Review of Deadwood Park (2007) by Allen R — 09 Apr 2011

Eric Stanze has been a leader of the underground/no-budget film movement for the last decade. His work is usually as thought-provoking as it is visually striking. This time around he presents a ghost story where nearly everyone, and thing, is haunted, either physically, meta-psychically, or metaphorically.

But just because your subject is lifeless, doesn't mean the film should be too. Stanze's static camera doesn't so much reinforce the thematic subtext as it brings things to a screeching halt.

Long sequences where characters just stand and talk about the story, doing nothing else, barely even interacting with one another, attempt to create a sort of slow burn but instead fizzle out from dullness.

My thought is that Stanze has always fallen in love with his footage (justifiably so, his camera work is often fantastic) and should probably have someone else edit his work - DEADWOOD PARK only reinforces this belief.