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5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

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Driftwood
Messengers 2

 

Director: Tim Sullivan. Starring Diamond Dallas Page. Ricky Ullman. Talan Torriero. 2009. USA. Horror - Supernatural/Paranormal. 86 mins

Dare to be different? Well expect to end up at Driftwood, the "attitude adjustment" camp for all your troubled teens. Playing on the paranoia of parents, Driftwood is the place to send them. However all is not as it seems when the spirit of a boy killed at the camp appears and the truth emerges.

I managed to catch Driftwood at a horror festival in 2008, previously knowing nothing at all about this film. Whilst Tim Sullivan may be a well known name to many of you, as someone who has only just rediscovered what they loved about horror, it meant nothing to me. So I approached this film with a very open minded attitude, having read the programme notes it seemed to be a film that captured my attention and showed promise. And to be fair I was not disappointed.

Driftwood is an "attitude adjustment" camp, the place to send your children should they not grow up to be what you expect. So should they listen to scary music, have tattoes or piercings or turn out to be gay, pack your bags and away you go.

The film has a largely unknown cast but the strength of the story and the quality of certain performances (namely that of Ullman and Dallas Page) carries it. Ullman plays the role of David, a teenager who has recently lost his older brother Dean, and is sometimes the case, ends up going off the rails. His parents, worrying and obvioulsy looking for an easy solution, decide to pack him off to Driftwood.

Whilst initially not wanting to play by the rules, it is soon made clear to David why he is there and what is expected of him. Being shown a videotape of his parents offering their feeble explanations, it is soon made clear this is not going to be an easy ride.

The camp is run with a military style precision, early morning awakenings, harsh exercise regimes and having to undertake menial tasks.

The real fun starts when David sees a picture of a previous inmate (Jonathon) and starts getting visitations at night and it transpires that this boy was killed unitentionally. It is also revealed that he is the nephew of Captain Doug (Dallas Page) and that a massive cover up has been going on.

This is where the film veers into the area that is predominantly owned by Japanese supernatural horror, visions, dreams, nightmares and apparations all take place. And also when the truth is uncovered, the business plans and future ideas for the camp (closing it down and selling on the land) are truly exposed.

Whilst Driftwood is far from being the scariest film I have ever seen, the strength of the acting, the story and the sheer anger you may feel about seeing parents taking the easy way out makes the whole viewing experience worthwhile. I know my own feelings towards the characters felt torn, ok David may be struggling as a result of the death of his older brother but could his parents have done more. From the parents point of view, had they tried everything and therefore this was a last resort. And i'm sure Captain Doug Kennedy had the best intentions in the world, even if it was from a business perspective.

The scariest thing about this movie for me was the fact that these places actually exist. And that parents, instead of accepting that your kid may just want to be different or not fit into the perfect plans that you had, they should be more accepting and understanding rather than taking up such a harsh option.

Whilst the film goes out on a high, I think it would have been nice to see what happenned next, did David settle down, did the family reunite as a unit so there lies probably my only criticism.

Driftwood is well worth a watch, don't view it expecting to be scared as there are very few scary moments. But to get a grasp of paranoia, post Columbine fear and for an unknown cast on a limited budget this is one film I really enjoyed.

Extras :

The extras contain out-takes, the option for a directors commentary and a variety of deleted or extended scenes. The cast auditions are enjoyable to watch as the film is made up of a variety of young actors and it's interesting to see how they succeded in getting the parts. The alternative ending doesn't add much or differ much to the original endings, perhaps elaborating on what the teens plan to do next. There are also 2 documentaries included in which we learn about the inspiration for the film, the fact it did not set off to be a horror and also that David Skylar used to be in a camp similar to Driftwood and details how it was run.

Kriss Griffin

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