Indie film - "High Point"

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Hello,

I'm pretty new here. My name is Hallie Dowd and I'm a HUGE movie buff. I love everything to the Friday the 13th series to quirky Indies like the Coen Brothers make to Studio flicks like Cast Away to historical epics like Braveheart. I like it all, pretty much, except for mindless action flicks.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about a movie I just saw called "High Point". I'm sure you've never heard of it. It's a very low budget film which was shot in Western Pennsylvania(Somerset County, to be exact). The writer/director is Tony Urban. He wrote "Poor White Trash" which just came out in theatres and stars Sean Young, William Devane, Jason London, Jaime Pressly, M. Emmet Walsh and others.

Anyway, the movie was shot about an hour from where I live in Sept. of 2000 and it just came out on video(don't know if they're doing a DVD too, but none yet). I bought a copy right away, because it sounded neat and there just aren't many movies made around here.

The movie begins with 5 friends going to a rural cabin, just to get away for the weekend. The characters are Raffi Garazda & his wife Toby, Bear Pritchett and his girlfriend Gretchen, and Orlando. After a short night of fun, they turn in. The next morning they go poaching(hunting deer illegaly). While they're out, there's an accidental shooting and someone is killed.

The best scene in the movie comes next, when the characters are trying to decide whether to tell the police or cover it up. They decide to cover it up(of course), and Raffi and Bear bury him.

I won't give away any more of the movie, but it's an extremely exciting, thought-provoking film. It's one of the best character studies in guilt I've ever seen, and as Raffi starts falling apart emotionally, his life begins to crumble as well. Everything that can go wrong does, until an ending that surprised the heck out of me! I just couldn't believe it!

Now, like I said, it's a very low-budget film, and it doesn't have any stars. The acting is solid, with above average work from Chad Whitson(Raffi), Joshua Picard(Bear), and Chip Hajel(Orlando). The actresses were only so-so, but they didn't hurt the film any.

The direction was really tremendous, you can tell Urban knew the story inside and out. The locations are terrific, and make it feel SO real! The camera is really alive, and adds tremendously to the look. It doesn't look "low budget".

I bought my copy directly from the production company. It's listed on Amazon, but they said it takes a while to get, plus it's cheaper if you buy direct.

http://epicfilms.tv

I'd reccommend this to anyone who likes independent films. It's such a fresh piece of cinema, I believe the director is "going places". I feel like I really found something cool, and just had to share it!

Thanks!!!

Hallie

PS: Chip Hajel is a real cutie(for the gals like me, who appreciate a handsome man).



MovieForums Extra

Hi Hallie,

Nice review there, it actually sounds interesting! I'll probably rent it on video when I see it.

Let me be (one of) the first to welcome you to this forum, trust me, if you love movies, you'll be hooked