| VARIETY
- Robert Koehler, June 30, 07
Hunters become
the hunted in Ti West's smartly compact and radical survival thriller,
"Trigger Man." As distinct from his smart horror debut,
"The Roost," as it surely is from his in-the-works studio
debut, "Cabin Fever 2," West's pic grafts anti-narrative
cinema conventions -- sustained real-time shooting and disdain for
overt plot -- onto an action-adventure template. Results are so pared
to the bone that the swift ending comes as a shock, and then, in retrospect,
as just the right exit. Fine fest tour should broaden to non-U.S.
shores, while crafty distribs could find B.O. targets in specialized
hunts and focused vid volleys.
After a portentous opening shot of the New York skyline, Gotham buddies
Reggie (Reggie Cunningham), Ray (Ray Sullivan) and Sean (Sean Reid)
pile into an SUV for a hunting trip. Right off the bat, the film is
invested less in Reggie's apparent problems with a needy (off-screen)
g.f. than the sheer ecstasy of leaving the city behind for the sun-dappled
splendors and vast silences of the forest.
West pointedly observes that the guys aren't exactly Thoreaus when
it comes to venturing into nature; when they're not teasing Reggie
about being "pussy-whipped," they're itching to break out
the brews. Sean has organized the day, and firmly instructs them on
the proper use of their bolt-action rifles, complete with scopes.
This alone conveys the queasy sense that Reggie and Ray are going
out in the woods with no real idea what they're doing.
"Trigger Man" risks everything in the first 30 minutes --
including losing impatient auds altogether -- by rightly insisting
on plunging the viewer into the experience of hunting, which is 99%
walking and waiting and keeping absolutely silent, and perhaps 1%
action. Idle minds may conclude they're watching some "Blair
Witch"-y redo or a "Dudes Do Deliverance" revision,
but that would miss the pic's marvelous sense of time and space, seemingly
empty of purpose yet steadily building tension.
Reggie gets some newbie luck by eyeing a deer, but becomes distracted,
and the rest of the day (marked by time markings in a variation on
the device in "The Shining") appears to be an elaborate
excuse for drinking. Out of nowhere, as Sean is preparing to urinate
at the edge of a cliff, he's killed by a bullet. Reggie and Ray dash
away, but soon, at a creek bed, Ray is gunned down by a single head
shot.
Reggie realizes he's being targeted by a sharpshooter, likely stationed
at a nearby abandoned factory. Though his decision to investigate
further may seem like a death wish, it also feels like the act of
a city guy desperate to avenge his friends' murders.
After a remarkable sequence involving a lone female jogger, Reggie
stalks the cavernous factory site, suggesting that "Trigger Man"
could easily spin off a vidgame. Contrast between the spooky industrial
setting and the sylvan woods surrounding it is stunning, though not
as stunning as the ending, which comes upon Reggie and auds with the
rude closure life sometimes provides.
Nonpro thesps work naturally in front of West's camera, with none
of them straining for theatrics. In what's starting to become a ghoulish
inside joke for West's films, his mentor and key backer -- American
indie horror specialist Larry Fessenden -- is killed off, just as
he was in a bit part in "The Roost."
West, operating with a tiny crew, covers Gotham, the woods and the
factory with a sometimes insanely frenetic camera that goes overboard
on herky-jerky moves and stuttering zooms. Pic doesn't need such touches,
but the long patches of silence tend to balance it out. Composer Jeff
Grace comes up with one of the eeriest scores in recent genre pics.
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FILMJERK
- Dick Hollywood 6/29/07
Ti West's sophomore effort "Trigger Man" packs a punch,
and a bullet or two as well...
I just returned from a screening of Ti West’s (Director of the
Roost and the upcoming Cabin Fever 2) latest psychological horror
fright-fest, Trigger Man. An exercise in low budget filmmaking at
its finest. With a gritty feel here and a grimy taste there, Ti West
has concocted an ultra realistic mind f#*k that will bounce around
in your brain during and after the film is over. Slow on the uptake
but packing a punch so hard I almost fell out of my seat with the
firing of each shot.
