumatic past. Both approaches could have easily been played for both high drama and high laughs, but far too often the film takes a more timid approach that is less interesting and doesn't always satisfy as a horror film.
That said, Little Big Boy: The Death Stalker Murders will likely please the more hardcore fans of low-budget horror with its devotion to solid character development and an almost grindhouse approach to its exploitation of virtually anyone who crosses Jimmy's path. More likely to find a cult following than attract a wider audience, Little Big Boy: The Death Stalker Murders is available on Amazon and other online retailers.
