Wakers

Director - Dylan Greenberg (Glamarus)
Starring - Blessing C.S., Jude Thomas (Glamarus), and Matt Katz Bohen
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Comedy/Fantasy
Tagline - Don't let me die again..."
Format - Streaming (online screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     A few weeks ago I was sent an email to check out a new film from director Dylan Greenberg.  This 17 year old has done more in her short life than most have done after living long, lustrous lives.  This young lady is the youngest full time employee at Troma and has already released two full length feature films with her first film being Glamarus.  Aside from that, she is also a musician with music available on iTunes.  With all that going on, she is also an outspoken representative of the trans-gendered community and has even authored a children's book on the topic.  This is one 17 year old that will leave a mark on the world.  Dylan had emailed me to check out her newest film Wakers which she described as a arthouse horror comedy.  Her involvement with Troma really excited me so I agreed to check it out and give it a shot.

     The film begins with a father turning the television off while his daughter watches The Adventures of Obououb Obuiuoua Boy and tells her a story.  The story follows Blessing, played by herself, who is consistently being harassed by her mother for doing drugs and such.  She meets up with some new friends and try a new drug.  This new drug "wakes" them up and transports them from a black and white world to a world of color.  Sadly, while she is there someone kills one of her friends and the police start an investigation.  She then meets up with some more friends and try the drug again resulting in them being hunted down and murdered.  Now the girl must fight to survive.

     The word "arthouse" holds different meanings for different people.  For me it means that the film will make no sense and will loosely follow the story set forth.  Wakers did just that.  The film rarely follows the story and relies heavily on trippy scenes that hold little value to the viewer.  The acting in this is the worst I have seen out of the years I have been writing reviews.  I hate to say this because I can usually find something redeeming out of the cast but I can not with this one.  Blessing has a hard time acting when it comes to her scenes and most of the time she is awkwardly smiling while almost screaming her lines.  The remainder of the cast is on the same level.  Some nervously smile the entire time while others stutter and yammer while saying their lines.  It is evident that the cast did not rehearse their lines or was given freedom to adlib or improve.  This resulted in some of the worst scenes I have ever seen.  We get a several minute conversation about tape on a kids mask.  Why would that need to be in a movie?  The story for this one is rather unique but fails to actually follow what they planned to tell.  Instead, the film veers off the path and delivers some psychedelic scenes that borderline on the goofy side.  I love a film that tries to capture the Troma feel but this one goes a little too far.  Finally, the film has a few kill scenes but they are nothing that memorable.  The practical and visual effects are surprisingly decent for the budget we get.  The trippy scenes that feel out of place are actually done very well and take me back to the VHS age.  With that being said, the scenes are flat and hard to watch.  Overall, Wakers is a film with a lot of promise but fails to deliver.  I hate to destroy a film sent to me for review but there is very few redeeming qualities that I could find in this one other than the fact they done something most dream of and that is make their own movie.