Broil
review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA continues to bring so much variety to their brand. While most notably known for their Asain releases including the Ip Man franchise and the upcoming Invincible Dragon, they also delve into so much more such as the recent theatrical film Cut Throat City. Their latest, Broil takes on the thriller genre starring Jonathan Lipnicki, Avery Konrad, Lochlyn Munro and Timothy V. Murphy. Could this movie offer up something creepy worth staying for dinner for or will it fail to serve up a worthy course?
Broil follows 17-year-old Chance Sinclair who is sent to live with her draconian grandfather at his lavish estate after a violent incident with a school nemesis, where she soon uncovers a dangerous ancient family secret. Suddenly caught between warring factions of the family, her only hope for survival may well come from a killer-for-hire with a fortuitous stroke of culinary genius.
This film looked like it had the makings of a great entry into the unconventional horror world and while it has its moments there are so many fixable issues. First and foremost was the audio mix. The music was so loud throughout that it is really hard to hear a lot of the dialogue. I thought it might have been my surround sound at first but after numerous adjustments there was no improvement. I had to watch the film with subtitles which I don’t mind if I am watching a foreign film, but not just because that is the only way to get through it.
Stepping away from the sound issue the film is strangely paced with it bouncing all over the place at first as it tries to build tension and mystery, but instead is just strange and kind of annoying. Thankfully it does find its stride eventually and offers up some fun within its confused execution. One of the
shining spots for me was the awkward and sinister performance from Jonathan Lipnicki that most may remember as the spikey haired cute kid from Jerry Maguire and Stuart Little. He is a mystery all his own with a strange substory that makes little sense to the bigger story, but gives the character more of an arc than he might have had otherwise.
In the end there is a great movie in here, but there are just so many issues that it never fully lives up to its potential. The upside to the strangeness of this films execution is that it will no doubt find its audience and likely become some kind of cult film to them. Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Broil available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Well Go USA.