Fallen Angels (2006)

Director:

Jeff Thomas

Writer:

Jeff Thomas (writer)

Release Date:

5 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Not All Angels Are Guardians

Plot:

When a turn of the century prison reformatory is slated for demolition, a grisly discovery is made....

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Supernatural | Angel | Guardian

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michael Dorn	...	Taylor
Bill Moseley	...	Westin
Adrianne Curry	...	Shell
Michael Kaliski	...	Preston Davis
Kevin McCarthy	...	Pastor Waltz
Farah White	...	Tamela
Daniel Zacapa	...	Hendricks
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angela Adamski	...	Siren 3
Danny Au	...	Gravedigger 2
Reggie Bannister	...	Radar
Michael Berryman	...	Mort
Juli Birmingham	...	Siren 1
John Bogert	...	Rudy
Ruth Buzzi	...	Perril
Mark Chavarria	...	Grave digger #1
Jake Deanda	...	Possessed child
Jack Ford	...	Doctor
Tony Gapastione	...	Deputy #1
C.J. Goodman	...	Sloth
Joshua Haze	...	Deputy
Christie Hemme	...	Lust
David Hess	...	Kajal
Jesse Hess	...	Deputy 2
Kane Hodder	...	Envy
Rick Irvin	...	Stillman
Christopher Knight	...	Belmont
Martin Kove	...	Daniels
Paul Linke	...	Eli
Rachel Main	...	Siren 2
Rick McCallum	...	Greed / Gluttony
Allen Meacham	...	Construction Worker
R.A. Mihailoff	...	Anger
Marcus Niehaus	...	Nick
Joel Polis	...	Horace Millhouse
Vanessa Ross	...	Natalie
Brian Anderson Smith	...	Construction worker
Myron St. John	...	Pride
Richard Van Vleet	...	Stalwart
Larry Varanelli	...	Officer
Jerry Weber	...	Kevin - Construction worker
Derek Zemrak	...	Wilson

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Dublin, California, USA

Company:

Fallen Angels Productions

OK...but a let down

I've been looking forward to Fallen Angels for a long time, as I loved Jeff Thomas's other movie, 13 Seconds. While 13 Seconds had it's flaws, mostly in the acting and dialog, I thought it was a brilliant movie. It was a good story, a great twist ending, and some seriously creepy filming.

Scenes like the reflection in the doorknob and the upside down creature in the airvent were brilliance in their simplicity. I put 13 Seconds near the very top of my list of favorite Horror movies.

So I was really looking forward to his follow-up film, especially since it seemed he had more money to put into it, and had a slew of Horror Cult legends in the cast.

And while Fallen Angels wasn't a bad movie by any means, I was pretty disappointed. It looked like there was more focus toward making scenes just for the sake of putting familiar actors in the movie then there was in telling a good story. Many of the characters aren't even around long enough to make any kind of real impact or let the viewer make an emotional investment in them.

The great Reggie Bannister was here, then gone. Michael Berryman had a quick scene. Christy Hemme, who looked great, was in the film for all of 7 seconds, with no dialog. It seems like the addition of so many 'names' took away from the overall quality of the film.

Also, much of the film was too dark. It was difficult to see what was going on in some scene. I know the film was taking place in the sub-basement of an abandoned prison, and it's supposed to be dark, but the lighting could've been better.

I did enjoy the movie though, although it's probably not one I'd watch again and again like 13 Seconds. The scene with the Medium was very well done, probably my favorite in the movie. The ending 'revelation' was pretty cool, although it's execution came off a little bit hokey, and some of the kill scenes with the teeth pulling were pretty intense.

I will say it was a much better horror film then the garbage the big budget movie studio's have been pushing out for the last several years. Mainstream horror has really lost it's way over the years, unless another mindless, by the numbers, Saw sequel is your thing. I'll take a good indy flick from the likes of Jeff Thomas or Dante Tomaselli over that nonsense any day of the week.

Jeff Thomas is a very talented film maker. All you have to do is watch Fallen Angels and especially 13 Seconds to see that. And I have a ton of confidence that by the time he's finished, he's gonna have a long line of great horror films under his belt.

But for his future work, he needs to focus on making a great movie and telling a good story more then making a film that tries to jam as many Kane Hodders and Reggie Bannisters into a 90 minute film as he can.

Oh...and Peter Brady? C'mon Jeff.

That being said, I'll be eagerly awaiting Jeff Thomas's next film, whenever and whatever that may be.

Support Indy Horror.

Kenny