Lower Spirits: Episode Three (The Day Off)

Director - Brandon Guiles
Starring - Brandon Guiles, Bruce Falcon, and Mark Ginter
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Format - Streaming

Rating (out of 5):

     As I work my way through the Wishmaster series I decided to take a few breaks through the four film set to check out the web-series Lower Spirits that is written, produced, directed, and starring Brandon Guiles.  The first episode was very enjoyable but was flawed and showed its shoestring budget.  I moved on to the second episode involving bigfoot and enjoyed it as well but it wasn't on the same level as the first film.  After my review of that episode I spoke some with Brandon and he informed me that episode three and four saw a major change in the show as some of the cast and crew walked away from the project and a good portion of the episodes were ad-libbed.  I was curious to see how that played out so I went to YouTube and hit play on episode three.

     This episode follows Brandon and his new sidekick the local priest as they visit the show's new producer in his new home.  When they arrive they quickly learn that the home is the house from episode one where the little girl was possessed.  They try to convince him of the horrors performed under that roof before something bad happens to him as well.

    

     Before you watch this show it is imperative that you understand that this is a no budget show that has all the problems of a no budget indie production.  People lie and leave production, they over book themselves and have to drop out, disagreements, and so on so it is common to see web-series where the cast frequently changes due to no legal obligation.  Sadly, even with this in mind, this episode just didn't do it for me.  With the problems and restriction aside the episode still didn't feel like a genuine episode.  The acting in this one is more of the same.  Brandon Guiles and Bruce Falcon have great chemistry and that shows with each passing episode.  They become more and more comfortable around each other and the show progresses which is great to see.  The supporting cast is more of the same.  They still have plenty of room to grow but they are becoming more and more natural with each episode.  The story for this episode is lacking.  It honestly feels like a filler episode that could have been edited together with another episode.  The story itself does not feel like enough meat is on the bone to be a stand alone episode.  Finally, this is not a bloody one for you wanting gore.  The show clearly does not have the budget for effects and this episode did not really call for them.  If the show was able to pull together and get some minor blood and gore it would save it tremendously but, huge but, a budget is clearly an obstacle.  Overall, Lower Spirits: Episode Three (Day Off) is the weakest in the series so far.  This episode has very little story and could have been attached to another episode as filler.  I was not a fan of this episode.