Lost, The (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Marc Senter, Shay Astar, Alex Frost, Megan Henning
Directed by Chris Sivertson
Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment
“Once upon a time, a boy named Ray Pye put crushed beer cans in his boots to make himself taller.”
With that line Jack Ketchum’s The Lost is up and running, and there couldn’t be a better set-up. With that one sentence we know just about all we need to know about Mr. Ray Pye (played with absolute manic ferocity by Marc Senter). He’s an insecure, egotistical loon with a penchant for control. In our daily dealings we meet plenty of folks just like him. Except for the fact that this particular guy has a deadly mean streak a mile wide. Such was the case one sunny afternoon.
Ray stumbles upon a couple of girls camping around a nearby lake, so he, his friend, and even his girlfriend decide to investigate. Nothing says curious like two chicks camping. As deliberate as it is sudden, the scene turns ugly when Ray wonders what would it be like to kill these two innocents. Would it feel the same as killing an animal? He just had to find out. He needed to be judge and jury. He needed to be God. A few shotgun blasts later, Ray’s not only on top of the world, but his companions are now accessories to murder, a fact he will hold over their heads for some time to come. You gotta have control after all.
Four years later Ray’s getting worse. The police are trying to bring him down for the murders, his friends are shells of their former selves, the booze and the drugs are flowing free, and he thinks that no one in the world can touch him, but should they ever try … By now I’m guessing that you’re getting a sense that this tale is not going to end pretty. How right you are.
The Lost is nothing short of an amazing and staggeringly potent psychological horror film in the same vein as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. It’s a gritty, dimly lit, and unflinching look at the darkest side of ourselves. These are things that Jack Ketchum handles effortlessly in his writing. There’s just no one else like him out there. His stories are as ballsy as possible. That being the case, most industry people wouldn’t go near his body of work with a ten-foot pole as they couldn’t do these tales justice. Hollywood wouldn’t permit it. It would take a director with an equal amount of fearlessness to tackle a story like The Lost, and Chris Sivertson (also known for the mind-blowingly bad I Know Who Killed Me (review here)) turns in one hell of a directorial debut feature. There’s no question that this up-and-comer has the chops to become one of the most stylish filmmakers of our lifetime. Don’t let his last film fool you. Everyone has a misfire every now and then. The Lost will wash away any foul taste that you may have in your mouth.
Well, I’m here to talk primarily about the DVD so if you’d like an even further in-depth look at the film itself, check out Andrew’s review of The Lost here. Now on to the supplemental goodies!
Things kick off with a commentary by Jack Ketchum and Monica O’Rourke. If you ever get a chance to meet Jack or sit around and shoot the shit, jump at it. He’s a fascinating guy, and this thoroughly engaging commentary along with O’Rourke is a total winner. You’ll want to listen. From there, sadly, things go a bit downhill. All we get is seven minutes of audition footage, about seventeen minutes of the most serious outtakes you’ll ever watch, and a four-minute animated storyboard sequence. What happened? No behind-the-scenes? No interviews? This is a bit of a dropped ball if you ask me, but then again most major studios would have probably released this as a bare bones disc.
The Lost is a movie that will grip you by your throat and hold you captive long after the ending credits have rolled. It’s just haunting. Packed with amazing direction and powerhouse performances, this is one film that you shouldn’t miss.
Special Features
4 1/2 out of 5
Special Features:
2 1/2 out of 5
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