You can’t blame me for wanting to stick to a game of Go Fish after watching writer-director John Wesley Norton’s Spades. It may not be as much of a thrill ride, but it would be decidedly less bloody.
This violent noir-like crime meditation opens with a quartet of tough guys playing the titular card game. Skillfully, Norton eventually reveals that something more sinister is at play here. It turns out these criminals-for-hire have kidnapped a young girl and her friends and are waiting for the right time to take the action into high gear. Back stories are revealed and soon double crosses, murky motivations and sexual violence are placed, firmly, on the menu. As the gang’s intended target finally arrives, lives are lost and the quiet Sims (a truly fine and subtly menacing Thomas A. Jackson) reveals one final, truly brutal plot twist.
Here Norton works especially well with his skilled cast and grooms sophisticated performances out of such veteran television and film performers as Alex Skuby, Xango Henry and Juan Riedinger whom play the three other intruders. Equally fine are indie scream queens Deneen Melody (As Night Falls, III Slices of Life) and Heather Dorff (Hole in the Wall) whom are not only beautiful, but bring as much sensitivity and versatility as possible to their roles of the piece’s primary victims.
Ultimately, working methodically and precisely, Norton creates a truly enjoyable thriller here, belying a small budget with heart and cinematic passion.
Until the next time – SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!
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