The debut film from the New Jersey based production company Two Man Crew Productions, is the extremely well made and highly-entertaining suspense/thriller The Watchers, which just enjoyed a successful screening at last weeks’ Big Apple Film Festival.
The 28-minute short is the brainchild of Jeff Moffitt (who stars in the film) and Sy Cody White (who directed), who put the film together in seven days, at a cost of only $350. It was filmed this past spring and summer in and around New York and New Jersey.
The script, penned by both Moffitt and White tells a Hitchcock-style tale of an ordinary man, accountant John Porter (Moffitt) , a man of organization, precision and order, who is in turmoil over the loss of his marriage to his wife Marcy. Not one to give in to defeat easily it seems, John leaves message after message for Marcy, in the hopes of keeping the spark of reconciliation with her alive, but also to check in on his young daughter Sarah. To his consternation, all of his calls to Marcy go answered.
John tries to concentrate on work, but he cannot and ignores the advice and counsel of friends like well meaning office mate Phil (Darrin Biss). He tries to keep his home neat and tidy, ready for Marcy and Sarah’s return, but the chances of that happening are highly unlikely.
Things begin to get a whole lot worse for John when he discovers that he is being followed by some very mysterious individuals. These strangers simply stare and then appear everywhere in John’s life all of the sudden, with no explanation as to who they are, what they want and what they plan to do.
Dr. Orwell (Timothy J. Cox), John’s shrink, listens with doubt to John’s tale, thinking that stress, perhaps over the loss of his marriage, is causing him to have delusions and fantasies.
Article comments
1 - Sammy
I support this film.it will largely encourage those people who have great promise to keep trying!
2 - Blake French
Really enjoyed this movie. It is not in the least bit predictable, as so many thrillers seem to be. Fast paced & lots of action. Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Many threads are woven throughout and they tie up towards the end of the movie so that most of our questions are answered.
Casting is great. Spader, our hero, is far from perfect & his obsession with catching 'his' man has had a disasterous affect on his life. He is a complex character who is introducted to us in stages- as the story unravels so does his life.
Reeves surprises in his portrayal of a psycho serial killer. He plays this guy with an eerie realism that see him really well cast here. We hear so many poor reviews of this guy's acting but I can't figure it. He is really believable in this role and shows once again that he can take any character and 'become' him; whether it is Neo in the Matrix or the lovable Ted from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
We enter the world of the serial killer & get to see his version of our reality. We follow the agent in a chase against time to stop the madness.
This movie is not run of mill. It is different & provocative. I highly recommend it.