The plot is simple. Three friends from New York City go hunting for
deer in some undisclosed forested area. One is experienced, the other
two just want to drink beer and shoot something. If not a deer, then
a squirrel or a tree stump or an empty bottle, or whatever, they just
want to shoot something. The majority of the camera work is all hand
held with long takes creating a slow eeriness with little action to
be found for the first half of the film. Reminiscent of the films
Open Water and Wolf Creek, capturing the mundane of real life, as
these three friends wander around the forest only to realize that
hunting is actually a quite boring and tedious leisure activity. When
an unknown assailant shoots and kills one of the friends randomly,
the two remaining must try to register what just happened, along with
figuring out what the hell they’re going to do to get away and
survive. This is where the film ramps up, turns a corner and puts
the viewer on edge. Who’s next? What the hell is going on? What
would I do in this situation and how are these guys going to get out
of this FUBAR?
Though this type film is not for everyone, the slow build will turn
off many viewers, but it should appeal to people who like their films
with a dark sense of realism. A Cinema Verite/Dogma feel runs through
its hand held HD Video veins, as Ti crafts a film filled with terror
and suspense in which we are forced to take an active participation
in and react to as well, due to the documentary feel the video images
give us. I am looking forward to what Mr. West next has in store for
us (Cabin Fever 2 as stated above), in which he is currently working
on.
Keep up the good work Ti. Dick Hollywood has his eye on you!
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INDIEWIRE
- Michael Lerman 6/26/07
Ti West's sophomore effort, a low-budget tension-fest entitled "Trigger
Man" successfully flips genre on its head in the simplest way
possible. West made a splash on the underground horror scene in 2005
with his first film, "The Roost," a throwback to '70s B-horror
that satisfies on the visceral levels. Changing gears here, West creates
something close to a mumblecore set-up and then, shockingly and without
mercy, knocks it down with sudden bursts of violence. One insightful
viewer described it to me as "[Kelly Reichardt's] 'Old Joy'...with
guns." This description is not too far off from the truth. One
of the best examples of five-dollars-and-a-dream genre filmmaking
I've seen perhaps, ever, "Trigger Man" manages to keep the
viewer on the edge of his seat with an intentional lack of stylization,
relying purely on timing and events to create mood. It shows just
how talented West's direction really is, and provides a great send-off
to this chapter of his indie career as he heads into the final stages
of editing the latest installment of the Lionsgate produced franchise
"Cabin Fever," which he wrote himself. link
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LA
WEEKLY - Scott Foundas 6/21/07
...Old Joy reconceived as a horror movie is the simplest way to describe
Trigger Man, the stunning sophomore feature by 26-year-old writer-director
Ti West, whose Fessenden-produced vampire-bat epic The Roost earned
a brief local release back in 2005. ... West fashions an uncommonly
naturalistic terror tale in which the emphasis on landscape and the
gradual passage of time have less to do with cut-and-run splatter-cinema
hallmarks like Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave than
with the work of experimental filmmakers like Michael Snow and Chantal
Akerman.... link
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BLOODY-DISGUSTING
- Johnny 99 4/24/07
Ti West’s second feature after the entertaining and dark natured
“The Roost” is an unexpected curve. A curve that is both
fresh and absorbing. The film is about movement that seems hopeless,
fore long and increasingly urgent. It’s about loyalty and strength.
The plot concerns three friends who go hunting for the weekend before
one gets married. They drink beer, shoot at trees and stroll endlessly
through dense wooded forest till they come to a cliff that overlooks
an abandoned industrial site.That’s when things turn bad. They
find themselves on the other side of the gun and must fend for their
lives. There is a breathtaking scene involving a jogger and the massive
looming factory in the background that will have you on the edge of
your seat.
