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Cast: David Fine, Stephanie French
After her mother's death and her father's brutal suicide, 25 year old Sarah Black fears she is losing her grip on reality. She is haunted by nightmares and terrifying visions, and she can't shake the feeling that something evil is about to find her. When people she cares about start to die, Sarah believes she may be next. Detective Scott Aro has been investigating a string of murders for 10 years, but nothing he has seen can prepare him for what lies ahead. As hope seems lost, the two must face the evil that has been unleashed and battle to stay alive as they discover some things don't stay dead...it waits in the dark...
"Stricken" tells the story of Sarah Black who has just lost her father to suicide and she lost her mother before that. But Sarah and her problems seem to be only beginning. After since the loss of her dad she has had horrible nightmares and visions of something or someone beyond the living. To make matter worse people around her begin dying off as well and now she fears she might be next. She meets a Detective who has been chasing down a killer for the last ten years, someone he believes is responsible for all the deaths or suicides the past decade. Together the two must try to piece together the puzzle and expose the killer before it is too late.
The film is a low budget thriller/horror from Director/Writer, Matthew Sconce who has done numerous short films before and after making this his first feature film. This is a very ambitious film especially when you only have a low amount of money to make it with but Matt, his cast and crew pull it off in a spectacular way.
The film has a Hitchcock vibe to it with its intelligent story that is full of mystery and suspense, it doesn't reveal the nature of the evil till towards the end of the movie with a twists that will leave you in shock. And what is a thriller/horror without scares, well "Stricken" has plenty of very frightening moments. There is one scene in the film that has Sarah in the ladies room changing into her work clothes, what happens in there had my skin crawling. I am not going to ruin it or any other part of the film for you here but I will tell you be prepared to be scared out of your mind.
This is a very well-written film with fantastic production values, the cinematography and sound are both amazing and the effects and make-up are both incredible. And what else can there be to complete such a great film? A solid cast and that is what you have here, Stephanie French is great as Sarah, her amazing looks are match perfectly by her acting talents. She really gives a powerful performance here. And another stand-out performance was by David Fine who brings his best as Detective Scott Aro. The rest of the supporting cast did a great job as well, there was not one weak link as far as the acting goes.
"Stricken" is a Supernatural Thriller that grabs your attention right from the start and it keeps you glued to the edge of your seat waiting and wanting to know more. It doesn't get much better than this folks, this is not just an example of how good Independent cinema is, no this is an example of how to make an effective and lasting horror film regardless of budget. I loved it and highly recommend it to any and all fans of horror.
Available on DVD, you can order it HERE.
Released by R SQUARED FILMS
***** Out Of *****