Otis (Blu-ray) (2008)

"Absolutely brilliant!  Paul Christensen, MovieWeb.com
"A truly original horror/comedy gem...A comedy so black and brutal, you'll feel guilty for laughing.  Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com

Editor's Note This dark comedy about a serial killer stalking a typical suburb is a cynical take on both American culture and family dynamics. When a young girl is taken prisoner by a sadistic killer, she uses her wits to escape. But her freedom is just the beginning of the gruesome, and oddly hilarious, downward spiral her family takes when they decide to get even with her abductor. It's a twisted ride that will leave audiences torn between laughing and covering their eyes.

	Ashley Johnson
	Bostin Christopher
	Daniel Stern
	Illeana Douglas
	Jared Kusnitz
	Jere Burns
	Kevin Pollak
	Tarah Paige
	Alex Marquez - Editor
	Erik Jendresen - Writer
	Frank Bollinger - Production Designer
	Thomas Schnauz - Writer
	Tony Krantz - Director
	Tony Krantz, et. al. - Producer

Dread Central 8 of 10
Tony Krantz' second directorial effort...shows a filmmaker with an astute concept of what works in genre cinema and what's wrong with it as a whole...Otis is a black comedy of the darkest variety that's helped immensely by the ingenious casting. Christopher turns in a fantastic performance as Otis, a role that I'm sure wasn't easy to get just right. Stern and Douglas have great on screen chemistry and their relationship is just f***ed up enough to be believable. They work off one another well, as unlikely a duo as they may look from the outset, and their quipping during the protracted torture scene makes it all hurt a bit less...Krantz took an overdone idea and gives it a sick little spin so that the end result is something you're laughing with instead of at like, say, Captivity. Otis is smart, too. Like Sublime, Krantz made put in political subtext throughout to point out issues with our government and their tendency to overact without enough information. Unlike Sublime, though, the pokes aren't subtle at all, mainly coming from the behavior of Agent Hotchkiss, easily the most outwardly comedic role in the film. His bumbling efforts to find the killer before anyone else can are over the top and his dismissal of the feelings Riley's family has is exaggerated to an absurd degree, but it works in the context of the film and he ended up being my favorite character.