A HARD PLACE (2025)

New On Demand and digital platforms!
Directed by J. Horton.
Written by Michael J. Epstein, J. Horton.
Check out the trailer here!!

Seeking refuge after a heist, a group of criminals take shelter from the cold in an old barn. But as the pressure mounts and they begin fighting amongst themselves, the group realize they have stumbled into a longstanding feud between plant-zombies that walk by day and feral humans that pray at night.

J. Horton delivers a highly ambitious, practical effects filled, creature feature/heist movie. While this film was put together with a lick and a promise, the big ideas shine through.

A HARD PLACE sports a nice cast of actors who will be recognizable to long-time horror fans. Lynn Lowry plays the leader of the crooks who stumble upon this feud and sports some secrets of her own. Felissa Rose also pops up as the clan leader of the feral people who hunt by night. These are the meatiest roles these two actors have had in ages, and they do a good job with the part. While the rest of the cast are younger, Lowry and Rose carry most of the acting weight.

While the script is poppy and fast, there is a whole lot of overwriting going on from J. Horton and his co-writer Michael J. Epstein. Instead of saying the most common phrase, these writers choose to use thesaurus words or something cute or sometimes try to create a whole new language. This is fine. I think they’re trying to get they’re Tarantino on. but a little of that goes a long way and these guys go to that well a lot. It ended up taking me out of the movie and thinking of the writing process, which is not a good thing for one’s movie to do.

The practical effects are a lot of fun. The day-walking monsters wear full body costumes threaded with all sorts of vines and branches. Even though they are seen in full daylight, J. Horton makes them still look quite ominous with tight shots and scenes of the monsters blending in with the environment. The feral night stalkers are not vampires and not werewolves, but something in between. Again, the practical effects are evident, but fun to see used in an old school way. By the time these two tribes of monsters clash, the carnage is quite impressive.

There are many that might poo-poo this one for its low fi makings, but those will be missing out on a fun, indie gem. This is backyard, low budget goodness that embraces the realm of horror and tries to come up with fresh ideas for the genre. Someone should give J. Horton a million or two to remake or expand on the ideas he’s come up with. It would be worth every penny.