13 Seconds (2001)

Well, there’s this rock band called “Night Gallery” you see, and they’ve come to the conclusion that the best place to record their new album is in an old abandoned school that just might be haunted and, well, think you can guess the rest? Sure, the set up sounds like a zillion other “stick a group of people in an old building with pissed off alien/monster/ghost” scenario, and while “13 Seconds” is indeed that, it’s also a little more. The “more” part comes from some nice little twists in the story, including an ending that took me completely by surprise, thus giving this one a bit of an advantage over most supernatural fare. Director Jeff Thomas may not be able to act (sorry Jeff) but the man does have a nice visual flare serving up some fairly creepy atmosphere and nicely edited scenes that thoroughly transgressed the ultra low budget he was working with. This baby also has its share of the red stuff, and the f/x is actually pretty damn good. Ever see a guy hung, gutted, and then strangled by his own innards? Well, in my best Yoda voice, you will…you will. There’s also a creepy ass albino vampire/demon, and a cool concept of characters seeing their friends fates via a weird ass art gallery; that was a cool idea Jeff. The downfall here is the ultra bad acting with characters that seemed completely oblivious to all the supernatural shit going down around them. Oh, and that redhead never got naked…what’s up with that? Jeff, you gotta give me her number man, I’m in love. Other than that, I will be honest when I say that “13 Seconds” is one of the better shot on video flicks I’ve seen as of late. Sure you have your standard clichés, but enough thought seemed to go into the story here than the last twenty genre flicks I’ve witnessed. I say give the man a bigger budget, don’t let him act (sorry again), get the redhead naked next time, and you’ve got yourself another winner.

Supernatural/Occult
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