AFTER THE MURDER, directed by Aengus James ***

Paul Lima a true hero, like his father, Albert

A documentary that follows Paul Lima and the two bounty hunters he hired to Roatán, Honduras, to find and capture his father's (Albert)  killer. But nothing seems to happen with the capture until he hires Ray, whose connections with the government is second to none with his job of capturing killers on the island. In fact, the year, Paul goes down there, there have been Americans murdered. It takes 13 years and absolute determination not to give up as Paul searches for his father’s killer. He knows who he is because the murderer was not happy about being taken to court over a bakery purchase that the Honduran family once owned. Bit by bit everyone is getting killed and it’s clear that Paul is in a dangerous situation. The bad guy is eventually caught and ends up in jail, but not for life – only for sixteen years.

This is not a documentary made after the fact of Paul going down to Honduras. The camera is with him and the people he hires and meets to ensure true actions.

Pauls’ devotion to his father and his widowed mother are remarkable. 

COME TRUE, directed by Anthony Scott Burns ***

 Julia Sarah Stone plays a disturbed teenager who is a run-away – a very tired one. She innocently enters a sleep study, only to find out her dreams and her waking life are one big horror play-out. What’s real and what’s a dream? The camera pans  down a school corridor lined with lockers.  In another scene, a door opens like Pandora's box. The camera pans and all merges so fluidly the real and unreal are captivating, bodies morph into scary creatures. The film plays out in titled sections as if each is a part of a dream. Suspense builds certainly with the help of the eerie music that the director himself composed. The pat silly ending was in complete contrast to the mood  film's. But the weird stuff prevails. You know all is not good when Sarah asks lying all hooked up in a strange body suit – “What are you studying?” She isn’t allowed to know; nor why there are 4 males and only two females in the study. But the ending is a real let- -down Stalking takes on a whole new meaning, as does peeping Tom. I don’t advise anyone to see this film suffering from sleep disorders

VIOLATION, directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli ***

Two sisters - Miriam and Greta meet up in the country cabin owned by Dylan, Greta’s husband. Miriam is deeply disturbed, and the extent of her aberration manifests when she seeks revenge on Dylan who raped her when the two were sharing past school stories by the fire they made. Camp side chatter adds a lighthearted throw-in to the intense mood that erupts into climatic horror as the characters clash.

The gruesomely gory climatic scene hauntingly juxtaposes against the expressionistic cinematography of the lush nature that surrounds them. The two directors were the two sisters in the film, and their chemistry was electric, seen most vividly when the sisters’ love-hate conflicts mount.  Without giving away the spoiler, you would be wrong to like the ice cream cones the family gathering gobbles up at the end.

The movie is confusing; the flashback scenes interrupt the flow and cause plot distortion. The film could do with more precise editing. There is too much talking and not enough action. Nonetheless, it’s highly successful in showing the inner rage that engulfs every rape victim – Miriam in this case. Never was a rape scene so quiet - even docile in tone, yet wildly fierce in the outcome. There’s a consequence to pay; suffice it to say that Dylan met a terrifying doom. I was very much pulled into this compelling film. Madeleine Sims-Fewer was brilliant as Miriam. The Call of the Wild, by author Jack London has wolves in it. This film had one, That -- combined with Miriam's rage could have led to a more apt title: The Cry of the Wild.