The Box/Lucky Break (2009)

Review by Mari Lynne Rupp




This week, I will be reviewing two Twilight-Zone style shorts, produced by and associated with, Shubro productions.
The first being, "The Box, written by Chris Abro An antique dealer (Chris Abro) procures a box through an estate sale, a box we're shown through a flashback that is not quite what it seems and not entirely benign. It is intended as a gift for his father (played by Gary Williams) but sends his father to the hospital as soon as it's opened with a mysterious ailment. The Antique dealer's sister, Dana comes home to help take care of their father, but upon staying in the house, both are plagued with mysterious nightmares. Upon her insistence, he tries to get rid of the box, but the story doesn't end there... With decent acting, but stilted scriptwriting, this story has a familiar sounding theme and unfortunately doesn't add too much more to it. The writing and dialogue is perfectly good, as is the directing, but I feel if you're going to start up an old story such as the "Mystery Box" I would hope to see something new. Which I did not. I will commend the company on inventive use of CGI in inventing the shadowy nightmare image, and Chris Abro's scriptwriting. And if it could be tightened up a bit, it really could stand in as a "Twilight Zone" story.
6/10

"The Lucky Break"
Written and Directed by Troy H. King and starring Lisa Baldwin and a terrific comeback performance by Tony Moran, this story follows a homeless veteran, Joe as he is abused by the street and various passers-by as a joke. Joe is rescued by Mark and Janice, a brother and sister who feel sympathy for him as he apparently resembles their beloved late father. After taking him home, cleaning him up and feeding him, they reveal their true motives for taking him in....A plot to continue recieving their late father's pension. It seems a dream come true for Joe, someone forgotten and slipped through cracks in the system, but later on, darker intentions are revealed with a bloody end. Don't even TRY to figure out when the penny drops, kids, you won't have a chance. Normally, I have complaints with sound editing on independant films, but on this one it is flawless. Lisa Baldwin (Janice) seems a bit stilted with her acting, but then you realize, it's meant that way. Her dementia comes out better the way she floats about, dreamlike. Tony Moran gives a flawless performance as husky Mark, the new patriarch of the family and James Wilford Hardin's Joe, you can't help but give your heart to, as he clumsily thanks the family for their seeming good intentions for him. This was a true shocker, that really needs to be seen in some anthology show, or compilation, because rarely can you get the jump on horror fans, but in this film, they do it nice and sneaky.
8/10