Nicotine Stains (2013)

Nicotine Stains: Directed by Gennaro Desposito. With Matt Fowler, Chelsea Collins, Chris Ehling, Kyle Duncan Graham. A twenty something has a psychotic break while quitting smoking.

“u0026quot;Nicotine Stainsu0026quot; is a horror film from Gennaro Desposito which follows a manu0026#39;s psychotic break after choosing to quit smoking. Charlie is a young college graduate stuck in a dead end factory job for Vellaro Tobacco. A life long smoker, he never turns down free samples from the company u0026#39;cigarette girlu0026#39; Sugar, even if they do contain a newly developed, synthetic tobacco. Charlieu0026#39;s girlfriend Jen convinces him to quit smoking but little do they know the hold the new cigarettes have on Charlie. The film stars Matthew Fowler; Lacy Hornick; Chris Ehling; Sunny Williams; Kyle Duncan Graham; Renee Sher; Chelsea Collins and Don McCutcheon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Nicotine Stainsu0026quot; is much more than a standard horror, with blended elements of surrealism, minimalism and atmospheric grandeur, it is more like a modern grand guignol. The story, once you realize the nature of the lead characteru0026#39;s psychosis, seems almost laughable but it expresses the depth of struggle he has with quitting smoking. As someone who did quite, I can attest to the mind producing some pretty far out thoughts about the people around you, and all the reasons not to quit: like u0026quot;if you quit then you will just be giving in to social demandsu0026quot; or u0026quot;if I didnu0026#39;t date you then I wouldnu0026#39;t be forced to quit.u0026quot; This movie carries that theme to the ninth level of hell. There are several film styles utilized in u0026quot;Nicotine Stainsu0026quot; but it is at itu0026#39;s core a well directed modern horror film. More cult classic than you expect going into the film. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe most notable qualities about u0026quot;Nicotine Stainsu0026quot; that worked for this film were, the sound track-classic 80u0026#39;s giallo sounds of creepiness, The use of various colors to express different heightened emotional moments in the film- very Argento-esque but the gore sets it off! It holdu0026#39;s up to more classic grindhouse horror films of splatter,guts and gruesome vivacity. The acting in the film has itu0026#39;s moments that seem mediocre but not to the point it makes it hard to connect with the characters. For the most part the acting is quality. The story, all though based in a very exaggerated beginning, is fresh and very modern-most of us have been that person trying to quit, or dealing with someone who is trying to quit. It always seems to consume everything about the relationships and environment. The only downside to the film dealt with the synthetic nicotine. It was only casually mentioned once, maybe twice and it would have been nice to see that element played up more in the story. It didnu0026#39;t really hurt the film that it wasnu0026#39;t I just think it would have been cool to see it driven in more. The horror in this film is more of visual gore than scary. All in all u0026quot;Nicotine Stainsu0026quot; is a really cool Indie film and Desposito deserves props because he has a style that is already a modern cult classic.”