Lo (film)
| Lo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Travis Betz |
| Produced by |
Vicky Jenson Tom Devlin Aaron Gaffey Jessica Petelle Lola Wallace |
| Written by | Travis Betz |
| Starring |
Sarah Lassez Jeremiah Birkett Ward Roberts |
| Music by | Scott Glasgow |
| Cinematography | Joshua Reis |
| Editing by | Travis Betz |
| Studio | SKD |
| Distributed by | Entertainment One (DVD) |
| Release dates |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lo is a 2009 experimental comedy/horror/romance film written and directed by Travis Betz.[1][2] The film premiered at the Austin Film Festival October 2009[3] and had DVD release in February 2010.[4]
Plot
The film opens with Justin (Ward Roberts) sitting in his apartment, inside a pentagram. After following the steps in a dark magic book, he summons the crippled demon Lo (Jeremiah Birkett), who is less than impressed with Justin and insists on calling him dinner and heavily implying that he will be eaten if he leaves the pentagram. Justin quickly tells Lo that he used the ritual to be able to order a demon to search Hell for his girlfriend April (Sarah Lassez), whom he insists was taken by a demon (his proof being large claw marks on his chest). Lo becomes angered not only by the demand but the fact that there are countless billions of people in Hell and finding April would be an impossible task. Undeterred, Justin orders Lo to search anyway. Conceding, Lo asks about April so that finding her would be easier. As Justin begins to recount their first meeting, Lo projects the memory onto a wall so he can watch. Lo notes that during the meeting April was both odd and that she gave Justin a fake name when she had to think what her name was.
As the flashback ends another demon arrives, Jeez, who Justin identifies as the demon who took April and injured him. Jeez flat out refuses to return April on the grounds that it was Lo that was summoned, making Justin the master of only Lo and unable to control Jeez. Jeez remarks that the only reason for its presence was to see "the mortal who tamed the beast", a sentence that confuses Justin at first. Jeez explains that he has felt many emotions towards a human, but never love, making him confused as to why "it" fell in love with Justin. Jeez then says the Justin refers to it as April.
Jeez then begins to tell the story of a demon who wandered a human battle field until stumbling upon a dying soldier. The demon then ripped out the soldier's heart and used it to create another demon, one who slaughtered many people without distinction, even being considered by Jeez to be one of the best killers in Hell. Later, the new demon abandons her blood lust in favor of love with a man (Justin).
Justin refuses to believe that April is a demon, despite insistence from Lo and Jeez, assuming they are trying to trick him. Lo pretends to be offended that it brought Jeez, the demon who took April, and was called a liar, revealing to Justin that it knew about April from the start. Justin says he is disgusted, a remark that Lo sees as reason to remind him that April is a demon, therefore is just as bad as it, as all are evil and violent. Lo goes on to state that her love for Justin may have been fake, commenting that her emotions changed frequently, turning from a killer to an emotional wreck who Lo couldn't understand.
After insinuating that Lo is too weak to bring April back, Lo leaves in anger. While alone, Justin realizes the cut he made on his hand to summon Lo has begun to say his thoughts out loud. Justin begins to argue with his hand about what he thinks and what he doesn't want to think about, such as the fact that April must have been a demon as she had a book on demon summoning which could have only come from Hell. This train of thoughts leads him to question if April ever loved him or if he was just one of her phases. Lo returns, finding the argument amusing. Lo tells Justin that April is in "lock up" but has instead brought two souls from Hell to describe the tortures they endure. Lo explains that it is how all demons operate, including April. The souls are revealed to be a couple who made a deal with April in order to conceive a child, a child which later died. Lo jokingly says that this is what it means to tell someone to "go to hell".
Lo once again states that he can't retrieve April, going as far as to say it has nothing to do with being crippled. Lo goes on to say that his legs were crushed when April returned to Hell (Justin asks if Lo helped her and received that as a punishment but is ignored). Lo asks Justin if he would still want to see April, despite all he has learned about her. Justin responds that he can't tell as he wasn't sure if any of what he was told is real. Lo simply tells him to think about her if he wants to see her again, beginning another flashback, this time of their first Christmas together.
Justin hands April a present which she unwraps to show the book of Faust. Justin tells her that since she had an "old book" she might like the book. April seems confused about the concept that he got her a gift on the basis that he thought she might like it. She becomes excited about the prospect of reading it as she had never read a book before, a slip of the tongue she quickly covers up. Upon asking what the book is about, April finds Faust to be stupid as he sold his soul for knowledge which she seems to know isn't in Hell, another mistake she covers up. Justin accepts it as her being quirky and doesn't seem to notice. April becomes confused when Justin asks what she got him, not understanding the celebration of Christmas and becomes upset when she realizes that he expected a gift as well. However, this is quickly laid to rest as Justin says it doesn't matter. Realizing that she only has one thing to give as a gift, April gives him her book on demon summoning, which she explicitly tells him not to open and to burn it if she ever leaves.
