Movie Review: Chase Michael Pallante’s Defarious by Peter Nichols

REVIEW: by Peter Nichols | C+

Defarious blurs the lines between the dream and the real world, set on that border, it makes the film experience quite a subjective and personal experience.

I had not seen any of the trailers for Defarious that is before I saw the film. The opening shot of the movie stuck with me, it set my mind thinking, ‘Ok, where is this going to…’ it did feel like the director was in my head when the next shot popped up, revealing a layer deeper into the house, and more layers as we go deeper into the bedroom of Amy (Janet Miranda, who we had interview a year before) and then finally into Amy’s dream.

Now, I did get the impression that once we moved into the main building, I was already in a dream. So, here we are, in Amy’s dream world, then I began to ask the question, “Will it be a nice dream or will it be a nightmare”. The score had given me a clue, so did the grading of the film. But, I still couldn’t decide it this film was horror or a psychological thriller.

I may have watched ‘Defarious’ with my eyes shut and I would still have come away with a thrilling film experience, and I would also be able to tell the genre of film; so I thought the score for the film was quite ambitious. Don’t get me wrong, it did give the film the breadth it required, and it may have felt a little larger than it, inside a few seconds and at separate times apart). As an indie filmmaker, I get the impulse, you invested more in the score.

I am a sticker for old school cinematography, so, I shared a few things with your cinematographer, I liked the visual outlook of the film. It gave space for performance, it was symmetric, and it easily pointed to the main character quite well. It did a good job of introducing the antagonism and the conflict. When it reached its climax, it upgraded Defarious to a horror movie. The final scene felt raw, unhidden and gory.

I expected the climax to employ a shortened screen-time and to hide (between medium, close up shots) the antagonist’s attack, it would have heightened the suspense more. I particularly loved, the sound mixing, the collaboration and the simplicity of the story. Defarious is an enjoyable experience.

Final Grade C+