Director: Tony Krantz
Reviewed by Doc Zombie
Otis is supposed to be a horror "comedy". Something of a satire or parody of torture flicks such as Saw or Hostel. I found this film absurd not in a funny way but in a way that it was supposed to be funny when clearly there was nothing really funny about it. It would be absurd to think that it was.
Otis is the story of a big ol' teddy bear of a sociopath who abducts a girl and imprisons her with the intent to rape and kill her. The girl's family decides to take matters into it's own hands after the FBI seems too busy looking like hot shots.
Horror comedy can be done well. Take Shaun of the Dead or Army of Darkness. Both movies take a horror situation (supernatural/nonexistent monsters) and makes light of the situation with campy characters and such. Something that seems easily accomplished. Otis, on the other hand, takes an all too real situation such as being abducted, raped, and tortured by a sociopath all too lightly. It was seriously hard to laugh at the situation. The attempts at comedy were feeble and forced. The idea that we were supposed to nuzzle up to Otis the psycho just seemed impossible. Nobody would say, "AWWW, Micheal Myers is just so darn cute!" would they?
When the parents and brother of the abducted girl go vigilante the movie takes a turn into Home Alone territory (which is funny as how Daniel Stern, one of the robbers from said movie plays the father in Otis). Yes, imagine Home Alone with gore. This part I must say was fun and entertaining.
However, it doesn't excuse the bulk of the film...especially the ending. two blood drops, please.
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For a small, Indie horror effort I really enjoyed the film, and found Otis' performance particularly good, with many subtle nuances that made him both despisable and empathetic. There are obvious flaws with the film, but considering the scale it was filmed well and offers an interersting mix of black comedy and horror. Always glad to see different opinions though!
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