- MPAA rating : (Not Rated)
- Director : Edward Drake
- Media Format : Dolby, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 31 minutes
- Release date : October 13, 2020
- Actors : Jonathan Lipnicki, Avery Konrad, Timothy V. Murphy, Lochlyn Munro, Catherine Lough Haggquist
- Studio : Well Go Usa
- Number of discs : 1
Family-driven terror has been showing up more
frequently in the horror genre in recent years, but not in the expected ways.
Rather than having a family invaded or attacked by an outside force, we are now
seeing the threat come within the family more regularly. These films show us
husband against wife (The Invisible Man), parent against child (Mom
and Dad), child against parent (Brightburn), among others. This has
been especially true of occult narratives such as Hereditary and Ready
or Not, and at first it appears as though Broil would fit into this
category as well.
While I am
hesitant to reveal the true sub-genre of Broil, this feels like an
unnecessary concern given the uneventful way in which the film’s twists are
presented. Even the characters within the film barely seem to react to the news
that vampires exist, so I feel little need to keep it a secret. That knowledge
will do little to indicate the direction of the film, however, because this is
not a traditional vampire narrative. Along with being light on the special
effects and gore, the specifics of this vampire family follow their own rules.
The Sinclair family
is a wealthy and entitled family, permitting eldest granddaughter Chance (Avery
Konrad) to lash out against rival kids at her high school. On the outside it
appears that Chance’s physical alterations are the reason she is sent to live
with her strict grandfather, August (Timothy V. Murphy), but her parents have
offered her up as a bargaining chip without her knowing. Chance is to be
trained by her grandfather to continue the family tradition, finally giving her
an answer to the mysterious illness that requires blood transfusions and
limited time in the sun.
Despite initial
appearances, Chance’s parents have a plan in place to de-throne the family
patriarch and retrieve their oldest daughter from his grip by hiring a serial
killer chef. Sydney (Jonathan Lipnicki) works at a local bistro, but he
partners with the owner (Lochlyn Munro) to kill undesirable members of society.
Because of this reputation, Chance’s parents choose Sydney for the job cooking a
special meal at August’s home, with plans to poison the patriarchal vampire.
The premise of Broil
is not what is problematic, at least not in comparison to the execution.
The structure of the film is awful, edited non-chronologically but making
little sense when it decides to jump back. There is also very little suspense
in the narrative, with obvious hints at the twists to come. Even worse, the
performances and dialogue make these twists even more anticlimactic, with
nearly every character accepting the news of vampire’s existence as though they
were being told the day’s weather. Even if the actors could muster up some type
of realistic reactions and responses, the characters are so poorly written that
I doubt it would matter. By the end, it is difficult to find a single character
to care about.
The Blu-ray release of Broil is bare-boned. There are no special features, alternate ways to watch the film, and even the artwork feels rushed. There is absolutely no reason this needs to be on Blu-ray in the first place. This is the type of film most people will only watch for free on a streaming service when they can find nothing else to watch.
Entertainment Value:
2/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 0/10
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