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Cast: Blaise Miller, Suzanne May, Jeff Grace, Kevin M. Brennan, Todd Berger, Monika Jolly, James Jolly, and Sherilyn Fenn
Someone is killing beautiful young hipsters in East L.A. But while the bloody trail is cold for the super-apathetic detectives, Charlie, a crime scene cleaner with a penchant for Sherlockian deduction, begins finding some unusual clues in the demo CDs of indie bands left behind at the murder sites which he shares with two out-of-luck filmmakers turned crime scene videographers. Problem is, nobody is really sure that Charlie isn't the serial killer. Meanwhile, the dead hipsters are piling up like pancakes in thrift-store flannel, there's a rival Danish film crew, and on top of everything else, it looks like the killer is now making an experimental film of his own. Simple, not really, but then Murder never is.
When it comes to movies being different can be a good thing at times and "The Scenesters" is both original and very good. The basic story goes like this...When an unsuccessful artsy, film maker is forced to be a crime scene videographer, he finds his surprise inspiration for his next project, in a heartbroken, down on his luck, crime scene cleaner. But there is a serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles and things get personal and intense real fast. An entertaining film that uses both courtroom footage and some raw, "Blair Witch" type footage as well, the court room scenes are important and even assuming and informative but it's the raw footage that makes the film the Indie gem that it is, it's as if you are part of the story. You get a little bit of everything here, the film is crime-drama, comedy, romance, court room drama and there's even a little horror tossed in for good measure. Plenty of twists along the way to keep you entertained and guessing the whole time plus there's enough chills and thrills as well to make this one of the best films I have seen in some time. A movie within a movie with an amazing cast, great direction and to top it all off it's very well done and it pays homage to the city of Los Angeles as well.
Writer/Director, Todd Berger deserves a lot of praise for not only making the film but starring in it as well and giving audiences a unique, refreshing and enjoyable film that is both hilarious and captivating at the same time. "The Scenesters" has everything going for it but I suggest knowing as little as possible before seeing it so not to ruin any surprises because there are plenty with all the film's twists and it's many characters. A black comedy that surprises and entertains like few movies do, I highly recommend bypassing the rental on this and go straight to adding the DVD to your movie collection. The DVD comes with Special Features that include:
Deleted Scenes
Behind The Scenes
Music Video
You can order the DVD HERE.
Released by Monterey Media
***** Out Of *****