Berserk

Some Spoilers. Evan (Rhys Wakefield) a Kato Kalin clone and wannabe actor/scriptwriter gets dropped by his agent. His agent agrees to look at his script if he can get it finished and get Raffy River (Nick Cannon) to commit to it. He takes his writer's block over to Raffy's house. They figure out the reason they can't finish the script is that they have never been scared...enter the drugs and weird stuff on Halloween night. They do stuff and get scared. And not to give too much away, a person gets killed...Don't call the police when you are high. Raffy's girlfriend (Nora Arnezeder) shows up after pictures of Raffy and another girl gets posted on the Internet. What I didn't figure out was how she got a blood stain on her dress. It wasn't there, it was there. I think they cut a scene with the dead man. This is not a complex or twisty film, although they try to make it that way at the end. I did find it interesting and entertaining. Wasn't crazy about the ending. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

A struggling screenwriter, a B-list druggie actor, and a kooky female director end up committing some violent crimes as they try to finish a script for a not yet green-lighted film. It's neon, it's tripped out, it's LA, it's candy-coated, it's acidly, and it's fake "Holly-weird". That's the blueprint of 2019's sporadic (and hammy) Berserk. Yup, it's my latest review (and my disquieted ode to aspiring troupers everywhere). When a character in Berserk says, "we're gonna need another writer", I thought yeah, that makes sense. When another character says, "life's awesome" I thought no, not your spotted, lavish life as a nonchalant murderer. Finally, when yet another character says, "we're going to jail man", I thought you should go to jail. Heck, Christian Slater did three months for punching his girlfriend while high on cocaine and some fueled heroin. Starring an overacting (and overreaching) Nick Cannon, a Deputy Dewey-like James Roday, a femme-fatale in Nora Amezeder, and an ego-tripped Rhys Wakefield (he's also the writer, producer, and director), Berserk is "berserker" as quasi, movie-within-a-movie remnants. Oh and I'm officially creeped out by the sight of drones at this point (just watch Berserk's balls-out second act and you'll see). Berserk with a running time of 85 minutes, comes off as a screw loose black comedy mixed with plenty of drug use, saturated visuals, and lots of trite, Hollywood dreaming. Basically, it's part Very Bad Things, part Basic Instinct, and part Bad Times at the El Royale. Look for a chameleon as a metaphor, a pool as another metaphor, lots of "show off" Blade Runner flood lighting, a little double crossing, and visions of shrooming delight. Bottom line: Berserk is messy, ambitious student film-making that seems to think it's more sagacious and groundbreaking than it really is. My rating: 2 stars Olaf. "I don't think sexy". Natch.

What an unexpected, enjoyable find this film was. Actor-turned-writer/director Rhys Wakefield and a blonde-haired Nick Cannon parody their experience in LaLa Land with a funny, smart, tight, twisting meta-narrative that draws you in and never lets go. A modern take on movies about Hollywood such as Sunset Boulevard or Mulholland Drive, the humour is biting, satirical and self-effacing. Wakefield establishes himself as a unique voice in cinema and one to watch.