Animosity

Director - Brendan Steere (Dead by Dawn)
Starring - Stephen Goldbach (Cockroaches), Michelle Jones (Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard), and Alyssa Kempinski (Alpha Girls)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I typically find a film I am interested in and reach out to review it.  These films typically have something I find entertaining and my curiosity to watch it leads to me reviewing it.  However, writing for Horror Society has lead to me receiving films for review that I would typically avoid. Not long ago I was sent a review copy of the horror thriller Animosity from director Brendan Steer.  I had never heard of the film before and the artwork looked like something I would usually avoid.  However, Bloody Earth Films was nice enough to send me the film for review so I could at least take the time to give the film a watch and share my honest thoughts on it.  Thanks guys for sending me the film to check out!
     The film follows a recently married couple who move into a secluded home in the country side. It is here that she meets her husband's co-workers and a local redneck who likes to shoot his shotgun too close to her new home.  Things are strange around the house and she starts to do a little snooping and learns that her husband and his colleagues are conducting experiments on her.  The house they live in has supernatural powers and can resurrect the dead.  They do various experiments on her and eventually kill her so she can be resurrected and experimented on the next day with no memory of the horrors she had faced before.  However, she does catch on to their sick science experiment and fights back killing everyone that gets in her way including her asshole of a husband.
     When a movie tries to go against the grain and removes all the gore, breasts, and humor they need a strong story and a filmmaker that can pull that strong story off.  I have seen so many films fall apart because they had amazing stories and failed to tell that story on film. This film was able to tell the story but, sadly, that was about all the film was able to pull off.  The acting in this film was great.  The entire cast was solid and everyone fit their roles perfectly.  This is something to be proud of because so many indie productions do not have a cast this well rounded.  The story for this one is great but it does move at a snails pace.  The film starts out slow like a horrible first date and then ends with a bang.  The slow opening is hard to sit through to actually see the story take off.  A little better editing would have helped this out in that department.  Finally, the film does have some on screen kills and some decent special effects.  However, the kills are scarce and so is the special effects.  Fans of bloody horror will not be happy with this film.  Overall, Animosity is a film that had so much potential go to waste.  The story finishes strong but starts out so slow that the viewer may turn it off.  Check it out but be patient.