Once
again the independent scene has not failed
me. Though many underground films try too
hard with making the gore and visual FX
their main focus, when it comes to this film
the story is what the director and the
writer focused on rather than the usual.
Much props from this reviewer goes toward
the director of this film. Super 16mm shot
with a budget under 30k. Most definitely a
complete pleasure to watch. From ELFTWIN
FILMS and director Dave Reda, I now present
to you a film that was had the fear and true
feel of independent horror, even without an
abundance of gore.
 
A once brilliant L.A. plastic surgeon has found himself
in quite the predicament, which has driven
him to absolute madness. A couple years
prior to this madness, he had caused an
accident witch hurt his family severely,
especially his 16 year old (at the time)
daughter, Maggie. She was, so it seamed,
severely burned, and for damn sure extremely
disfigured, especially her face.
Daddy has now, driven by madness, guilt and the need
to fix his daughter, has begun recruiting
young actresses, posing as a famous
Hollywood producer as well as a few others
aliases. He uses this to lure these women
to be used as subjects for certain bits and
parts that he and his daughter feel would be
the best to make her beautiful once more.
When young wannabe actress Melissa comes to L.A. from
Phoenix for her casting call, she finds
herself in quite a horrifying pickle.
Waking up after her so called interview, she
finds herself chained up in a strange
house. Upon her awakening she first
witnesses the terror and fear she is about
to endure for the next few days. A tea
party with daddy and Maggie, gives us our
reel first glance at the madness of this
family. During this childish game between
father and daughter we discover the severe
mental disabilities, being 18 at this point
(I believe, going by what daddy had
mentioned about her taking 2 years to heal
from the accident) she moves and acts as if
she is 6 years old… quite disturbing I might
add. It is at this point that Melissa also
witnesses the removal of one of the parts
that is to be used from another young girl,
locked in the same room as her, then finding
out what she (Melissa) has been chosen for…
her lips.
After Brenda hadn’t heard from Melissa, her sister,
when she was supposed to, she takes it upon
herself to find out where her sister could
be. With the help of a young taxi driver
named Bobby, who, through another cabbie is
identified as being the last guy to give
Melissa a ride. This ride was to a shady
area of town witch seemed to him and Brenda
to be a very strange place for a movie
casting call. Realizing this the two
decide, after much contemplation, to seek
the assistance of a friend of Brenda and
Melissa’s father, a former cop named Tony
Giallo (from the commentary it seems as if
he was most definitely named after the film
styles of Dario Argento).
The three decide to look up plate numbers they had
received from a man at a post box office.
The man who owns the box is said to be very
strange and always seen almost completely
covered in thick black clothing, glasses,
and a large black hat, to conceal his true
identity from the public. They also get a
lead on the car he was driving, but winds up
not being of much use, especially when they
realize the plates were stolen from another
carcand registered under another name, the
name of a dead man of 5 years.
Upon finally discovering the house they believe
Melissa is located within, the three enter
the home in hopes to find her. Knowing the
situation was not a pleasant one, due to a
phone call that was made by Maggie. Maggie
who was not permitted to use phones, had
wanted to learn how the cell phone worked so
Melissa found this to be the perfect
opportunity to trick her into dialing her
sisters speed dial number, then screaming
for help. OK, back to the entering of the
house. They discover grizzly things, and
not to mention Melissa. When Maggie strikes
at the rescuers and finally sees what her
daddy had done with her face so far she
realizes that she is not the beautiful young
woman she thought she was going to be. Upon
this realization, she cries up to mommas
room (momma is someone that Maggie is not
permitted to see until she is done with her
complete re-beautifying) seeking her
assistance and love.
At this point in the film things become more
disturbing and secrets kept are finally
revealed. Oh, I forgot to mention earlier
daddy’s real name winds up being one never
suspected or actually discovered by the
rescue team. His name being Dr. Kranston
and as I mentioned much earlier, was
probably the finest plastic surgeon in all
of L.A., but as you will find out in this
film, Maggie is definitely not the only one
in need of plastic surgery and mental
help. I apologize for going back and
repeating myself but I felt the need to
include these few things which definitely
needed to be unleashed before I ended this
synopsis of Bit Parts. But please watch the
movie for yourselves and find out the many,
many other things I did not want to
mention. If I had, there would be no need
to watch.
Ratings:
For screenplay and
direction I give this film a 9. A much
deserved rating for the fact that knowing
from a little information I had recieved
from the director himself, Dave Reda, the
writing as well as the direction was focused
more on story and the actual look and feel
of the film rather than the usual gore and
all other kinds of FX. I know I also
mentioned some of these things in my opening
but these things alone make for a great
film. Even being an independent horror
film, the usual properties that, for the
most part, make most underground films more
enjoyable, were not completely used in this
film. These things absolutely make this
movie stand aside with very few others.
Excellent job, keep that focus, don’t stray
from good story and originality, it can
really break a film.
As for the cinematography I would definitely have to
give an 8. Beautifully shot on Super 16mm,
it had a fantastic look to it. Not grainy
(though I love grainy) and not crystal clear
like many digitally shot independent films,
which make a lot of them, but not all, look
and make the film itself appear much cheaper
and cheesier. This is definitely not the
case with this film.
For acting I give this film a 7. Of course as we all
know, independent films are not always known
for the best acting, especially being the
fact that most are done with friends and
family. With the exception of the Brenda
character, Maggie (for the most part), and
the taxi man Bobby (who happens to be the
director of the film)who was actually very
funny, and does a terrible Taxi Driver
imitation but apologizes for it in the
commentary, and my being a big Taxi Driver
fan, I thank you for the apology Dave.
Overall though I did feel that most of the
acting was a bit weak. Again this is kind
of an expectation with an independent low
budget film. So it’s understandable, though
if some of these people continue their
acting careers there is definite promise,
for some.
As for FX I give a 7. Though very little gore or
anything along the line, what was done FX
wise for this film was decent, definitely
could have been a bit more realistic,
especially having a fair budget. But like I
said the story will keep you focused as you
watch and the idea of what’s going on is
definitely disturbing.
As for Bit Parts as a whole, I give it an 8.
Extremely creative, and completely
original. The most important things when it
comes to any kind of film, be it independent
or Hollywood is its originality. Dave Reda
and the writer John Rosenberg have
absolutely pulled this aspect of film making
off brilliantly. Bit Parts is a disturbing
look into the world of guilt and
desperation. A must see for any true fan,
who is not just out for the gore.
Bit Parts can be purchased at quite a few DVD retail
shops both online and in stores. After
buying the film be sure to check out the
killer commentary which is very informative
on how they got things done as well as about
the film itself. The DVD also includes an
awesome trailer for the film, so watch it.
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