By Geno McGahee
It has come to my attention that I am not the only horror filmmaker out of western Massachusetts. Alexis Gonzalez of Springfield or “Spookfield”, MA, has put together an anthology that has been several years in the making called “SPOOKFIELD.” Anyone looking for big budget or high production will pass this one by, but the fans of the shot on video (SOV) and especially those that enjoyed those old Brain Damage 50 packs of horror will find some enjoyment here.
We begin with a tale about abuse in “TEARS OF TRAUMA”, where an abusive guy, Eric, played by Michael R. Lane, a familiar face from one of my first productions (RISE OF THE SCARECROWS). Brandon (Alexis Gonzalez), hears all of the abuse next door and it gets to him. Eventually it leads to vigilante justice.
In “THE TOWN GHOUL”, Mr. Graves (Mike Goodreau) has a secret. When a junkie is looking for some cash, he attempts to rob him. Willie (Deon Ballard) plans a robbery and goes to Graves’ house but soon runs into the town ghoul.
“IT ISN’T EASY” is about a pimp, Johnny (T.J. Mottolla) that has brings street justice to some of his hookers, but the dead come back and seek revenge.
Finally, in “WISHFUL THINKING,” Jennifer (Diana Afonso) deals with a very bad guy and some demonic presence. The bad guy is forced to see the error in his ways and Jennifer must try to control the demon within.
It is easy to tear SPOOKFIELD apart, but you have to know and understand what micro-budget filmmaking is. The video, audio, editing, acting, lighting and every other aspect of the production needs work, but when it comes to this sort of film, you have to accept certain shortcomings and try to enjoy the story that the filmmaker is sharing.
You can see what Gonzalez is attempting to do. His love of the 1970’s brand of horror shines brightly. There are certain moments, particularly in THE TOWN GHOUL that are rather neat and cool visually. The fact that this film is shot on such mediocre equipment gives it grit and almost makes you feel like you’re watching a snuff film or something like that. That alone will get this feature some attention. In this day and age, finding a film like this is very rare and considering the success of V/H/S, this one might find its footing with the crowd that wants to see the lower budget, small productions.
SPOOKFIELD has a very specific audience. The horror fans that are drawn to the micro-budget productions will find some enjoyment here. The most fascinating part of this is watching a filmmaker go out there with no budget and pushes forward to complete a production. This is the first production by Alexis Gonzalez and I’m interested to see where he takes it from here.
In the end, I recommend SPOOKFIELD to the micro-budget fans. You have to just sit down and watch it and ignore the production issues. These are things that Gonzalez must address in future productions but considering this is his first time out of the gate, they can be forgiven.
From one western Massachusetts filmmaker to another, I congratulate Alexis on completing the production and making SPOOKFIELD. From a personal standpoint, it was interesting to see some of the people I worked with in the past in another production (Michael R. Lane, Deon Ballard & Jacob Moon).
Rating: 5/10 – A respectable first go by a local filmmaker
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