Frank the Bastard (2013)

Frank the Bastard: Directed by Brad Coley. With Rachel Miner, Andy Comeau, Shamika Cotton, Chris Sarandon. A woman returns to a small murky New England community where she grew up, located east of Acadia (French name for the region), to uncover the mystery behind her mother’s untimely death. Some of the locals intend to stop her, though.

“Greetings again from the darkness. A literary wink is always appreciated, and writer/director Brad Coley delivers with a chance meeting of Tristan (Chris Sarandon) and Isolda (Shamika Cotton). Though these two destiny-named characters provide the most interest, Mr. Coley chooses instead to focus on the small town mystique, family lies and long-kept secrets.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIsolda manipulates her sad and recently divorced friend Clair (Rachel Miner) into a road trip from NYC to the childhood hometown that is at the heart of a deeply suppressed traumatic memory that took the life of Rachelu0026#39;s mother. The traditional and well-worn aspects of rural town dynamics are all in play here. Small town power-mongers are commonplace in these types of stories and here we get William Sadler in the patriarch role. He and his four sons make it clear to Rachel that she is not welcome in town and that she shouldnu0026#39;t go digging up the past.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMr. Coley teases supernatural elements along the lines of The Wicker Man, Stephen King and M. Night Shyamalan. Instead, we are left holding the proverbial empty bag after numerous plot twists. There are some fine moments involving individual character interactions, but the creepy and looming payoff never really occurs. As for the titular Frank (Andy Comeau), we hear many bad things about him, but he is a bit of a letdown in u0026quot;bastardu0026quot; terms as we get to know him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt should be noted that this was the final film for Ellen Albertini Dow, who passed away this year at the age of 101. Her performance as the Rapping Granny in The Wedding Singer is indelibly etched into the mind of everyone who has seen that movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe unnecessary land-grab scheme really sucks the life right out of the family secrets intrigue, but itu0026#39;s the use of photography, fire and flashbacks (usually during Clairu0026#39;s panic attacks) that prove there exists some creative filmmaking ideas in the head of Mr. Coley.”