By: John Allen
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3654052
There is a saying that you probably have heard before; it starts “Fool me once, shame on you…” Inhumanity written and directed by Joe McReynolds from Wildeye Releasing fooled me, and I don’t like to be fooled, not when it comes to movies at least. How did they fool me? You might well ask; with the opening credits and still shots of serial killer Six Pack Sam’s victims. These credits and shots are a thing of beauty reminiscent of the kind of work Tarantino does, afterward the movie falls into disarray with hackneyed stereotypes straight out of 80’s bad cop action movies, amateurish performances, and poor production values. no wait good production…..no bad, sheesh make up my mind for me would you? Some shots are fantastic while others are hurried and lack luster. Some scenes feel like they were done as a home movie, while others could be in a main stream flick.
As far as the script goes, there is so much going on that its hard to understand what type of movie Inhumanity is supposed to be. Is it a serial killer thriller about Six Pack Sam? (a nom de plume this is actually creative and interesting, you know like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs so kudos to that) Is it a private investigation Film Noir? Is it stereotypical deranged Doctor yarn? To be honest about a half hour in I really didn’t care anymore.
The bright spots in Inhumanity are Darcelle Daniel, as Jessa Dixon, and Ford Austin, as Sergio, as far as acting goes, both gave credible performances, they had real chemistry together and created like-able characters that if fleshed out would make a great duo for a weekly good old fashioned, television show, P.I romp. For that matter drop Six Pack Sam and his co-ed carnage in an episode or two of Criminal Minds where the character could really thrive.
About an hour into the movie Sam makes good his escape much to the misfortune of two young lovers who have come to make out and get stoned. The Grind-house style of movie making that the film makers use in these scenes, and the extraordinary black lighting party scenes, (a credit to Director of Photography Javier Garcia) are exactly the kind of brilliant movie making that it would seem they are capable of, but like Stereotypical 80’s crime boss says (sorry, I don’t really care what the characters name is at this point) “Seems? MotherF- I don’t pay you for seems! You better F***ing know!” (great line actually) So why they didn’t know to shoot the whole thing with the artistic flair they gave glimpses of in a few scenes and credits is anyone’s guess.
These kind of movies are exploitation and flourish when filmed with grit. One huge final shout out goes to Tony Longworth for his original score, thumbs up, the music is marvelous. There is something good in every movie, and the good cinematography in those few segments make Inhumanity worthwhile, even if its a few beers short of a six pack.
