Wichita
Available On DVD & Digital HD: June 20, 2017
Guest review from Reel Reviews Over Brews
Wichita is about a filmmaker named Jeb (Trevor Peterson). Jeb is the creator of a TV series that is in decline. In order to try and save the show, he sets up a writing retreat for all of his co-workers to join him at a secluded home in the mountains. Little do they know that Jeb has wired the house with hidden cameras, due to his obsession with watching and manipulating their lives. Unfortunately for Raven (Persia White), she is his biggest obsession. When Jeb is eventually fired, he loses his mind completely and returns to the retreat with his camera where he sets himself on a horrifyingly violent rampage in hopes to capture it all for one final masterpiece.
We’ve been watching a lot of horror movies lately and Wichita joins in the middle of the pack. It takes a while for this movie to get going and once it does, it still didn’t quite have us on the edge of our seats, but it did have us trying to figure out what Jeb would do next. This movie takes a lot of the classic horror moves into play, so a few of the scenes seemed predictable. Trevor Peterson played an amazing role as Jeb though! It’s very easy to get caught up in his character’s story and that is why we have to applaud him. One thing we wish directors Justyn Ah Chong and Matthew D. Ward did with this movie, is utilize the hidden cameras more. It felt like hidden cameras were going to be a big part of the story line and they just weren’t used as much as we hoped or thought. In the end, Wichita isn’t bad, but it also isn’t great. Its average and we’re okay with that because most horror movies have been fairly underwhelming lately.
Reel ROB Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Post Credits Scene: No
We want to thank our friends at Reel News Daily for allowing us to do this guest review for them!
There is a ton of potential in The Shadow Effect. Stars Cam Gigandet and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are both absolutely on point with their performances. They try very hard with the material provided, so it’s not really their fault that the film’s inconsistent moments of great and not so good cannot match up to the caliber of their talents. The editing is the guilty culprit. There are moments in the first half of the film with stellar use of speed dynamics that set up the plot, but the CG is downright awful. Some of the action sequences, including punches, are ill-timed and/or missing the proper sound effect. It’s incredibly distracting. The Shadow Effect might have been better off as a series on SyFy network. The script is intriguing enough to hold your attention, but I yearned for more. There is so much we’re missing or quickly glazed over that I think multiple episodes would have done a better job at delving into the past of all the characters. Trying to shove everything into about a 95-minute run doesn’t do any one plot line the justice it deserves.
I’ve been a nanny and a teacher. We all know, even working outside early childhood education that some parents ans children are just plain weird. Yup. I said it. Weird. In Juanra Fernandez‘s new Spanish horror creation PARA ELISA, weird takes on a whole new meaning. 
In need of some quick and easy cash, Ana arrives for a job interview as a nanny. The mother of the house is an eccentric musician with a screw loose. One giant dilemma stands in Ana’s way; Mom is not only certifiably insane but her daughter, Elisa, is even more disturbed. Her sense of reality has been twisted by years of abuse combined with what seems like mental illness. Ana is made into a living doll for Elisa to “toy” with. 
Our heroine is played in realistic fashion by Ona Casamiquela. I do not know what I would do faced with this scenario but she fights her ass off. Scary mommy Diamantina is played brilliantly by Luisa Gavasa. Think Sunset Boulevard lost her mind. I would watch an entire film about her back story in a heart beat. Elisa is portrayed by Ana Turpin. She skillfully created a character you find yourself caring for and fearing. This is a fearless performance. I would seek out more work from her. Someone get Guillermo Del Toro in touch with Turpin, please? 
Not since Grand Piano have I been this unsettled by the sights and sounds of a piano in an opening credits sequence. This sets the stage for the entire rest of Para Elisa. Taking a page right out if Stephen King‘s Misery, add in a dash of People Under The Stairs parenting style and you’ve got yourself a rousing good time. The violence ramps up and up as the story progresses, all action occurring within one night, and at a tight 71 minute run time, Para Elisa is one satisfying nightmare.
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