Everything that occurs in this movie serves a purpose; Ti West focuses
on quality rather than quantity. The plot, which seems simple enough,
gradually takes on an eerily disturbing nature. The dialogue is sparse,
but West uses it as strength, allowing events and cinematography to
speak volumes about the characters. The violence, though disturbing,
also acts as an integral piece of the film. The scenery is spectacular
and Trigger Man makes some of the best use of foreshadowing and sound
design I've seen.
Many will compare this to Gus Van Sants Trilogy: Gerry, Elephant and
Last Days. It seems that the finer subtleties of filmmaking presented
in Trigger Man are lost on today's generation of moviegoers whose
cinematic palates have been cloyed with multi-million-dollar special
effects, unimaginative dialogue, mindless violence and saccharine
plots. Every aspect of this movie has been wonderfully choreographed
to create a film that goes well beyond mere entertainment, simultaneously
shocking and challenging the audience.
I would love to see what he could do with a bigger budget. I feel
that Ti West is here to stay. link
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FEARnet
by FEARnet 4/15/07
It seems as though horror fans have given up on monsters. Whether
it’s due to the fact that they’ve been disappointed time
and again by poorly crafted CGI creature effects, no longer finding
them convincing enough to be frightening, or because they’ve
simply grown tired of suspending their disbelief. Having taken a chance
on one too many far fetched plots, people are turning more and more
to the gritty, realistic side of horror for their scares. Maybe it’s
just a sign of the times, the current collective subconscious deciding
that human beings themselves are the monsters, far more terrifying
than any fictional beast created in a Hollywood studio.
Whatever the reason, films with more believable, down to earth, people-are-evil
plotlines like Hostel or The Devil’s Rejects have become genre
favorites while even the most finely crafted monster movies, like
The Descent for example, disappear from theaters barely a week after
opening. The fans have spoken, and what they’ve demanded is
for horror films to once again come infused with some degree of real
life terror. Well, those searching for yet another dose of that scary-because-it-could-really-happen
(or in this case, did happen) brand of chills should look no further
than Trigger Man, the newest offering from genre director Ti West.
When three young New Yorkers gear up and head out of the city on all
day hunting trip, they’re expecting little more than an opportunity
to spend some time with old friends and have a little fun. What they
get instead is an absolute nightmare, when one by one they begin to
get picked off by a seemingly invisible sniper, hidden so well they
have no idea where the shots are coming from. Soon, only one is left
standing, and despite the shock of the situation and his inexperience
with a weapon, he must attempt to keep his cool and make his way out
of the park in order to survive.
Bearing a classic “inspired by true events” tagline, you
can’t get much more realistic than Trigger Man. All of the actors
put in very convincing performances, delivering totally plausible
dialogue and coming off as characters which definitely feel like real
people as opposed to brainless stereotypical horror victims. The shaky,
handheld camera work lends a fair amount of realism, making it feel
as if you’re right there in the woods with them, but it does
get a little excessive at times, especially all the back and forth
zooming.
Stylistically, the film is similar in some ways to director West’s
earlier feature The Roost, but whereas that was an updating of a classic
late night spook show, Trigger Man is more along the lines of a modern
day Deliverance. Both films feature slow, drawn out sequences with
little or no dialogue, and while some might find them overly long
or boring, West effectively uses them to control the pace and lull
the viewer into a false sense of calm.
This works particularly well in Trigger Man, where the moments of
quiet are ripped apart by the sound of the killer’s rifle, creating
a heightened level of suspense and making the unexpected attacks all
the more startling. Some of the more hardcore fans might find it a
little light on the gore and bloodshed in comparison with several
of the other grisly trap-them-and-kill-them style films of the day,
but it does have it’s gruesome moments, and even if they are
fewer in number than those in Trigger Man’s genre brethren,
that doesn’t keep the film from playing out as an intense exercise
in brutal survival horror that will potentially keep you on the edge
of your seat.
Trigger Man is playing as part of the '07 Philadelphia Film Festival.
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