Earlier during the introductory moment of the FrightFest, I mentioned that I admire motion pictures that revolve around cinemania. I’m a fan of Scream, The Monster Squad, and The Final Girls, so it is not a surprise that Test Screening impressed me the minute I heard of it. Even the title sounded good enough to be interesting and the synopsis when I saw it only jubilated my thoughts. I was fascinated by this film and so I quickly took the first opportunity and requested a screener for it.
Clark Baker was the director of Test Screening which he co wrote along other screenwriters such as Chloë Kerwin, Drew Scheid, Johnny Berchtold and Rain Spencer. It is set in 1982, in a small town and the story revolves around four friends, Reel, Mia, Simon, and Penny, who get the chance of a lifetime. They get to enjoy a test for an unknown movie that is not showing anywhere else . They get to attend their local cinema where the film is to be screened, and they each bear tickets.
But as you can probably guess, this is not a standard test screening, or at least it is not a standard test screening of a movie. It’s mind control, and anyone that views the picture becomes entranced by it. Those first targets then infect their neighbours with the mental germ, and eventually, the whole community succumbs to this wicked experiment.
If this is something that you would look forward to, then let me assure you, Test Screening is going to be right up your alley. First of all, the four main characters here are quite a decent watch. I mean they are not all completely fleshed out like I would prefer, but at least they are distinctive enough that you wouldn’t be left wondering as to who is who.
In particular, I had a great time with Reels. A hard case film lover in his group that goes by the name, played beautifully by Drew Scheid. His passion for films is almost infectious, which means that even if you are not much of a film enthusiast, you will still relish watching this guy discuss what he loves.
And why not? He must think that he is giving his friends one of the most spectacular surprises. In fact, it appears in a reasonably short sequence during the test screening, so few people probably expect it to be this intense, but this is a performance in every sense of the word. Few directors can speak so beautifully as Reels does in his interview. There’s a lot of love for viewers here, much joy to be experienced in how deftly he conveys the ominous mood of this unsettling movie’s final act. Yes, I really do adore how Reels expresses his feelings for his work through his characters, and wow, it makes him even more appealing to me, considering how much I admire the work he did on The Thing.
The Characters have shown interest and invested themselves into a project only to discover that the film which was “Great Expectations” of theirs turns out to be the great disappointment. Unfortunately, testing does not always produce the most pleasant of feelings, at least for me. But, naturally, I expect to be pleasantly surprised as soon as Test Screening pulls this off. Unwillingly, I wonder why we haven’t seen something quite like this before. It’s difficult to explain without spoiling points, but the last chapters made me think about how exactly this plot would flow.
The first yawn inspiring jump scare we get is an almost love craftian jump scare and the film progressively unfolds its secrets after that while maintaining a horrifying atmosphere. Director Clark Baker is effective in incrementing the atmosphere and when the scale of disgust needs to be ramped up, the movie never disappoints which is a treat to the audience.
I cannot explain to you in what way this movie turns your stomach and why the film is restrained in using the common cut and slash approach. Rather, it draws from a largely unrecognized, but, bloodless, body horror cult classic from the 80s that has a definite hold on this movie that revealing its name would be giving too much away. However, I can tell you that the disgust created by the moments is impressive, and these scenes have been created with brilliant practical effects.
Finally, I would also like to comment on the more symbolic element of the film called test screening. This work, even with its ridiculous premise, is a criticism of conformity. It is all about forcing people to hide who they are and to be what society wants, and as a horror fanatic myself, I certainly felt that particular message loud and clear.
I do however, have a bone to pick with it. Test Screening, for example, is quite concerned about how practice conformity, particularly in terms of religion, which in this case that would be Christianity, comes into play. For someone who is a Christian, I find this to be a bit too much. Yes, one can utilize the Christian faith in other nefarious ways, but the film seems to suggest that Christianity is this austere notion all the time.
During the third act of the film, a pastor calls upon the members of his congregation to conform themselves to Jesus Christ, while in reality he was asking them to give up their distinctiveness and blend in with the mass that’s slowly taking over the town. Now if you are in any way acquainted with the faith of Christianity, you will realize that to conform yourself to Jesus is in fact, the focal point of the religion, so by branding it as part of this wicked scheme, Test Screening, appears to be branding the whole of Christianity with this particular slant.
In fact, carrying the likeness of Christ has nothing to do with abandoning the peculiar individuality that every one of us possesses. It is simply being able to love as Christ did, and history clearly shows that there are as many different ways to do it as there are persons in the Church. Thus, Christians through the centuries, even if at times they did not show much respect for one’s freedom, have very little in common with the brand of narrow minded uniformity that Test Screening takes such an impressive stab at with its conformity.
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