CASTING CALL

Produced , Directed, and Written by Gary Lynch
Edited by Chris Tsambis
Director of Photography - Daniel Pederson

Wendy - Tracy Martin
Lisa - Lennox Miller
Kris - Kelly Tippens
Jade - Kelly Natividade
/Darlene - Denise Johnson

One after another, actresses auditioning for a horror film sit in front of director Gary Lynch's camera. He's taping their auditions, or at least making a short film about auditions with his dark satire CASTING CALL. The actresses appear either completely unprepared or inquisitive about the vague casting notice to which they were replying. What's presented is a worst case scenario for all parties involved.

CASTING CALL opens with Wendy, fresh from London, who has no idea what she's auditioning for. Cut to Lisa, a nymphet willing to do anything to become the next great scream queen. Cut to Darlene, a stoner who can barely keep her eyes open. Kris is a middle-aged house frau looking to fill her spare time. Finally, there's Jade, a beautiful foreign girl who barely speaks a word of English but wants to be an actress regardless.

In less than 10 minutes, with little more than a rapid succession of humorous moments from each woman's audition, Lynch provides just enough information to make these ladies endearing before he reveals his punchline. From the short making-of featurette, it appears that Lynch worked with his actresses to improv their characters, which results in a natural on-screen awkwardness that honestly resembles casting footage.

With the promise of a second audition, Lynch provides CASTING CALL with a nice 180 degree spin. He catches the audience off guard as he abruptly changes the tone from comedy to horror. I won't ruin the surprise, but readers should be able to figure it out. If you're read this far, chances are I've spoiled the movie for you. I was fortunate in that I had no knowledge of what was about to transpire before putting the disc into my player. This little movie is full of surprises and deserves to be viewed by an appreciative audience.

What allows the movie to excel is its deceptively simplistic nature. Without the twist ending, it's highly possible that the bulk of the movie could be uploaded to a YouTube-like site and no one would be the wiser that what they were watching wasn't real. It's that true-to-life vibe that allows the ending to pack such a wallop even thought it feels forced when compared to the loose nature of the material that comes before.

Gary Lynch
Casting Call