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Sullen
A Review by Steve Miller
Sullen (2008)
Starring: Adam Huddleston
Director: Adam Huddleston
Revenant Rating: Six of Ten Hungry Zombies
The morning after a big party at an isolated house by an old cemetery,
a
group of friends wake up to find zombies are wandering the countryside.
Is
it the End of Days or is there another explanation?
"Sullen" is a zombie movie that suffers from a number of the
flaws that I
see all-too-often in movies shot on the shoestring budgets by beginning
filmmakers whose ambition outstrips their funding and perhaps even the
talent pool they are able to access. It's a film in dire need of additional
post-production work, mostly in the sound department, and there are some
scenes that should have been re-shot, such as the ones that were out of
focus and the night scenes where the graininess of the digital video the
film was shot on is painfully evident. Some scenes also go on for too
long
or get a bit or could otherwise have done with some trimming to focus
them
or move the story along a bit faster.
I saw "Sullen" at its premiere screening at the 2008 Seattle
True
Independent Film Festival (STIFF). It wasn't in wide distribution yet,
and
as of this writing, it still isn't. If the film sounds interesting to
you,
you can follow the link at the bottom of the page to the director's MySpace
page for updates on the film's status.
The director and star of "Sullen", Adam Huddleston, was also
at the
screening, and he seemed to feel he had to apologize for the film. While
it
has its flaws and it was one of the least polished efforts that was shown
at
the festival, Huddleston has nothing to apologize for. He should probably
sit down and watch some of the crap I've sat through to understands what
a
truly awful movie is. His film may not be a masterpiece, but it's better
than a lot of the zombie fare floating around in the marketplace.
"Sullen" is elevated above the low-budget, post-production-starved
pack by
two factors that are all-too-rarely present in low-budget horror films
with
the sort of problems I'm complaining about: It has an effective script
and
it has a lead actor who shows a great deal of talent.
The film may be populated by stock characters doing things that are fairly
typical in this sort of movie, but they come across as likeable and witty
and as a result, the film is a fun experience. More importantly, the viewer
genuinely cares about what may happen to them. This is especially true
of
Adam Huddleston, who plays the hapless hero of the film with a charm and
a
keen comic timing that makes the movie a worthwhile almost all by itself.
Huddleston is a fine comedic actor, and I hope that he'll pursue other
opportunities in that direction.
Huddleston also did something with "Sullen" that usually ticks
me off: He's
delivered a film that has no real ending.
"Sullen" ends in mid-story. In fact, it ends on a rather baffling
cliffhanger. I usually hate movies that do that, because I want my films
to
be complete packages. Even if the story obviously continues in a future
movie(s), I usually want each film to nonetheless be fairly complete with
a
beginning, middle, and an end. However, instead of irritating me, the
bizarre, unresolved cliffhanger ending to this movie actually made me
excited to see what might happen next.
Huddleston has stated that a sequel to "Sullen" is in the works--the
script
is nearing completion--and that it will pick up the story and continue
it in
a surprising and unexpected way. Since the film ends on the suprising
final
image of what appears to be a zombie religious service, it's a sequel
I am
very interested in seeing.
I fully expect that Huddleston take the lessons learned on this production
and apply them to the next one, so perhaps the end result will be a great
zombie movie instead of one that falls at the low end of average. Watch
"Revenant" for news and developments.
For more information on "Sullen," visit Adam Huddleston's MySpace
page at
myspace.com/sullenthemovie
.
Read more reviews by Steve Miller at
http://rottentomatoes.com/vine/j/SteveMiller
.