SHUDDER

Produced, Directed, Edited, and Photographed by Ryan Cavalline
Written by Ronald Damien Malfi and Dominic Guerieri

Erica - Angie Guido
Chris - Vic Badger
Jaycen - Rose Woelfel
Travis - Jeremy Stratton

There was a documentary I saw years ago where many of the "hottest" independent filmmakers were giving advice to up-and-coming film students. The consensus was pretty much the same, from Spike Lee to Jim Jarmush, they all said "don't waste your money on filmschool, save it and go make a movie." The reason for this is as simple as pie, any filmmaker will you that you learn more in 2 minutes on the set than you do 2 years in school.

I don't know if Ryan Cavalline saw the same documentary or not, but he's following that advice to a tee. His films are still primitive in form and style, but the guy keeps trying and gets better with each effort. It's just a matter of time before he hits his stride. But before he can do that, he needs to first become comfortable with both his camera and his actors.

SHUDDER is a cinema verity style feature that blends melodrama, haunted houses, and serial killers. The end result isn't exactly the mess you would think. The meat and potatoes or a good movie are right there on the plate, Ryan needs to find within himself a good sidedish to bring together the meal and complement the story he's trying to tell. In other words, cinema verity might not have been the best choice for this film, especially since Ryan hasn't yet mastered coverage and camera movement. But like I said, just give him time.

For SHUDDER, Ryan went outside of his usual circle and enlisted Ronald Damien Malfi and Dominic Guerieri to cover the writing choirs. The story revolves around a group of college housemates, one of which is haunted by the Ghost of Serial Killers Past. Or maybe she's just a total whack-job who prefers knives to Erector sets.

The premise is intriguing and has some interesting possibilities, only a few of which are examined. Usually I find that bothersome, but this time the film works better with questions left unanswered. The confusion doesn't just add to the suspense, often it's the cause. It gives the film an agenda for the audience to complete rather than subjecting them to a left field ending that's relied upon by so many Hollywood features. By allowing the audience to put the pieces of the puzzle together themselves, Ryan allows for better viewer satisfaction, something Hollywood doesn't allow with clueless thrillers where the villain is a forgotten throw-away character from the first act.

SHUDDER doesn't insult the audience, and that's the best thing it has going for it. While SHUDDER isn't perfect, it's an improvement over what has come before from Ryan Cavalline. I hope the guy keeps plugging away, eventually with real actors. The horror genre needs someone like Cavalline who is trying to pull away from the hackneyed formulas festering at the box-office and give the audience what they want, originality.

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