Review: Live Animals

An alright low-budget horror movie.

    After introducing us to Wayne, we meet brother and sister, Nick and Erin. Erin is clearly depressed over a recent breakup, and caring sibling Nick encourages her to get over it by "getting under someone."

A raunchy party ensues, but as the teens drink and screw, dark forces spy on them through a photo lens. And when the party winds down, the teens find themselves hunted by a dart gun wielding, diabolical trapper named Edgar.

    After a well-paced chase and eventual capture, the surviving teens find themselves chained to stalls in a large horse-barn. Having already been made aware of the brawn, we quickly learn that the brains behind the operation is the grandfatherly Wayne, who establishes his dominance over his prisoners in a gruesome scene. Let's just say that gore fans will be pleased, and tongues everywhere will be quiver in fear.

    The story tightens as more and more details come out: Wayne is a player in a human slavery operation. And in one excellently paced and creepy scene, he sells one of the teens to a scary merchant named Amell. Amell inspects the captives like one would a horse or a prized steer, and the coldness of this scene will resonate more with audiences than any of the bloody events that follow.

        Adding an eerie prop, that of a walking stick, Amell makes the merchant an insidious classic bad guy, and like Wayne, this merchant has brought with him muscle equipped with appropriate bondage gear. Methodically, Edgar and Amell's henchman go about their duties, This scene has a chilling feel as nail after nail closes the box around the trembling child.

        "Live Animals" looks uniform and rich. Although much of the film takes place in low light, the details are clear and sharp. Folks familiar with limitations of digital video will find the image pleasing and film-like.

I’ll give this one

 3 out of 5 Stars