Movie Review: Extremity (2018)

October 1, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Ol’ Allison (Dana Christina) has had a rough go in life, so instead of gobblin’ down fistfuls of pills are seeing a shrink on the regular and leaving it at that, she gets the neon light idea in her noggin to spend an ungodly amount of time in a haunted attraction…but not one of those rinky-dink numbers where bored high school kids dress up as Drac and jump out to give you a start, nope; our gal goes to the type of place (Perdition by name) where the participants can be touched, tortured, and generally tormented by a cadre of masked marauders…you know, the perfect cure for case of jangled nerves. As the…well, let’s just call it an “ordeal” goes on her hoped for therapy instead unleashes even more hell from her psyche…but is all as it seems?
The most striking element of Extremity is that it is one hell of a beautiful film to set your eerie eyeballs on. With the brunt of the flick taking place inside Perdition, everything is drenched in a contrast of deep shadows and vibrant, garish color that would make Mario Bava’s pants feel tight if ya dig what I’m layin’ down boils n’ ghouls. It’s that ambiance, courtesy of Director Anthony DiBlasi and Cinematographer Scott Winig, that gives this film an irresistible Halloween cum carnival vibe that will massage you putrid peepers with a fist full of candy corn. Also of note are the downright sinister, and expertly crafted masks, sported by the denizens of Perdition; sure they are archetypes and tropes of our beloved horror biz, but it’s genius how special Simon Sayce can make a “clown” or “skull” look! Notable as well is the sense of not being able to fully determine if what Allison is going through is all “part of he show” or something more sinister…it creates a palpable sense of unease throughout the picture. Finally, and while we are on the subject of Allison, the acting of Christina as our beleagured heroine is pitch perfect, and speaking of acting it was nice to see horror legends Tiffany Shepis,  Felissa Rose, and Nick Principe in supporting roles.
If you love haunts, as well as masked psychos dishin’ out the punishment, Extremity is the fright flick for you…and it doesn’t hurt that’s visually gorgeous, well acted, and full of excellent suspense and questionable reality!
 

 

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