Fading of the Cries – Review

Writer/director Brian A. Metcalf’s largely ambitious horror-fantasy Fading of the Cries is almost too much of everything, and not enough of something, creating a hog bosh that somehow is interesting despite these criticisms.

The film starts off as a typical horror movie, one of those home invasion/DIY zombie movies, and then swirls the viewer into a fantasy world much like a low-budget, darker Chronicles of Narnia. Zombies, swords, bats, Wormtongue, um, I mean Mathias, played to slimy satisfaction by Brad Dourif, Fading of the Cries is a wonderful case of “almost”, where ambition arm-wrestles its flaws in a tug-of-war.

This indie production uses nearly 1000 VFX shots, which is pretty much unheard of for an indie, yet that’s the spirit we love to see in these films. We rarely get that, and it’s a shame that the film, no matter how courageous in its ambition it has, it’s a so-so script that really peters everything out. There’s moments that shine, notably the fantasy elements of weird white-face creature that adds eeriness to the film and of course, Brad Dourif. But it also flat-lines due to some tried-and-true conventions of the fantasy genre. Amulets, ancient histories, old debts, it’s all the stuff of Fantasy 101, but it’s likable in the end. What truly hurts the film is the bland lead in Jordan Matthews, who plays Jacob.

Jacob is underwritten, and comes off as a hybrid between Selene from Underworld and Robert Pattinson from Twilight. He’s a bad-ass swordsman, easily going all Toshiro Mifune on the zombie-like occupants of this dreary city. It also hurts that the character is aided by some of the films least convincing VFX. Poor CG and quick cuts sink the film into cheesiness.

Regardless, Fading of the Cries is still neat. There’s a feeling of H.P. Lovecraft, with swords and zombies, that even when it fails, it’s just too hard to be down on it. It tries furiously, and for a feature film debut on a dime, it’s a curious bit of film-making from the DIY side of the camera. A stronger script, with better characterizations, and Fading of the Cries would be the indie to see this summer.

The film opens July 8th in New York (at the Village East) and Los Angeles (Chinese 6 and Culver Plaza).

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