Why do I keep doing this to myself?
The Wicked One is another independent horror film that has a whole bunch of 1 star reviews and a few suspicious 10 star reviews. The horror genre is one that I think is the most easily exploited. You can make an okay horror film fairly easily, and there are so many of them that people like me are going to have to comb through the crap the find the good ones. In essence, every horror film is approached blindly (this is ignoring the hype train and all that jazz), and that makes reviewing a bit difficult.
Where The Wicked One stands is somewhere in the middle of all of these independent films. It isn’t completely awful (it is)—but it is also kind of funny. Don’t get me wrong, the acting is horrible, as well as the lighting, writing, sets, characters, plot, and just about everything else, but there is a bit of humor in the camp. I don’t know if the actors knew if they were in a comedy or a horror film.
I believe they went to the local hipster-hangout for most of the actors. There is a genuine feeling of amateur hour throughout—and I found this oddly interesting. The film loosely follows a deranged killer, Colin Miller, and we get to see him in his hospital setting. In different hands, this could have been commentary on how the criminally insane are warehoused and treated like zoo animals. Here, well what we have here is kind of hard to classify. It is a spectacle of stupidity. I think you will have to see it to believe it. What makes it even funnier is you can tell that they thought they were being so edgy with their dialogue and plot points.
After Colin escapes (shocker) we end up following a group of dumb friends as they are on a weekend getaway. I think the lesson of these films is that we should all become shut ins. I’m not cleaning my porch because I am lazy, I am doing it for safety, right? What sucks is that there was a stupid/dark humor element with the idiotic guards and collection of killers. Once we get trapped following these idiots the film completely collapses. The best part of this portion of the film is that it could be used as a lesson of how to not write dialogue in a film.
The writer of the film also stars in the movie as the dumbass Trevor. This Mary-Sue type character represents just about everything that is wrong with horror films. Stupid edge-lords who try to show how daring they are, by writing crappy movies with half baked and stereotypical characters. I didn’t bother linking to this person because I hope they never create anything again.
In a film that wants to be the coolest and smartest slasher ever, it is amazing how boring it is. The opening is kind of funny, and the whole thing will make you laugh and shake your head, but otherwise it is a slog. Yet, I found myself oddly compelled by how bad it was. It is like getting the opportunity to watch a train wreck in slow motion—or to see the most incompetent person attempt something technical. If the director and writer came out and said they were trying to make the biggest pile of crap, but also wanted you to get some cheap laughs I would believe them.
Perhaps the saddest thing is that I have seen much worse, and recently. 1/10
Jay Hates Movies 
Thanks? Someone shared this review with me recently even though it looks to be a year old. Wow, some pretty harsh words in there. “I hope they never create anything again”. Well, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the film. I am slightly curious as to why you finished it. I mean it’s a film that oozes micro budget, indie horror. If you are as “picky” about Films as you openly claim to be, I’m pretty sure the first 20 minutes of the film kind of explains the intended time of the film. Being the “writer” of this film, I get a lot of hate for the plot and blatant Halloween homages, but if you would, I wasn’t the only writer for this film, yet you really made it a point to call me out specifically. But I do appreciate your brutal opinion. If only you had given more constructive criticism, instead of just viciously bashing the film. In either case, thank you for taking the time (though you feel it was wasted) to watch it. Thankfully not everyone felt the same way seeing as all physical copies sold out the day it was released, it is on Amazon Prime, the character is being cosplayed in multiple countries and we are now fundraising for the sequel which has gotten quite a bit of hype. Maybe this time we can entertain you better. Or better yet, being such a connoisseur of film, just stay away from it and all indie horror, seeing as you more than likely won’t like them.
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After reading your comment I believe I might need to revisit the film.
I suppose I will be speaking out of both sides of my mouth a bit here: the blog is called Jay Hates Movies for a specific reason; however, perhaps calling out an individual working on a labor of love was a bit uncalled for. Oddly, as soon as I saw your comment I knew which film it had to have been as this one was one time where my snark and sarcasm probably went too far, and I remember debating my decision there (and it seems I should have trusted my intuition).
I am genuinely happy that the film has generated enough interest to yield a sequel. If you so desire, I would gladly rewatch the original and the sequel in order to provide more feedback and not just snarky jackassery (which to be fair is more or less the theme of this blog).
I appreciate the industry of horror, and independent horror is perhaps the most watched genre on this site. It is easy to backseat drive when I do not have to consider budget, scheduling, and the perhaps thousand other things that go into making a film, even a micro-budget film.
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My intent was not to call you out, though it may have seemed that way. I understand the tone of this blog and usually I find blogs such as this one quite entertaining, however, I felt a need to reach out due to the specific comment “I hope they never create again”. I get it, our film was bad. It, to put it lightly, “borrowed” heavily from established films such as Halloween. I also understand that not everyone is familiar with how films are made, even at this small of a level. I have taken the heat for most of the negative fallout regarding story and plot, even though this was not my story and I had no control over what the director wanted to put out there. I wrote the scenes for the core group of friends and I did most of the dialogue. This is the first time I have had such a lashing in regards to my dialogue though. And as you said, there are thousands of things that go into indie filmmaking that writers have no control of. I would like to thank you again for at least giving it a chance. My goal, as is the goal of my colleagues, is to continue to get better at the craft. We don’t want you to hate the films. We want you to be entertained by them. And much of what you criticized, I have looked at and am currently trying to mend those flaws in my writing and storytelling. Thank you for the response. It truly does mean the world to us bottom of the barrel filmmakers that someone would even be willing to watch our films. I will make it a point to make sure you are sent a copy or at least a link to the sequel once it has finished to get your view on it. Cheers.
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I would happily view anything you send my way. As stated above, the saltiness of my review was one I had questioned in the first place. I think the least I can do is rewatch the film to give you a more comprehensive (and serious) review. Best of luck in your future endeavors, and I do hope the sequel is a smashing success.
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