STORAGE
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Michael Craft
STARRING: Matt  Scully, Damien Garvey, Saskia Burmeister, Robert Mammone.
GRADE: B+
For those of you living outside of Australia (99.9% of you unfortunate bastards hehe), Michael Craft is an extremely talented young director who has just released his first feature length film. STORAGE is this film and to give it an interesting angle I can only describe it’s overall feel as watching a David Fincher film with an Aussie translation. It’s dark, visceral, brutal, gritty while still being a confrontational and compelling drama. The movie explores the depths of the human condition; revenge, instinct, justice and being able to determine was is the truly fine line between right and wrong. More of a Fincher inspired psychological thriller than a horror - STORAGE is still a brutal film with well timed sporadic scenes of realistic gore that delivers an impact. Read on for the screener review and to find out more about STORAGE (for eventual distribution in the US) head to http://www.storagethemovie.com.

I’m a big fan of Indie films. You never know what you’re going to get. When you pay for admission to a Michael Bay ZOMFG explosive blockbuster you pretty much know you’re going to be exposed to epilepsy inducing imagery, fireworks, swearing, boobs and other types of childhood fantasy masturbatory shit. When you pay for admission to an Indie film, e.g. BUG, Wolf Creek - you just don’t know what’s going to happen. Will it be a failure? Will the complete lack of budget ruin the director’s true vision which may have been much more than what is on the screen? Will the hard work and band aid covered fingers of everyone involved have carried the film to what is a complete success? In the case of STORAGE, the latest Australian thriller, we have complete success.

I have only just recently come to know the existence of STORAGE, but I’m extremely glad I’ve had a chance to review the screener. STORAGE was previewed at the Brisbane Film Festival (and will be released theatrically in selected Australian cinemas on August 13th) to what could only be everyone’s delight. It’s a great looking film, with fantastic colours, effective lighting and also a dark washed out feel to its environment. As the film ended I imagined director, Michael Craft, giving himself a massive pat on the back as he watched the film after its final edit. He must be pleasantly excited about releasing this film as I believe it will go down as one of the great Australian Indie releases. It not only has a fantastic visual direction, but a solid cast, all directed perfectly, all knowing what emotions and hidden demons & motives these characters are carrying. A slick production, confident and capable cast, cutting edge yet practical cinematography, sound direction and a very fucking tense story. STORAGE comes out on top in almost every way. However there are some very small gripes, which will be explored after a quick summary.

STORAGE opens with Jimmy (Matt Scully) and his father, watching the mighty Death Wish 2, starring good ol’ Charlie Bronson. This was a fantastic homage to what was a quirky yet brutal series of films and as soon as I saw it I respected Michael Craft. Even if this was intended as a joke, it was still fantastic to include it. Jimmy and his father walk through the dark, seedier streets of Brisbane on the way home. They have a little argument as Jimmy expresses how ridiculous Death Wish 2 was and that it’s basically crap film (no shit Jimmy, it’s CHARLES BRONSON dude). His father becomes upset but they make up and start having a laugh again.

Unfortunately, for the pair of them, this light hearted moment is interrupted by a masked man who holds them up at knife point. He asks for their wallets and while Jimmy shits himself, his dad (being the more aggressive man he seems to be) basically gives the guy a big fuck you and tries to wrestle the knife out of his hands. This leads to Jimmy’s dad being stabbed and dying right there and then.

Jimmy moves in with his uncle, Leonard (Damien Garvey) for some chill time and to work at his uncle’s storage facility. Holy shit, are you starting to see where the name of the movie came from? STORAGE – STORAGE facility!? UH!? EH!? Anyway, Jimmy is shown the ropes, warned about the boiler room door which is to never be opened and he is naturally warned about client confidentiality and to keep his nose out of everyone else’s shit.While working for his uncle, Jimmy meets his co-worker, a horny young woman & potential love interest, Zia (Saskia Burmeister). He also happens upon many other dark figures that use his uncle’s bleak, underground storage facility for their own depraved reasons. One of these mysterious people is Francis (played with a frantic authenticity by Robert Mammone), a sweat soaked, dishevelled man, who Jimmy suspects of murder after observing him sniffing some clothes (How suspicious - HE’S NOT EVEN JAPANESE!?) and hiding a gun in a red barrel.Leonard’s storage facility is naturally a breeding ground for scum. For starters, I have my own storage shed (which should say it all), it’s also underground, secluded, dark and fucking seriously rat infested. It’s funny you know, how obvious is a storage place for a scary film? Yet here we are with only our first scary film offering set in a storage facility. It’s so obvious (to anybody who has been to a storage shed) it boggles the mind that it hasn’t been done yet. But fuck you all, Craft got there first (feel free to correct me on that), so bring on the diluted imitations. The main location is rife with tunnels, dim lighting and numerous mysterious doors. In an environment like this it’s easy for the actors to go over the top and chew up the scenery or lack of scenery like Nicolas Cage on a calm prosaic day but this never happens, which works for the film.Back to the story… guess what guys? BIG SURPRISE - Jimmy ends up in the sack with Zia. Woo! Go Jimmy! Actually this scene is quite odd as I feel Zia comes on far too strong. At one point I was nearly convinced Jimmy didn’t wanna fuck Zia but never got a chance to say no as she shoved him on the bed and literally started jumping up and down on his cock. I was left shocked and confused, was Jimmy just raped? A relief came over me when the following scene showed the two discussing their future plans together and I realised Jimmy didn’t mind the sex whatsoever. Perhaps not as provocative as it could have been, but we’re not really here for the sex scenes are we… right? Hehe.

