Jug Face

Jug Face
Directed by	Chad Crawford Kinkle
Produced by	Andrew van den Houten Robert Tonino
Written by	Chad Crawford Kinkle
Starring	Sean Bridgers Lauren Ashley Carter Larry Fessenden Sean Young Daniel Manche Michael G. Crandall
Music by	Sean Spillane
Cinematography	Chris Heinrich
Editing by	Zach Passero
Studio	Modernciné
Release dates	January 23, 2013 (2013-01-23) (Slamdance Film Festival)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Jug Face is a 2013 horror film written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle and starring Sean Bridgers, Lauren Ashley Carter, Larry Fessenden, Sean Young and Daniel Manche. The film was produced by Andrew van den Houten, the CEO of Modernciné and Robert Tonino. The story follows a teen (Carter), who is pregnant with her brother's child and tries to escape from a backwoods community, only to discover that she must sacrifice herself to a creature in a pit.^[1]

Plot

A backwoods community worships a pit with apparent healing powers. Dawai (Sean Bridgers) creates jugs of faces from clay, and when a jug portrays the face of a member of the community, that person must be sacrificed to the creature that lives in the pit.

Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) has been having sex with her brother, Jessaby (Daniel Manche), and finds her own face on Dawai's latest jug. Scared, she hides the jug and keeps it a secret. Ada is arranged to be "joined" to a boy from another family, Bodey (Mathieu Whitman). Later, Ada discovers she is pregnant. While she is with Bodey's sister, Eileen (Jennifer Spriggs), Ada has a vision of Eileen being slaughtered by the creature. Sure enough, Eileen is killed. The community is suspicious of Dawai as Eileen's face was yet to appear on a jug. Ada's mother inspects her to see if she is a virgin and discovers that she's not. She punishes Ada and Ada later informs Jessaby that she is pregnant.

The following day, the community gathers around the pit as Dawai presents his latest jug with the face of Bodey. Bodey is killed. Ada visits her sickly grandfather and sees a vision of an emaciated boy who explains he hid his wife's jug face the same as she did, and the community poisoned her grandfather as punishment. Jessaby tells Susten that he's sick so they go to the pit to heal him. Ada has a vision of Jessaby getting killed; the vision comes true. As it seems Dawai has failed again in predicting the death, he is severely punished by the community and tied beside the pit to be taken. Ada breaks Dawai free and they run off. However, the two are caught and brought back and punished. Assuming that it is Dawai who Ada has a relationship with, Ada is whipped, miscarries her child, and then reveals that it was her brother's baby.

Ada has a vision of her father being attacked, and the creature kills him. She reveals to everyone that she was the missing jug face and that all the deaths are her fault. Her mother ties her up beside Dawai next to the Pit. The Shunned Boy and Ada's grandfather appear and free her from her ropes, but she will not leave because she knows Dawai will be killed. The next morning, Ada's mother finds her free of her ropes but kneeling beside the Pit. Ada apologizes and is killed. The film ends with Dawai lighting a candle next to his jug face of Ada.

Cast

• Lauren Ashley Carter as Ada
• Sean Bridgers as Dawai
• Sean Young as Loriss
• Larry Fessenden as Sustin
• Daniel Manche as Jessaby
• David Greathouse as "The Creature"

Production

In 2011, Jug Face writer/director, Chad Kinkle won the Slamdance Screenwriting Competition, and it was announced at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival that Modernciné's Andrew van den Houten and Robert Tonino would produce the film in Nashville, Tennessee.^[2] It was announced in January 2012 that Lauren Ashley Carter, Sean Bridgers, Larry Fessenden, and Sean Young were cast in the film.^[3]

Potter and sculptor Jason Mahlke designed and created the face jugs for the film.^[4]

Release

The film was accepted at a number of film festivals, including its premiere at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival. In 2013, it played at the Boston Underground Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, and Nocturnal Film Festival. After its premiere at Slamdance, Jug Face was acquired for a pre-theatrical VoD release in July by Gravitas Ventures, with a national theatrical release to follow.^[5]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 82% of 17 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6.5/10.^[6]

Bloody Disgusting rated the film a 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Jug Face feels really small, in a good way, and captures the essence of this tiny group of worshippers. It’s aesthetically similar to other Modernciné (Studio) movies; it’s a look that gives the film quality and technical shows expertise. Although, it’s carried by strong performances, and a few explicate [sic] shots of gore."^[7]

Brad McHargue, writing for Dread Central, praised Kinkle's script, as well as "the stellar performances of Carter and Bridgers." McHargue also wrote, "Jug Face is a film loaded with talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Despite a few minor quibbles, Kinkle’s debut feature is filled with emotion and just enough blood to keep the gore hounds satisfied. Even when it flirts with convention, Kinkle never strays away from the underlying themes of blind devotion, resulting in a truly compelling tale that will knock you flat with its final scene."^[8]

Ryan Larson, a writer for Shock Till You Drop also had mostly positive things to say about the film, praising Kinkle's work as well as Laura Ashley Carter and Sean Bridgers, stating that "Jug Face isn’t a groundbreaking movie. But it’s exceptional on a number of levels and is so because of a powerful director and some great acting." Larson goes on to say "the real shining star is Kinkle. The script is neatly paced, well written, and creates a subtle line of horror that breaks through in an era where in your face gore fests are all too common," and finishes by stating that it "showcases a number of horror tropes but does so in a grounded manner that ultimately creates a discomforting and eerie world. It’s a pleasant surprise, a low budget modest horror movie, that manages to introduce us to a new breakthrough director." ^[9]

Scott Weinberg, writing for Fearnet, also praised the performances of Bridgers, Carter and Fessenden, as well as noting, "the director's steadfast insistence on presenting a potentially outlandish horror tale as plainly and realistically as possible that elevates Jug Face beyond that of a mere curiosity."^[10]

While the film is mainly praised for its script, effective low-budget filmmaking and performances, the story's supernatural elements received some criticism. In a Fangoria.com review, Samuel Zimmerman wrote: "While Jug Face is clearly on a tiny budget, it’s never bothersome until the frankly cornball appearance of the dead is revealed." Zimmerman adds, "These rough patches are slightly alleviated thanks to grounded work from Jug Face’s cast and Kinkle’s own depiction of this small community."^[11]

In a Twitch Film review, Ben Umstead wrote, "While steeped in thick atmosphere and anchored by some interesting riffs on classic horror tropes the film is far more underwhelming in execution than it is dynamic and provocative -- elements that feel largely left on the page." Though Umstead, praised Kinkle as an up and coming director: "Still, one can't entirely shun an earnest talent while it is still developing. With another movie or two under his belt Kinkle should be primed to join the current ranks of the smart, subversive horror directors."^[12]

References

External links

• Jug Face at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website