BELOW ZERO

I had originally planned to rush out and trek to the Regal Arbor to catch SHAME, but upon more realistic consideration, I decided that it would be a wiser decision to grab some dinner and wait for the later showing of BELOW ZERO at the Alamo Village. I didn't really want to rush up north just to be turned away, and even if I did make it in, that means I would have to wait a few more hours to eat. I felt famished at that point. Besides, after interviewing the producer and writer of this film, I had a renewed interest and enthusiasm for it.

Written by Signe Olynyk and directed by Justin Thomas Ostensen, BELOW ZERO tells a based on true events story, of a writer who locks himself in a meat freezer to isolate himself from distractions and write a script. Jack "the hack" (Edward Furlong) agrees to this extreme technique form of "method writing" to appease his agent. While in the freezer, Jack begins writing a horror story about a man accidentally trapped in the freezer of a serial murderer (Michael Berryman). The film jumps back and forth from reality to different versions of his story and provides much insight into the extreme measures some artists take to create. During the movie not only does Jack become disoriented and confuses both reality and art so does the audience which serves the story well as a device for thrills and suspense.

I must say that this is a great movie to showcase at AFF, which is known as "the writer's festival". I am sure that lots of screenwriters can relate to the Jack character and his writer's block struggles as well as the feeling of completely immersing oneself into the work and process. Signe Olynyk, who actually wrote this film while locked up in the same meat freezer used in the film, does a fine job creating a fictionalized version of this scenario and does fantastic work building tension and suspense. Ostensen manages to make this micro-budget film look more expensive than it actually is and exercises great skill and artistry to bring this bizarre exercise in creativity to life.

Mark Saldana
The Movie Doc