I am loving these guys films. Something in the Dirt was my first encounter, a completely bizarre film about paranoia, disinformation, “buddies” experiencing the paranormal together and trying to document it.
It made me want to watch all of their movies and I have really enjoyed every one of them.
Resolution (2012), the first film by the duo. Not as outright crazy as Something in the Dirt, but lots of strange happenings around a relatively normal center story about a guy who wants to get his friend off crack so he chains him to the wall of the shack hes living in and stays with him until hes sober. While staying safe from drug dealers and exploring the surroundings it seems someone or some thing is recording them. This is definitely my favorite, though its hard to separate from The Endless.
Spring (2014) is heaps different to Resolution and Something in the Dirt. Its a body horror love story.
Completely different to what I was expecting. Its basically a “normal” horror film. Has make up effects and such. Its pretty good, its weird still and definitely interesting, has serious moments spliced with humor, particularly after the reveal happens to the main character, and has some of the quirky personality I really love in their Resolution and Something in the Dirt. And, like Resolution, an ending that leaves you guessing. But yeah its a professional looking supernatural horror about two lovers.
The Endless (2017) is in the same universe as Resolution and can be “interpreted” as a sequel, sharing some of the same characters. Two brothers who escaped a UFO cult as children are drawn back to it when they receive a video recording in the mail. One brother, Justin, thinks its a death cult, the other, Aaron, thinks its benign. They both have extremely different experiences at the camp – Justin’s one of horror, and Aaron’s one of an escape from reality. There are quite a few cross-over moments between this film and Resolution: A drug the owner of Sandy the dog smokes in Resolution (a red plant) reappears being smoked by a cultist. A cult member draws a picture of a “gun nut tweaker” – Chris, the drug addict main character from Resolution. Chris is also mentioned by a person trapped in the time loop to Justin when hes being told how to escape, and Justin visits the cabin and speaks with Mike and Chris, who is chained to the wall. Mike shows Justin a video of possibly the entity killing them and talks about how they are stuck in a loop. After Justin leaves we see Mike light fire to the cabin in what is possibly an alternative ending to Resolution. Justin encounters Aaron and they visit the trailer where the owner of Sandy the dog lives but he is away, they see the red drug plant again. Earlier while fishing Justin finds a tape and on it are the 3 religious people by the river in Resolution, two of them are Justin and Aaron. There is also a moment where they watch a TV and see they have been filmed by some”entity”. Another really great, bizarre and supernatural film by these guys.
Synchronic (2019) Two paramedics encounter bizarre deaths linked to a designer drug called Synchronic, its legal and I guess like K2 or bath salts, someone in the film calls it “fake Ayahuasca”. There’s a fair bit of story about the lives of the two guys and their personal issues, which is interspersed with the fucked up effects of the drug on the people they encounter during their job. Steve who has been diagnosed with a cancer on his pineal encounters the inventor of Synchronic who tells him the drug will be able to make him travel through time. He decides to experiment with it to find his partners daughter who had done the drug at a party and disappeared. And its gets weird. Like Spring, this is a more polished and “normal” film. It is mentioned the drug is made from a red flower, which is the drug we see in both Resolution and The Endless.
After Midnight (2019) and She Dies Tomorrow (2020), both films they were only producers on, I will watch at another time.
Rustic Films
Justin Benson @ Instagram
Aaron Moorhead @ Instagram
