POV Review: Brian K. Rosenthal’s Gory New Action Horror Creeps In With Vigilante Thrills

POV is currently slated to screen for Filmquest on October 26 through this portal. Follow the project on Facebook as well. Tap here for the trailer.

Brian K. Rosenthal’s new Halloween thriller short comes packaged with a ubiquitous blend of action and horror for the crowd that loves a good struggle amid the violence and gore. That’s what POV accomplishes as its been doing for its award-winning multi-festival run following crowdfunding efforts earlier this year, with a cast led by Katie Mackey and Chris Frank, with a script by Rosenthal who also shot and edited the project.

Seventeen minutes in and billed as Scream meets Black Mirror, POV tosses itself into the same atmospheric mania as The Purge series, this time with a story of a world where Halloween Night becomes the playground for a dangerous serial killer, beckoning any and all not to wear masks after 6:00pm. Thrust into the violent center of our story are ideologically opposed couple Aubrey (Mackey) and Frank (Frank) who find themselves victim to an attack by an armed assailant in a silver ghostface mask and robe who then gets confronted by a masked avenger, ensuing a one-on-one clash to the death that gets partially captured and spotlit as a viral video fave.

Set against a chilling noir backdrop with an electrifying score by Josh Beanash with key tracks by Dance With The Dead and Enter The Crown, POV brims with a potent new take on the vigilante genre through an action/horror lens. The hero in question dresses in a black robe with a suit of indistinct armor underneath, along with a camera affixed to their head as it records everything that happens from a first-person perspective. The fascination here lends something even more pertinent and interesting to pay mind to than the millieu in which POV takes place, although I would love to see it more expanded on in another story or potential longer-form endeavor.

Stunt and action by coordinator Justin Ortiz lay the groundwork for several moments of brutal and bloody struggle with a final fight that ends with one character getting head-smashed on repeat while on the ground. The final shot is a cliffhanger that elevates things nicely enough and earns POV its praiseworthiness. With any luck, this concept will become something far bigger and greater, and at any rate, I look forward to more from Rosenthal and his team.

Lee B. Golden III

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Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!