The Girl in the Photographs is a 2015 American horror film directed by Nick Simon (writer of The Pyramid) from a screenplay co-written with Robert Morast, Osgood Perkins. The film was executive produced by Wes Craven – the last project he produced before his death on August 30, 2015.
The movie stars Kal Penn, Claudia Lee, Kenny Wormald, Toby Hemingway, Luke Baines, Miranda Rae Mayo, Katharine Isabelle and Mitch Pileggi.
Plot:
A bored young woman in a sleepy community called Spearfish starts receiving photographs of brutally murdered young women. Are they real or staged? The culprit is either a serial killer or some creep with a sick sense of humour…
Reviews:
“an impressive work on its own terms; a slow-build that creeps and crawls into a blood-soaked third act that shows the Craven connection might lie closer to his brutal early work th
an his later thrillers. But even beyond Craven’s involvement, The Girl in the Photographs decidedly feels like a different beast altogether: an R-rated horror offering with characters and motivations that don’t quite fall into line with what is expected from the genre.” Fangoria
“The makers of the grim, film-school-sloppy horror-thriller The Girl in the Photographs never flesh out their provocative thesis: that photography is a predatory act that allows photographers to control their subjects.” Village Voice
“The Girl in the Photographs is also being shopped as the final film credit of Wes Craven, who’s listed as an executive producer. And while that may be factually accurate, anyone buying a ticket expecting either the cleverness or goosebump thrills that the horror maestro once specialized in will feel cheated. Needless to say, Craven deserved a better tribute.” Entertainment Weekly
” … this initially promising premise quickly devolves into an excuse for standard-issue bloodletting, and the film emerges as something best left to undiscriminating VOD streamers and niche festival attendees.” Variety
“The script tries to counter the stereotypes with some sub-Kevin Williamson postmodernism but all this amounts to is Kal Penn’s character starting a sentence with “If this were a movie”. While the acting is universally soap-level poor, Penn brings something even worse to the table. His sardonic snapper is a foul, tiresome creation and every scene he crops up in becomes a slog to endure.” The Guardian
Release:
The Girl in the Photographs was an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival 2015 in the Midnight Madness category. It had a limited American theatrical and VOD release on April 1, 2016, via Vertical Entertainment.
Cast and characters:
Kal Penn as Peter Hemmings
Claudia Lee as Colleen
Kenny Wormald as Chris
Toby Hemingway as Ben
Luke Baines as Tom
Miranda Rae Mayo as Rose
Autumn Kendrick as Victoria
Christy Carlson Romano as Britney
Katharine Isabelle as Janet
Mitch Pileggi as Sheriff Porter
Oliver Seitz as Trip
Filming locations:
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
