Indican Pictures provides fans of indie psychological thrillers an awesome Halloween gift in releasing the twisted 2013 Wolfclan Productions film "Odd Man Out" on DVD and VOD on October 28, 2014.
The first impression regarding this low-budget but nicely made film is that it seems to be how the Coen Brothers would have made "Psycho II" (or a film version of the '90s must-see sitcom "Wings.") This film opens with Mike Turner being released from a psychiatric hospital based on evidence that medication is controlling the effects of vivid flashbacks of events from Mike's life constantly tormenting him.
The following clip, courtesy of YouTube, of the spoiler-free trailer for "Odd" provides a good sense of the creepy and gothic nature of this potential cult classic.
Ala Norman Bates of the "Psycho" series, Mike returns to his childhood home near the beginning of "Odd." Finding on arriving there that younger wheelchair-bound brother Matt has committed the highly symbolic act of replacing the house in which they grew up (and suffered) with a new one is one trigger for the ensuing mayhem.
Although Mike joining the household does not outwardly bother Matt, it does not please Matt's wife (and Turner brothers' childhood companion) Gracie. Gracie is none too fond of Mike to begin with and already must contend with living with the seemingly invalid mother of the Turner boys. For her part, Mrs. Turner does as well as Mrs. Bates sitting corpse-like in a chair.
Mike further invades the life of Matt in joining him to work at the cavernous antique store that their father started and that Matt owns and operates. The darkside of Mike manifests itself there in the form of delighting in tormenting uber-quirky special needs employee Orvis Scuttle. For his part, Orvis makes the common mistake of the bullied in responding to the taunts and other abuse by Mike.
Epic "Dragon Ball Z" veteran Chuck Huber does a great job portraying Matt as the trusting and naive character who downplays the concerns of the more knowing Gracie and Orvis until violently confronted with the truth regarding Mike. "Odd" producer Matthew Tompkins does equally well in portraying Mike as slowly resorting to his true nature.
A violent barroom confrontation that centers around the need of Matt for handicapped-accessible facilities is one of the first scenes in which Mike fully reveals his true nature. It soon becomes equally clear that there is no putting that ketchup back in the bottle.
The relatively slow buildup in "Odd" nicely pays off in the wonderfully perverse (and uber symbolic) final confrontation between the brothers and Gracie. A fully demented Mike forces his sibling and his sister-in-law to play a high-stakes children's game that includes genuine twists.
These developments result in a terrifically dark mix of adult-oriented family drama and psychological thriller in which the stereotypes have enough individuality to keep things interesting.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Odd" is welcome to either email me or connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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