Connect with us

Indie

[BHFF 2017] ‘Get My Gun’ Pulls the Trigger and Tells a Stunning Story of Pregnancy and Revenge

Published

on

Get My Gun is a grindhouse gem that tells a grueling tale of female empowerment and doesn’t hold back.

“Listen very carefully: get my gun and take my car to the park,” and with those opening words that kick off Get My Gun, madness is promptly in session as someone in a nun costume begins to dole out shotgun blasts. This makes for the very best sort of introductory scene that throws the audience right into this world and shows off how brutal of a ride this is going to be.

Get My Gun pulls from a number of classic grindhouse archetypes to fuel its disturbing story. There’s been a curious trend in recent years where the pulpy grindhouse genre has become an increasingly popular direction for horror. The genre has even been capable of showing people that it can work in an episodic capacity, like in SyFy’s Blood Drive. It’s a fun genre to explore, but it’s also one where it’s very easy to miss the mark and come across as sloppy. What makes Get My Gun such a success is that it leans into its grindhouse sensibilities when it needs to, but never to the detriment of the film. There’s a careful balancing of tone at play in Get My Gun that helps make this angry film work.

Director and co-writer, Brian Darwas, eases the audience into Amanda’s (Kate Hoffman) humble existence as a hotel maid. She leads a simple, dead-end life, but it’s one that’s her own and a stifling quicksand that she’s gradually pulling herself out from. Amanda gets by as a result of keeping her head down, but even after being cautious and having a smart set of rules in place, she still encounters some terrible luck. Amanda is left in the impossibly horrible situation of getting raped, left pregnant, and the future safety of her child is eventually placed in jeopardy.

Get My Gun is the grittiest, most fearless sort of revenge-filled exploitation fodder. It takes something like I Spit On Your Grave and mixes it together with L’Interieur and drenches it in grindhouse juice. Darwas puts to use that beautiful, faded ‘70s era filter that is so common to the exploitation genre. Everything helps effortlessly service the genre, right down to the film’s title cards, font, or the fact that it’s broken up into chapters. The music is another sublime detail and it’s full of retro synth-y goodness.

The film’s aggressive plot has plenty to get excited about, but the real triumph of this picture is Kate Hoffman’s extraordinary performance as Amanda. The character is legitimately charming and affable and it’s nice to just spend time with this character and see how she functions. A very effective job is done at highlighting Amanda’s cautious nature and her various support systems, which makes the devastating turn hit so much harder. Similarly, the transformation that Amanda goes through during this picture is handled beautifully by Hoffman. She does an impressive job at making Amanda feel both vulnerable and powerful.

Get My Gun has fun by juxtaposing the mundane monotony of Amanda’s drab, routine maid job to the extreme way in which her life is changed and the trauma that she experiences. “Chapter Two” of the film barrels ahead to Amanda now super pregnant and trying to get her life together again. While she’s now free of the danger of her rapist, a new threat begins to prey on Amanda in the form of Catherine, an affluent woman eager to adopt Amanda’s child. Amanda coming up against this gauntlet of dangers does a good job at illustrating how anyone is capable of dangers and that trusting strangers is never a smart move.

Right from Catherine’s first appearance she comes across as creepy, invasive, and just all around bad news. The film plays with whether Catherine’s connected to Amanda’s rape or just some crazy for other reasons altogether. It’s beautiful to see how the film juggles these new threats, which allows the story to evolve and feel fresh, rather than doubling down on the same one idea. Furthermore, it’s crazy to see how someone like Catherine can be even more intimidating than Amanda’s rapist. It opens the door towards what her story is and what sort of trauma she’s seen in her life. The film’s final act is a relentless attack that is seriously just as unnerving as L’Interieur, which is saying something. It’s just so frightening to watch this unstable woman terrorize someone that’s in the height of helplessness and dependency. It’s so, so upsetting and Get My Gun harnesses that energy and doesn’t let it go.

Get My Gun is such a fun ride where you’re really rooting for the lead to get their vengeance, as twisted as it may be. Nearly everything here is a delight, but it would have been nice to get a little more on Catherine and figure out what was going on with her. The lack of answers is also sort of the point. Life is random and it doesn’t always give you the full picture. This might not be the flashiest horror film of the season, but it should be mandatory viewing for any fan of compelling tales of revenge. Kate Hoffman’s excellent performance and Brian Darwas’ controlled directing help make Get My Gun a cult classic that shouldn’t fly under your radar.

Daniel Kurland is a freelance writer, comedian, and critic, whose work can be read on Splitsider, Bloody Disgusting, Den of Geek, ScreenRant, and across the Internet. Daniel knows that "Psycho II" is better than the original and that the last season of "The X-Files" doesn't deserve the bile that it conjures. If you want a drink thrown in your face, talk to him about "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part II," but he'll always happily talk about the "Puppet Master" franchise. The owls are not what they seem.

Indie

“Bite Size Short: Her House of Horrors” Announce Short Grant Program!

Published

on

Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.

The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:

“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.

“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.

“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.

“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”

Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.

WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.

To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.

Continue Reading