Otis (2008)

Director:

Tony Krantz

Writers:

Erik Jendresen (writer)
Thomas Schnauz (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Suburban America gone haywire. In the midst of a serial abductor/killer's rampage, a beautiful young teen...

Plot Keywords:

Dark Comedy | Hostage | Abductor | Gore | Serial Killer

Cast

Bostin Christopher	...	Otis Broth
Ashley Johnson	...	Riley Lawson
Daniel Stern	...	Will Lawson
Illeana Douglas	...	Kate Lawson
Kevin Pollak	...	Elmo Broth
Jere Burns	...	Agent Hotchkiss
Jared Kusnitz	...	Reed Lawson
Tarah Paige	...	Kim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Burt Bulos	...	Agent Nogi
Angelo Custino	...	Scott
Ellie Gerber	...	Kim #1
Brett Golov	...	Trace Tech.
Ashley Greene	...	Kim #4
Ashley Greene	...	Kim #4
David Hill	...	TV Cameraman
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs	...	Orderly
Gary Kraus	...	Mr. Warner
Jamie McBride	...	Police Officer
Shenita Moore	...	Nurse
Nicole Nogrady	...	Sketch Artist
Tracy Scoggins	...	Rita Vitale / Anchorwoman
K.T. Thangavelu	...	Doctor
Kristen Trucksess	...	Mrs. Warner
Yoda Ushery	...	FBI Agent

Runtime:

100 min | Greece:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA (2008) | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | New Zealand:R18 | UK:15 | Australia:MA | USA:Not Rated | Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (cut) | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Flame Ventures

Trivia:

Every pizza order in the film costs $19.84.

Quotes:

Agent Hotchkiss: You should feel good now. I have an 80% recovery rate.
Will Lawson: 80 percent? Really?
Agent Nogi: Well... we only recovered 60 percent of Debbie Pilter.
Agent Hotchkiss: Right. Beautiful legs. Track star.

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)

Dark, funny, different

Saw this Friday at the local film festival and LOVED it. First half plays ALMOST like your standard horror fare; second half is like Home Alone with power tools: raunchy, painful, funny as hell. Without the strong performances of Illeana Douglas, Daniel Stern, Kevin Pollack and Bostin Christopher, the film wouldn't work half as well. Douglas is consistently amazing, a character actress who makes her every role believable. As she transitions from suburban mom to vigilante, she never makes one turn or expression out of place: her morph is both understandable and natural.

The film leaves a few ends untied: we never quite learn what exactly happened between Otis and his brother, but we're given enough back story to guess the rest. We also never see the original "Kim." Which would've helped people better understand the obsession.

Somehow, though, as everything is coming apart - it all comes together. Audiences in both festival showings loved this movie! I hope it gets distribution before Warner releases it to DVD this summer.