Action!

Director - Eric Palmer (Arm Wrestling Roulette, Inheritance)

Starring - Mia Custer (Blood in the Dark, Winter Wasteland), Justin Isenberg (The Adventures of Loop and Rhett, Un bastardo una ciudad y los muertos), and Chanda Rawlings (Bloody Summer Camp, Bedrog)

Release Date - 2023

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Making movies is a killer time"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I started preparing for my annual horror binge a week or two back by focusing more on horror than exploration. Horror is and always will be my favorite genre but after 30 years of dedication to one genre I find myself getting a bit burnt out. That’s why I was spending time watching some exploitation and sci-fi flicks over the summer with my kids. While Halloween was approaching I decided to dig into some horror to wet my whistle before my month long horror binge. One of those films I decided to check out was the 2023 indie horror film Action! I was contacted a few weeks back by director Eric Palmer to review his new film. I knew nothing about this one and agreed to check it out. Most of you know how much I love indie horror and I quickly agreed to check it out. I want to thank Eric for reaching out and allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to review the film! 

      The film follows a female actress who has decided to step out of front of the camera and take on directing. She partners with another filmmaker who will document the process for an in-depth behind the scenes look at the movie making process. We follow the pair as they location scout, audition for roles and prepare for filming. However, once the camera was rolling one of the films stars decides to turn her horror film into a snuff flick when he replaces the blanks in the gun with live rounds. 

      I had no idea what kind of film Action! was when I agreed to review it. If I had known it was a found footage flick I would have let Eric know ahead of time that this is one of the few sub-genres that I typically don’t care for. I have seen a few found footage films that I liked but it’s mostly been movies that just couldn’t hold my attention or I found to be extremely dull. Action! finds it’s way somewhere in between. I liked the last leg of the film but the first 45 minutes or an hour was something I would not want to watch again and that’s because it’s a textbook found footage. I’ll elaborate a little later in my review. The acting in this one is solid. I tend to find found footage acting to be a bit awkward. I dislike the whole reality television aspect of it where the cast is talking directly into the camera. With that being said, I did like the cast. I was fairly unfamiliar with them prior to the film but I am now actively looking for their other films to see them in a more traditional setting. The story for this one is one I could get behind even if it was a found footage film but a solid 30 minutes or so would need to be trimmed or film it and made it look like the viewer is fast forwarding through it to the good parts like WNUF Halloween Special. As I said, the last leg of the film I enjoyed and thought it was a fantastic idea for a found footage film but the build up to it was difficult to follow. Finally, the film has a few on screen deaths but they are done with a gun and don’t offer up any real blood or gore for those of you with a taste for the red stuff. However, it is impressive for an indie flick to pull off a gun with blanks effectively and this one is able to so. Overall, I am not the target audience for Action! and I’ll be completely honest about that. I don’t want to spend the last hour bashing a film for no reason. I saw some things I enjoyed with this one but as someone who generally avoids found footage films I am not one that is comfortable or confident in recommending or not recommending one. If you are like me and often skip them then this one will not be for you. However, if found footage is your thing then you should give it a shot.