a review of GOOD INTENT for horrorview.com -- The Losers

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Date Posted: 09:50:31 09/23/04 Thu
Author: tommy avallone
Subject: a review of GOOD INTENT for horrorview.com

Good Intent (2004 Once Lost Productions, R0 DVD)

Directed By: Brennan S. Freemantle

Cast: Tommy Avallone, Deva Watson, Farrah Defulio, Ashlie J. Parker

Gore Gauge - Medium
Skin-O-Meter - Low

Movie - 3.5 Skulls
Extras - 5 Skulls
Overall - 4 Skulls

The debut from Once Lost Productions, Good Intent, may be a bit short (at 20 minutes) but is definitely worth the watch. From the intro dialogue to the end credits of the film, there is one word to describe the contents of this DVD - entertaining.

Utilized as a vehicle to promote their 80's brand of slasher entertainment, Once Lost introduces Good Intent as a precursor to their pre-production full length title featuring the same masked killer. Little can be drawn from Good Intent about the nameless assailant, except for he's got a bit of a violent side and he likes his axe.....very much.

Plopping the disc into the player, the viewer first encounters an intro session by director Brennan Freemantle and one of the movie's stars, Tommy Avallone of wastedapples.com. Delivering one hysterical prologue, Freemantle preps the audience for his debut, recognizing the low budget qualities of the film rather than boasting of his triumph, unlike some Indie directors like to do.

The plot of Good Intent is rather simplistic, detailing a couple's decision to stay at home and watch some horror flicks before venturing out to some trite party scene. The couple, played by Avallone and Watson, have very little time to delve into establishment of character, however, utilize their screen presence to attack one another with nasty one liners that provide a great source of comic relief. Once they've taken a healthy amount of pot shots at each other, they settle down to watch a few horror flicks. Unfortunately, the power in their apartment building is cut, and Avallone must reluctantly venture into the basement of the building to repair the breaker.

In true 80's slasher style, Avallone is stalked by the masked killer in a confined area, and once he's caught, provides a nice little splatter shot on the wall. The killer than makes his way to the apartment, where the unassuming Watson awaits her boyfriend's return. A struggle ensues between the killer and Watson in the small, prison like environment, where only one will walk out alive.

The special features on the disc include a trailer for Good Intent and a making of feauturette that proves to be one of the funniest extras I have ever seen. Avallone excels in the film with his one liners and shines even brighter when the audience is taken behind the scenes.

In my opinion, Good Intent is a successful short film which establishes Once Lost's desire to produce grassroots 80's style horror films. Of course, being shot on an extremely limited budget there are areas of the film that can be improved, yet can also be overlooked at such an early stage due to the feature's excellent camera work and execution of plot. Freemantle should be commended on his desire to resurrect the slasher genre without reverting to MTV style direction, a trend too often consuming the low budget horror films littering the shelves of the local video stores.

For more information on Good Intent, Once Lost Productions, or to order the DVD (really cheap!) you can email LivingDeadDoll69@yahoo.com

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