“DISTURBANCE” (2005)

Starring: Paul Sloan, Colleen Porch, Hayley DuMond, Nick Vallelonga, Anthony John Denison, Susse Budde, Robert R. Shafer, James Quattrochi & Katrina Law
Written & directed by Nick Vallelonga

Polly Staffle: ***

Many filmmakers seem to get caught in ruts. I won’t go as far as saying they are one-trick ponies, but some seem to find a formula, a style or genre and they stick with it. Nick Vallelonga is just the opposite. In the director’s chair, he first dabbled in sexual thrillers and crime dramas. He recently did a poker film and currently has a romantic comedy in the works. Sometimes he even throws more than one genre at his audience in one film. Such is the case with his comic book-like HD project “Disturbance,” originally titled “Choker.”

Shot on a budget of $35,000 in 12 days, this isn’t a perfect film, but it’s pretty damn good. It works on a number of levels. From a craft point of view, the movie is filled with great audio and visuals. Vladimir Van Maule’s cinematography is a whirlwind of almost neon blue, green and reds perfected in postproduction by visual effects supervisor Ian Vertovec. The results give the film a very cartoonish feel with a touch of film noir, setting the perfect tone for a gritty city alien invasion. Harry Manfredini, best known for his work on the “Friday the 13th” films and “The Omega Code,” supplies the perfect score that’s both modern, but also seems partially inspired by old William Castle horror films like “House on Haunted Hill.”

In looking at themes, the whole movie can be seen as a metaphor for AIDS, crack or terrorism even. I won’t go into details about that, but will say Vallelonga’s script doesn’t take this as far as he could, but he does have a character bring up the issue of AIDS. His screenplay also toys with our minds a little on the use of violence and how hypocritical our views on it really are. Most Americans have complete tunnel vision when it comes to violence. We are all for “man biting dog” violence for our own benefit. This type includes the killing of animals for food, massacring people of other countries in the name of war and the murdering of convicted criminals so we no longer have to deal with them. But we can’t ever seem to understand when any of these dogs bite back, even if it is for their own survival.

As far as the script, the narrative is a bit different with the use of flashbacks and characters sort of just coming and going. There really wasn’t a clear cut hero and often times main characters are taken away before our very eyes just as we have become accustomed to them. The film also doesn’t fit in any specific genre. It’s all over the place - sometimes going as far as dipping into subgenres. Some people will see it as being science fiction. Others will see it as a horror film. It can be classified as an action movie. It’s also got some elements of detective cinema. But Vallelonga completely throws the playbook out the window and does everything his own way. For that reason “Disturbance” will not sit well with some viewers, but for those that give it a fair chance, it’s sort of a film geek’s paradise.

The film has a Mario Van Peebles breakneck speed pace. Meaning, like “New Jack City” and “Posse,” there aren’t many chances for viewers to catch their breath or take bathroom breaks. The story essentially takes place over one night and centers around a serial killer set loose by the government to track down extra terrestrials and destroy them. He is Hud Masters, played by Paul Sloan. Even though he can be seen as an expert in the field of murder, his task isn’t as simple as you may think. The aliens are able to body leap. This is actually the only way for them to sustain life on our planet and they move from one body to the next by essentially throwing up green goop into the other person’s mouth. The good news is not many aliens are among us and they are all in the same city.

Currently the aliens are making their rounds among society’s cast outs, inhabiting the likes of prostitutes, pimps, homeless men, teenagers, sluts and nightclub bouncers. So through the course of a night, Hud has to track these people down and shove a pill down their throat, making them implode. It goes without saying, Hud is leaving a bizarre crime scene trail and the local cops and CSI units are looking to close in on him. And not only is Hud executing aliens and trying to avoid the authorities, he has his own demons he must face. He’s not a good guy. He never has been. He’s pure evil. Perhaps he starts to enjoy his new gig a bit too much as he begins killing everyone around him. He is a killing machine and that’s why the government has enlisted his help. We as the viewer aren’t really pulling for this bigger than life Jean-Claude Van Damme-type character, but we can’t take our eyes off him. We sort of just watch him and try to make sense of what he’s doing while mentally asking ourselves the original tagline to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” - “Who will survive and what will be left of them?”

Something I felt that was very unique about the film was it seemed like there were so many possible main characters, but it’s really more of an ensemble with an unlikely hero emerging from it all. Besides Hud there’s a female killer’s assistant on his mission named Logan (Colleen Porch). Porch bares a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie, and Logan is like this Lara Croft character that in another movie could be the main focus of the film. There’s also the cops who are very much out of a film noir movie. I felt like they were kind of there to get made fun of since none of them ever knew what was going on and their solution is “let’s kick this Hud guy’s ass.” Then there’s the alien leader (Hayley DuMond). She seems like she slivered straight out of a modern vampire movie like “The Forsaken” or “Queen of the Damned.” Lastly, there’s government official Frank Russo (Vallelonga). He’s sort of a Tony Soprano on the government’s side of the law that could be plugged into a mafia movie or two. He’s a highly caring man with a family he loves, but he’s also involved in a questionable line of work that is very secretive. (Ironically, Vallelonga’s father Tony Lip was a regular on “The Sopranos” as Carmine Lupertazzi and has been featured in a slew of mob movies like “Goodfellas,” “Donnie Brasco” and “The Godfather Trilogy.”)

In the end, there’s no revealing of an alien, despite the depiction of a creepy green hand clutching a machine gun used to market the film. But truthfully, I didn’t need one. We get plenty of monsters. They’re just all in human form. So how the hell do all of these characters fit into the story? Well, watch and find out. And like I said, do so with an open mind.

Also, pay close attention to Vallelonga’s use of imagery and his subtle references to other films. Though he says he set out to make something reminiscent of 50’s science fiction and we do get a dialogue exchange that mentions “The Blob,” Vallelonga’s film actually feels more influenced by cinema of the 80’s and early 90’s. It made me think back to a lot of the big action and sci-fi movies I watched growing up. “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “Blade Runner” (82), “First Blood” (82),“The Terminator” (84), “RoboCop” (87), “Universal Soldier” (92) and “Split Second” (92) all came to mind. Sure “Disturbance” is on a way smaller budget and doesn’t have the star power of Harisson Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Peter Weller, Van Damme or Rutger Hauer like these movies had, but it’s just as much fun. Hopefully in Vallelonga’s future, he’ll have both of those elements at his disposal. Then we will really get to see what this filmmaker is capable of.

-CCF, October 2006