Starring: Siko Mike, Zack Matzganis, Ashley Dinescu, Ashton Moraski

Written & Directed By: Siko Mike

Grade: B

Blind Date is a short film about fraternity life, date rape, and revenge. It begins with a group of fraternity brothers who are looking to have a good time one night at a party. Frank (Siko Mike) has a different idea of what this means. He eyes Caitlin (Moraski) at this party, a freshman who he sees as an easy target. Caitlin is overly trusting and falls right in to Frank’s trap. He slips her a date rape drug and she is slowly realizing the horror that is approaching. One year later, there are new pledges and the hazing begins. This brings us to one of these pledges, Ricky (Zack Matzganis). He doesn’t seem like the other members of this frat. He has been talking to a girl he likes for a couple of weeks and is given a hard time by Frank for wasting this much time on one girl. He tells Ricky that if he wants to be a part of this frat than he has to prove to them that he is capable of the sexual trickery and cruelty that Frank commits regularly.

Any film that critiques frat life is fine by me, especially in the form of a horror movie. The film builds up the immoral ways of these frat brothers and we get the pleasure of seeing the fate that they surely deserve brought to them. We see this most directly through Frank. He is a complete jerk to everyone around him including his friends. Frank thrives on controlling others. This is why he takes advantage of freshman girls who he sees to be weaker. At the beginning of this rape scene there is a very subtle moment when Frank takes off his jacket. It might seem trivial, but it adds to the intensity as if he is declaring that he is getting down to business and ready to overpower the weak. Also, there is some great dialogue that follows this, making the scene more fun. The fact that his friend is in the room partaking in this with him makes it all the more twisted. This is the same for his treatment towards Ricky, using his position of power in the frat to manipulate him for his own sick amusement. Another very interesting character is Ricky. He is more likeable, but as we get to know more about him we see that he is about to embark on a twisted path that he might not even understand.

There are a few moments where the shot is a little blurred because of lighting, but this is a minor thing and easy to forgive. The music is very well done and elevates the tension and excitement in the film. It is subtle enough that it doesn’t distract the viewer, but it also is very eerie. The gore in the movie is pretty well done and realistic looking. However, it would have been more fun to see some of the deaths as they are occurring. We see what leads up to the death and immediately after, witnessing the bloodshed that has occurred. As the film makes us really want to see these people die, it would be great if we are able to see this all the way through. I understand this can be tricky to pull off especially without much of a budget.

Through a few of the characters we get a great psychological theme that shows the effects that rape, loss, and guilt can lead up to. The twist ending could have been clarified a bit more as I didn’t fully realize what had happened at first. However, once you reflect on the movie and realize how the pieces all tie together, it makes the film much more powerful, hitting on very real traumas. Siko Mike has put together a series of special features for Blind Date that help with giving the audience the full grasp on what they have just seen. There’s a gag reel showing us some fun moments and what it was like putting the project together. There is also a trailer available as well as a feature called, Sweet Revenge: Behind Blind Date. In this we get interviews with all of the actors and learn some of their favorite horror movies, what it was like doing the project, and get an extra insight on the characters and the movie as a whole. One of the perspectives we get is from avid horror fan and aspiring filmmaker, Siko Mike. He talks about how Halloween made him want to make films, how he came up with Blind Date and what the film means to him, along with what some of the difficulties in the project were such as casting and washing all of that blood away. The film and all of these features as well as a Behind the Gore interview with the special effects artist that is coming soon are accessible to view at Myspace.com/blinddatemovie

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