The Grim Findings of Claudius

Director - Demetrius Petra (The Fear of Trees)

Starring - Alyss Winkler (Slaughterhouse Slumber Party, Space Babes from Outer Space) and Brian Papandrea (Amityville Vibrator, Thrust)

Release Date - 2022

Genre - Horror/Comedy

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I’m sure a lot of you are sick of hearing about my October horror binge but I was not expecting the response that it received this year. When I posted at the end of September asking for indie horror films to add to my month long binge I was expecting a handful or so to add to my stack. I was not expecting the 100 or so films to be sent over from filmmakers, actors, producers, and so on. It was a bit overwhelming and to prevent me from having a panic attack I decided to watch them all but give myself until the end of the year to check them all out. One of the films sent my way was The Grim Findings of Claudius from Kyle Putra. The film starred my good friend Brian Papandrea and the always beautiful Alyss Winkler. I want to thank Kyle for sending this one my way for review! 

      The film follows the awkward Claudius (Papandrea) who is trying to find love but is just too backward to find it. He really wants to be with a waitress at a local restaurant but she is creeped out by him and his unusual demeanor. He waits one day to speak with her after her shift and accidentally spooks her resulting in her hitting her head. He takes her back to his place, that he shares with his “grandmother,” to nurse her back to health. Things start out innocently enough but in his warped mind the two are a couple and the next logical step is marriage and intercourse. This is just the beginning of the madness unfolding inside his home and she is about to bear witness to it all. 

      I had no idea what The Grim Findings of Claudius was about or even what kind of film it was. I was grateful that Kyle reached out to me to review and I always look forward to any film starring Brian and Alyss. With that being said, I had a lot of fun with this one. I loved the writing, the characters, and the location. It’s a well put together film that I think some genre fans will enjoy. The acting in this one is great. Alyss is great as the abducted woman. She spends about 90 percent of the film screaming or bound and gagged which doesn’t really give her a chance to show her acting chops. I would have liked to see her character have a more prominent role in the film aside from being tied up. On the opposite side of the coin, Brian was tasked with bringing a character to life that has a lot of personality and is a bit more complex. I love how into the character he gets and the humor goes a long way with this story. These two work very well together and the performances really contrast one another. The story for this one works hard not to be cliched and I really respect that. I’ve seen dozens, if not hundreds, of films following someone who stalks and abducts women. From the beginning we get someone who does abducts a woman but does it out of sincerity. He tries to take care of her when she hits her head. We then have a little Psycho moment, a lot of forced romance, and plenty of laughs. I think the film is very well written and everything is put together to create a film that does stand out but some genre snobs may not appreciate it. Finally, don’t expect a bloody flick. This is a character driven piece that focuses more on the story and the situation they find themselves in over blood and gore. Overall, The Grim Findings of Claudius is not going to be for everyone but I found it to be very enjoyable. I highly recommend checking it out.