As the flashback ends, Lo points out that it seems obvious she was a demon. The cut on Justin's hand begins to talk again, questioning April's trust in him and implying that she was using him, and he made it easy to do so. Justin proceeds to hit his hand to silence it. Lo tells Justin that his condition will only worsen the longer he stays in the circle and that he should undo the spell and leave. A waiter (the same one from the flashback about Justin's first encounter with April) then appears and offers Justin a drink. Lo tells him that Justin that the drink will allow Justin to travel though Hell, which is his only option as April can't be moved. Lo asks him if April is worth going to Hell for and Justin decides to drink the cocktail, an act that causes Lo to laugh uncontrollably before telling him it was poison.
Lo leaves before Jeez arrives, telling Justin that it's a slow-acting poison that can be stopped, but only if he ends the spell, goes to a hospital and gets his stomach pumped. Justin responds by saying that he won't leave without "her", a fact that annoys Jeez who tells him that demons are genderless and that April is an "it". Out of curiosity, Jeez asks what love is but is surprised to be told that there isn't a set definition for it as it can only be experienced, something Justin notes that Jeez cannot do, a fact that Jeez becomes indignant about and chooses to say he is blessed with not knowing love as he isn't dying like Justin. Justin merely smiles, annoying Jeez to the point of leaving.
The hand begins to talk again, this time making the point that it would rather live than die for April. Justin agrees that he doesn't want to die, but wouldn't be able to live without her. The hand then begins to say Justin's "thoughts", that the hand would trick him and needed to be cut off. Just as he is about to do so, Lo interrupts him. Justin decides to stop being afraid of Lo and asks it why it was marked out by April out of all the demons in the book, a question that Lo largely ignores. As a second question, Justin asks why Lo helped April leave Hell, a question Lo refuses to answer, even saying that being crippled was a suitable punishment. Lo says that April is vile for falling in love and isn't worth any effort on Justin's part. Justin ignores this on the grounds that who she was on Earth isn't who she was in Hell. Lo remains adamant that she was always the same murderer she was in Hell. Justin responds by forcing a flashback while Lo watches.
In the flashback, Justin and April are in bed but are both woken up when she has nightmare. Justin says that her dreams have been getting worse and that she apologizes repeatedly. April suddenly smells sulfur and is attacked by Jeez. Justin tries to help but is slashed across his chest. As he lies dying, April bargains with Jeez to return to Hell as long as she is allowed to save him first, a condition Jeez agrees to. He reminds her to bring the book, but she brings the book of Faust instead, leaving the demon summoning book with Justin.
Once the flashback ends, Lo admonishes Justin for not burning the book, saying that not doing so goes against the love that drove him, and that Justin had betrayed his love. Justin becomes digressive with Lo and comes to the conclusion that humans are allowed to make mistakes, while demons get satisfaction from torturing them because they don't have a choice. Lo begins to laugh again, accompanied with other demons, while Justin holds his head in pain. After Lo stops laughing at him, Justin becomes infuriated and shouts at a surprised Lo, reiterating that he is the master and that he has power over Lo. He insinuates that Lo has been appearing in several forms and planting doubts in his mind to make him leave, an act Justin refuses to do. He orders Lo once again to find April in Hell, and then to "fuck off". Lo, left speechless, leaves. Once Justin calms down, he looks at a picture of April and begins to cry.
Justin looks up to see April in front of him. She notes that he didn't burn the book, something Justin apologizes for as he wasn't able to, but she forgives him. She asks him if he still wants to save her, despite everything he has been told, to which Justin responds that he knows who she really is. Upon seeing that Justin loves her, she tells him to turn to a page in the book and read the spell. After doing so, April is able to enter the pentagram. She kisses Justin, extracting the poison from his body. April tells Justin that she can't go with him as the demons would always find them, putting Justin in danger. Justin offers to stay but April refuses to let him stay in Hell for eternity. Justin simply says that she is the only thing he has in his life, to which April reminds him that she isn't a woman or a human. She tells him once again to burn the book when he leaves, leaving the circle and undoing the spell that allowed her to enter. As April drags herself away, Justin calls after her. Looking back, she becomes Lo, revealing that they were the same person from the start, and that Lo's intention was to deter Justin because it didn't believe it was worth saving. Lo looks back silently and begins to drag itself away again. Justin watches as Lo leaves, not saying a word.
The next day Justin is shown in his apartment preparing to burn the book. As he sets it on fire, he watches, ending the film.
