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Conjure
Directed By Matt Busch
Released: 2006
Starring: Matt Busch, Sarah Wilkinson, Michael Crumb, and Angela Jackman
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Released By Razor Digital Entertainment
Artist Matt Busch and his girlfriend, Sarah Wilkinson, have their lives
turned upside down when Matt finds a picture of a mysterious mansion while
wandering through a cemetery. Matt becomes obsessed with the photo and
begins to paint a picture of it. As he comes closer to finishing the
piece, he and Sarah begin experiencing inexplicable phenomenon. Suddenly,
they are magically transported into the painting and find themselves
trapped inside the mansion. It isn’t long before they realize that his art
is the key to the haunting but Matt and Sarah must figure out how to use
it to their advantage and escape the evil spirits coming for them.
Conjure is the product of graphic artist Matt Busch. He
writes, produces, directs, and stars in this mediocre indie flick. The
digital video camerawork is acceptable, the soundtrack is decent, and
there are some genuinely funny moments but the film has some major flaws.
The pacing is terribly slow, the script is insipid (“Oh my god, you are
such a freak.”, “Yeah, but you love that I’m such a freak.”), the editing
is jarring, and the digital effects are overdone and extremely cheesy. As
for horror elements, the film is gore-free and there’s only one scare in
the film (a jumpy fakeout if there ever was one).
My tolerance for this movie was almost pushed to the breaking point during
Matt Busch’s autobiographical introduction. What I like to refer to as
“The Definitive Matt Busch Experience” starts as a heartfelt examination
of Busch’s personality but quickly derails into a comically megalomaniacal
resume of the man and his multiple talents. Whether I’m supposed to be in
nerd heaven or nerd hell is unclear. Either way I can’t figure out if the
introduction is a complete joke or not. Once this bit is over and the
movie actually begins, viewers will be left wondering just what the hell
Busch was thinking including this garbage anywhere but as an extra on the
DVD.
No, Conjure will not be setting any trends in indie
filmmaking this year but it sure does follow some: plastic prop gun,
pathetic stunts, stilted acting, dollar store set design, digital effects
as plot, dirty camera lens, etc. Whether it’s Sarah getting a “KILL YOU”
message from the spirit world on her cell phone or the
power-of-our-love-will-save-the-day plot, I’m mystified by the drought of
creativity in this horror film. All in all, Conjure is
another wasted opportunity from the glut of people out there who can raise
30 grand and blow it all on post production tomfoolery. There are a few
brief but satisfying moments in the film but it’s hard to recommend
Conjure to anyone but Matt Busch fans.
DVD Specs:
Conjure looks and sounds quite good on this Razor Digital
release. The 1.85:1 widescreen presentation and the Dolby digital 2.0 are
more than just serviceable. Whoa, this DVD is loaded with extras. The disc
features include: Making Of Conjure, Conjure
Premiere, Alternate Ending, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Sketchbook,
Bloopers, Photo Gallery, Conjure trailers, and an Art
Gallery. The menus are very cool, incorporating Busch’s art and elements
from the film nicely. Good stuff.
Links:
For more information, go to the
Conjure movie site.
Or head on over to
Razor Digital Entertainment.
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