With Zia and his uncle’s help Jimmy starts to uncover what they see is undebatable evidence pinning Francis as a murderer. After Leonard’s experiences in the past with the police offering no assistance at all, they decide to take the law into their own hands. Jimmy sinks deeper and deeper into a dark nightmare of murder, cover-ups and questions of what is wrong and what is right. How many secrets do these storage units hold? What exactly does his uncle Leonard have to do with all of this and what secrets does he hide behind the “do not enter” door? What will become of his new found future with Zia? To answer any of these questions or divulge anymore of the story would be a crime, as it rolls out in gritty, flowing perfection, leaving you with just enough answers, but not necessarily a smile on your face.

It takes a lot to make The Bludge write a film review that isn’t full of shitty cynicism and wise-cracks. This review has almost none, as you may have noticed. That should say it all. The few down sides of this film are so completely defeated by it’s positives that they’re almost not worth mentioning, but alas, I am reviewing the film, so they must be explored.

My main (and only) issue was some of the writing. The dialogue was perfect, the story was intense and enthralling, but at times things felt forced. Jimmy and his dad arguing at the start felt extremely forced to me. As if to evoke emotions within the viewer for their relationship by exposing us to a fight and a make-up between him and his father so quickly, because his dad dies almost immediately in the film. Even what the fight was about is kind of silly. This also goes for the sex scene. I realise Jimmy and Zia were very attracted to each other, but the sex scene is like BANG! I even said to myself while watching it and wondering if I had accidentally popped a Paul Verhoeven sex thriller into the DVD player, “Surely this isn’t going to become a sex scene?” and whammy! It DID become a confusing sex scene, which I thought seemed forced and a pervert like me LOVES sex scenes! Woohoo!  As you can see these issues are small and I’m merely knit-picking.

The overall product of STORAGE is fantastic and I’m eager to see the eventual DVD with extras on the production, some outtakes and deleted scenes and an overall commentary, because you can tell some fun was made making this film and everybody on board knew what the final outcome was going to be.

STORAGE not only has excellent lighting and camera work, it has some fantastic (but briefly used - which is positive) CGI work and an overall fantastic score. In one particularly disturbing scene of revelation there is music almost similar to the crime scene music in SEVEN. Now, if you ask me, it’s a huge fucking accomplishment to have ANYTHING remotely similar to a David Fincher film in your film! STORAGE gives off a gritty David Fincher vibe in almost every way, yet Craft has retained the dry Australian drama feel at the same time. From the Australian slang, to the scenery, it’s stylish, yet home grown, always recognising it’s roots, while not being typically Aussie daggy. I guess one could compare it to Wolf Creek in that both independent films are equally as buried within their Australian roots as they are their genres, yet they are far from the same film.

To drama, thriller, horror or Australian film fans - STORAGE is a must see! The film is not only enthralling, edge of your seat cinema, it’s also a true example of what can be done with a small budget, a talented cast, a ingenuitive crew and a fucking dark vision. If you don’t see it I’m going to kill you and stuff you into a fucking red barrel!

–I’m on the ass end of typing up an interview I did with Michael Craft over the phone. The questions range from tricks of the independent film trade (eg. how to make a film with a low budget look like a film with a big budget) to his opinion of Nicolas Cage and a brief discussion of the mighty Drag Me To Hell! Could people please express their interest in reading this interview in the comments for this review and if there’s enough interest I will also post this. Otherwise it will soon be available on my site. Cheers fellas.

    -The Bludgeoner.

Share this article:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google