The Recovered
Directed By Jay Bauman/Mike Stoklasa
Red Letter Media


I have to admit that it is really quite rare these days that a movie will make me feel uneasy and have the effect that a horror movie should. The Recovered is a roller coaster ride of delusions and medication induced hallucinations. It is a journey through the mind of an extremely troubled woman and like most good thrillers, in the end there is a twist that throws a monkey wrench into the gears of the outcome you are expecting.

A woman finds out that her mother has died and has to travel to her hometown and take care of the funeral arrangements. You find out that she was estranged from her mother and hasn't seen her in 14 years. Being in the house conjures up lost memories and essentially takes her on a series of hallucinations blurring the line between fantasy and reality. With an 82 minute running time you might think that the idea isn't explored thoroughly, but indeed the film does feel fleshed out and satisfying in terms of the story having enough room to breathe.

Tina Krause does an excellent job portraying the fragile yet medicated, Beverly Sloan. Much of the film is spent with Tina alone and she manages to be convincing and her performance doesn't come across as campy in any way. The rest of the cast does a great job as well, but I did find Ben Budd to be a bit flat as Beverlys boyfriend, Will. It certainly wasn't the worst performance I have ever seen, but it didn't quite have the same impact and believability as Tina's did.

For a low budget feature this was a film that was shot tremendously well. The shots are all well lit and aside from a bit of grain in the really dark scenes this is a phenomenal looking film. The two directors used multiple angles and quick cuts to really help add tension to some of the key sequences in the movie. Give these guys a big budget and they could produce something that would scare the living daylights out of a lot of people.

Also of note is the tremendous score employed during the film. With creepy noises and subtle instrumentation, the music serves as the perfect accompaniment to the hallucinations on screen. The score manages to create tension in all of the right moments while with a lesser score I don't think the film would have been nearly as effective.

This is a short and briskly paced psychological thriller sure to please even the most devout disciples of the genre. This movie creates a lot of tension and manages to get under your skin quite easily. This may not have the same high production values as some of the giants of the genre, but it certainly is no less effective.

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