NO FRICKING KIDDING-- "TELL TALE" TRIBECA PREMIERE CAUSES AUDIENCE MEMBER TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK! HOLY SH**!!!!!!! I just caught the premiere of the Tony and Ridley Scott produced TELL TALE at the Tribeca Film Fest and I’m still shaking. Both from the film--- and from what fucking happened during the screening. Holy shit, what a film. And I kid you not. It was so intense, about ten minutes from the end after one of the most traumatic sequences, some dude in the audience literally had a heart attack. For REAL. The film was paused for half an hour while the paramedics came and attended to the poor guy, who was taken out a stretcher. After the film came back on for yet another shocking ten minutes, I asked around and it seems that the gentlemen in question will be okay. (PRAYERS AND BLESSINGS FOR A FULL RECOVERY) I still can't believe this shit happened. But seriously, this film is THAT damn intense. Who would have thought the best in new horror was to be found at Tribeca ? After a rash of dumbed-down remakes like FRIDAY THE 13TH and unimaginative crap like THE UNBORN and THE UNINVITED, this is the real deal, a welcome and refreshing return to the high-end, brooding psychological dread of films such as Roman Polanksi’s REPULSION and THE TENANT, Adrian Lyne's JACOB’S LADDER, Alan Parker's ANGEL HEART, Christopher Nolan's MEMENTO or the collective works of David Fincher (THE GAME, PANIC ROOM, SEVEN and ZODIAC). Edgar Allen Poe by way of David Cronenberg, you might even say, and I would bet anything that director Michael Cuesta (who gave us L.I.E. and TV’s DEXTER) has definitely watched his share of Cronenberg ; for in mood, tone and character reality TELL TALE falls right in line with THE DEAD ZONE, THE BROOD and THE FLY.

I am amazed that nobody has ever sought to adapt Poe’s THE TELL-TALE HEART before. Of all the Vincent Price/Roger Corman Poe pics, not one tackled the story. Screenwriter Dave Callaham cleverly uses the basic elements of the classic short tale, but whereas the undying heart of Poe’s story lay beating in the murdered body of the protagonist’s victim beneath the floorboards under which he was buried, here that heart rests in the chest of single father Josh Lucas, recipient of a transplant from what turns out to be a murdered man whose dead spirit is bent on revenge. Just like the hands of the serial killer grafted onto the severed stubs of an unwitting pianist in the horror classic MAD LOVE, this relocated organ begins to take over Lucas in both body and mind, drawing him ever closer, and ever more violently, towards those responsible for the crime. Along the way there are some great supporting characters that add a level of humanity which really flesh out the piece and raise the stakes. There is Lucas’ young daughter who suffers from a degenerative bone disease (SO Cronenberg) that brings her in touch with Sara Connor herself, Lena Heady, playing a caring and (what else) sexy doctor that becomes the glue between father and daughter when their world begins to break apart as Lucas spirals more and more out of control. Heady is terrific, as is Lucas, who truly shines in his role, making us feel so deeply for his plight at the same time that we are frightened of the murderous monster he is becoming. Adding real spice to the mix is the always amazing Brian Cox, playing a cop whose character defies cliché when he goes from hunting Lucas to becoming his Svengali-like puppeteer.

Twists abound, nothing goes the way you think it will go, whether it be the plot or the frequent outburst of gruesome horror that abound. From the grisly opening credits depicting the bloody murder of the heart’s original owner to its graphic transplant into Lucas, director Cuesta does not shy away from the gore. But it’s done with a sense of poetry and craft that, coupled with the film’s breathtaking cinematography and Rhode Island locale make you both want to watch AND look away. All this adds up to an underlying tone of dread that I could not shake from the moment the film began to its melancholy finale. Truly channeling Poe at its core, this is a haunting piece of filmmaking. A real beauty. Again, films like DON’T LOOK NOW come to mind.

All of this is not to say that the film doesn't have a few drawbacks, such as some of the romantic relationships (e.g. hot doctors falling in love with sickly, broke-ass patients) and rather convenient detective work. There also could have been more villain character development for my taste. Regardless, for those looking for cerebral horror that truly approaches art, this is a rare treat. But not to worry, blood hounds. Without giving spoilers, suffice it to say there is a sequence near the climax that rivals the “Is it safe” dental drilling sequence from MARATHON MAN in terms of faint-inducing squirming. If not heart attack inducing as judged from the horrific situation tonight. (Again, I thank GOD that this audience member will be all right--- and again, prayers and blessings for a full recovery). A soon to be referenced classic sequence in the making for sure. Hats off to Tribeca for being the unlikely showcase for new directions in horror. May this film find the distribution and audience it deserves. It’ what HORROR movies are truly meant to be. Mr. Poe himself would be proud.

Submitted by JJ Butler aka LongIslandMan



TELL TALE synopsis: Terry (Josh Lucas) is a struggling, single father whose life is finally looking up after becoming the recent recipient of a successful heart transplant. With a new lease on life, Terry begins to find love again in the form of a beautiful English doctor (Lena Headey) who has been helping to care for his daughter and her rare degenerative disorder. However, after a strange series of events at the local hospital, Terry soon finds his heart beating to a very different drummer. Mysteriously, it begins to slowly take hold of him, eventually leading the young father on a frantic and harrowing search to find the donor's killer before he meets a similar fate.