Cast
- Ward Roberts as Justin
- Sarah Lassez as April
- Jeremiah Birkett as Lo
- Devin Barry as Jeez
- Aaron Gaffey as Waiter
- Sarah Larissa Deckert as The Demon Rat
- John Karyus as Demon Lord
- Liz Loza as June
Production
Writer/director Travis Betz created the film's experimental concept after watching Jan Švankmajer's Faust and determining that restraining a lone character into one place and having demons interact with him "was a very tempting challenge".[5] Shot in 3 days,[5] the film has a unique visual element in that there is no scenery and that characters are revealed through lighting as the rest of the set remains in darkness. The film plays out like a real stage play. There are a few characters and the storyline revolves around dialogue between the various demons and Justin.[1]
Reception
Independent Critic gave the film a B (3.0 stars), calling it "a love story of the lowest common denominator", and noted that while the film did not reach the level of Betz's 2008 film Sunday, it was a "more ambitious film" in which Betz stretched the limits of what could be done technically on a modest budget, making it "a stellar example of how to assemble a quality, technically proficient film with largely convincing special effects on a limited budget." They also praised that despite the viewer's being aware that the entire film takes place within one restricted area, the special effects makeup, the "larger-than-life" sound design, and "deceptively simple" production design, the film maintains a simplicity that "remains completely captivating." They also noted that the film worked as well as it did because of the director's having assembled a fine cast, with special note that the film's lead Ward Roberts was able to convincingly play both ends of the emotional spectrum and take what could have been a one-dimensional character and bring "him vividly to life." They concluded that the film was "Warped, original, imaginative and quite funny." [6]
Blog Critics relates how the film centers around the main character of Justin sitting in the center of an elaborate pentagram drawn on the floor in his darkened apartment. In describing the characterization of the summoned demons, they write that Lo "comes off like a stand-up comic putting down a heckler" and that Jeez "is at his horrifying best as the lead singer in a lounge act". They note that the film's use of flashbacks seems to "emphasize artifice as opposed to realism," and that the film has "cult potential".[1]
JoBlo noted from viewing a trailer in 2008, that restraining a lone character into one place and having the demons interact with him "seems twisted enough to possibly be an interesting idea,"[7] but of the DVD release of the completed film, they wrote that while the concept had originality, "it sometimes feels a tad pretentious", and that due to the minimalist staging and heavy dialog, the project might have been better if explored on a theatrical stage. They also noted that while the scenes were somewhat predictable, it was "sometimes fun to watch the verbal tennis match between the characters," as the leads of Ward Roberts as Justin and Jeremiah Birkett as Lo "are good as they try to battle with words about what each player wants." But they also felt the dialog tended to drag and lose momentum. They reviewer was intrigued by the plot's "bizarre events", and granted that although it "sometimes felt as if it was trying too hard," the film for the most part held his attention through clever writing and capable actors. He also spoke well of the character make-up, writing "I was impressed with most of the make up effects here. I did find that each of the demon characters looked like something from the past, I still give credit for making it look much better than it could have."[2]
Quiet Earth called the 2008 trailer "deliciously, and sickly, whimsical",[5] but their opinion was modified after viewing the complete film at its debut at the Austin Film Festival. They wrote the film "is a modern variation on the "Faust" story and has its clever moments, but ultimately its reach way exceeds its grasp." They praised the make-up designs of the title demon of 'Lo' and his associate 'Jeez', writing that they were "top-notch and highly effective". They also praised the acting of Ward Roberts as Justin and Jeremiah Birkett as Lo, writing they did "fine work, good enough to distract us from the fact that both of them spend most of the running time sitting or lying in the same spot," but did not think as highly of the rest of the cast, offering that Sarah Lassez as April failed in making her character "both weird and lovable" and that Devin Barry as a "nasally fey" Jeez became "seriously annoying within seconds." They wrote that the biggest disappointment with the film was "it is simply too obviously padded," and every scene suffered from the director's "need to make the runtime acceptably feature length." They granted that the film was ambitious and it stood apart from most micro-budget films of its kind "by shooting for much artier heights", but as technically adept as the project was, it would have been far better had it been released in a shorter version.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Goodstein, Jack (January 14, 2010). "DVD review: Lo". Blog Critics. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 O., Jimmy. "review: Lo". JoBlo. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bounds, Jason (November 2, 2009). "AUSTIN FILM FEST 09: Review of Travis Betz's LO". Quiet Earth. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ↑ Barton, Steve (January 8, 2010). "DVD Art and Details to Make You Feel Lo". Dread Central. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Trailer for Travis Betz's experimental demon flick LO". Quiet Earth. October 13, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- ↑ Propes, Richard. "Lo Review". Independent Critic. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- ↑ Pacheco, Jared (October 14, 2008). "Lo Trailer". JoBlo. Retrieved May 31, 2011.