Normal

Director - Richard Griffin (Future Justice, The Sins of Dracula)
Starring - Michael Reed (The Disco Exorcist, Atomic Brain Invasion), Sarah Nicklin (Exhumed, Nun of That), and Nathaniel Sylva (The Last Halloween, Murder Univsersity)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Tagline - "From the outside, you'd never suspect"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     

I follow several directors in the indie scene and most have bodies of work that take place entirely in the horror genre.  I'm fine with that because horror just happens to be my favorite genre.  These filmmakers continue to make horror films because that is their comfort zone.  Horror is where they have made a name for themselves and refuse to change it up.  I'm not saying these filmmakers make bad films because they do not.  I am saying that they never experiment or step outside of the genre they are known for.  However, director Richard Griffin is known for his horror films but sometimes steps out of the horror genre to give us some amazing films.  Recently, Griffin finished work on his dark drama Normal.  It stars the talented Michael Reed, the hottest of the hot Sarah Nicklin, and one of my favorite actors in the indie world, Michael Thurber.  The film just premiered on Vimeo and Griffin was nice enough to let me check it out.  Thanks Richard for letting me check it out!

     The film follows Jim (Reed) who manages an apartment complex.  He lives a mundane life but the viewer is given glimpses of his past through flashbacks and his interactions with his unusual attendants.  It is through these flashbacks and interactions that we learn that Jim is a serial killer with no motives or signature and all the attendants in the building are actually people he has murdered in the past.  He does all this while trying to find what it means to be normal.

     Richard Griffin is a director I know will never let me down.  His films are always fun and they often fit into a fad or craze of cinema from yesteryear but he sometimes gives us films that are nothing short of a work of art.  He did this to us in 2013 with his film Exhumed.  The film was absolutely stunning.  When he announced that he would be working on a dark drama titled Normal I knew he would take us back down that very road where film meets art and I was absolutely correct.  The acting in this film is spectacular which is something I often praise in a Griffin film.  Michael Reed is once again on his "A" game and gives us a powerhouse performance.  He also has an amazing supporting cast with what I have started to call the "Griffin regulars."  They are all amazing and one of the many reasons Scorpio Films is so fantastic.  Also, I can't review a film with Sarah Nicklin without commenting on just how beautiful and flawless she really is.  She is an amazing actress and has talent to back up her beauty.  The story for this one is smooth, flows very well, and fun.  Sadly, it is a little predictable and reminds me of the horror comedy, Office Killer, but more serious in tone and more visually stunning.  Finally, the film does not have any on screen kills or deaths but that is not the point of Normal.  The point of the film is to show how everyone puts on a fake smile for the general public only to be real monsters behind closed doors.  Overall, Normal is a great commentary on how fake society is.  It is another cinematic masterpiece from Scorpio Films and filmmaker Richard Griffin.  I can not recommend this film enough!