BUY FROM AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Oscillscope Laboratories
MSRP: $26.99
RATED: R (language, sexual content. and some violent content)
RUNNING TIME: 107 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Behind The Scenes of Bellflower
- Medusa Rundown
- Outtakes
- Original Theatrical Trailer
The Pitch
A potential post-apocalyptic love story that goes wrong.
The Humans
Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes, Vincent Gradshaw
The Nutshell
Don’t mess with a man whose car shoots fire
The Lowdown
Bellflower is one of the craziest films to have ever graced the world in recent years. Call it avant-garde or any other stuffy adjective, or whatever, but it certainly deserves the moniker of UNIQUE. the story is pretty basic – we have Woodrow (Evan Glodell) who meets the wild, bubbly, and crass Milly (Jessie Wiseman) at a bar that hosts bug eating contests. After getting the digits in some of the most awkward ways ever, they set up their first for the following night. Woodrow works fast, I’ll give him that.
By day Woodrow hangs out with his best friend and co-conspirator of doom Aiden (Tyler Dawson) who builds cool looking weapons like flamethrowers and propane bombs, among other things. They are also obsessed with Mad Max and The Road Warrior. And who wouldn’t be, right? It’s never explained what these guys do for money or if they have a job. Yep, they’re hipsters, because the money obviously comes from somewhere. Wink.
Truth
Things move at a rapid pace between Woodrow and Milly. Like, RAPID FIRE pace! As they get to know one another you can already tell that there will be trouble and not just because Milly tells Woodrow that she will mess him up, but because she tells him straight out that she WILL mess him up. Things take a dramatic turn when the time frame flashes forward a bit and Woodrow and Milly are in a relationship all of a sudden. Woodrow’s insecurities creep up and you can totally see things starting to stale out just as fast as they started.
The film is structured into several pieces that represent different emotional states of mind. The beginning of the film is very goofy, because Woodrow is a goofy and awkward guy. Woodrow and Milly remind me of people that I have met in real life and especially Woodrow who is just needy as all hell. It’s almost cringe inducing watching him croon over Milly. That’s your first indicator of the time bomb waiting to go off. We do get some awesome insights into their daily lives which don’t really amount to much except drinking, smoking, and going to house parties while creating awesome projects of the flammable kind.
Happy Days
No, I haven’t forgotten about the obvious highlight of the film which is: Medusa. Medusa is equipped with two flamethrowers, smoke screen, a bleach drift-kit, adjustable rear suspension, and 3 surveillance cameras; all controlled from the dashboard. It also has a roll cage and stow-able, fold-down back seat. Pimping ain’t easy, but it’s necessary! I had the pleasure of actually being in the presence of the Medusa at last year’s Comic-Con and it is a BEAST.
Medusa gets plenty of screen time which is a good thing, as do the rest of the gang. It’s obvious that Bellflower was a passion project for Evan Glodell who made the film in a two year time span for about $17,000. He served as Producer, Writer, Director, Actor, Editor, and Camera Operator. Yes, you can call him the hipster Robert Rodriguez if you want. I see great things ahead for Evan and the gang, so here’s hoping that I can do a bit of convincing and get people to give the Bellflower Blu-ray a chance.
Nerdgasm
The Package
Bellflower is presented in 1080p; 2.35:1 widescreen. Being that the film is of the experimental variety, well, they also filmed it with a Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini Digital Cinema camera that was pieced together by parts from other cameras, er, in addition to what was already there. The print looks great in high definition, but due to the aesthetic touch of the filmmakers – dirt, grime, and smudging may have been added during and after production. I noticed lots of scenes where the right or left side of the image was crystal clear, but then the opposite side had that smudge factor. Believe me when I say that it DOES NOT hinder the look of the film, in fact, it’s bloody awesome!
Bellflower is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless sound. It bumps! Dialogue is crystal clear and comes through in a wave of sonic overdrive through the center channel as does Medusa’s flames! They burn so good. The rest of the speakers handle the world of Bellflower effortlessly as does the LFE (subwoofer) channel. I’m hoping that when the apocalypse hits my city that it will sound as awesome and three-dimensional a the Bellflower Blu-ray did. It’s mint.
The supplements are just okay, but do give the viewer and the curious ones enough meat and potatoes to satisfy their inquisitive minds. We get some behind the scenes making of footage with the excited cast/crew that never comes off as self serving like the usual talking head garbage we’re so used to. There’s an amazing detailed featurette that focuses on the creating and operation of the Medusa that is pretty awesome along with the original theatrical trailer that still gives me chills. On the downside, there is no audio commentary. Maybe later? I hope so.
Let's fucking RAGE!
Rating: 
Out of a Possible 5 Stars