Director – James Cullen Bressack (Hate Crime, To Jennifer)
Starring – Trae Ireland (Dead Afterlife), Erin Coker (11/11/11, Shark Week), and Jody Barton (To Jennifer, Dr. Suess’s There’s A Wocket in My Pocket)
Release Date – 2013
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “On that day…we are demon”
All directors have a certain style about them and that is why you like them or not. Some directors like to make cheesy or campy films while others like to shock and aw. Others directors wanna make bloody and gory flicks and then we get a select few who like to make films that are just fucking brutal.
That brings me to director James Cullen Bressack and his new flick 13/13/13. This is not the first time I have picked apart Bressack’s films. Several months back I reviewed his films To Jennifer (read the review here) and Hate Crime (read the review here). His films are nothing award winning or game changing but they are fucking brutal. Recently he sent me a link to an online screener for his newest flick 13/13/13 and for that I thank you very much!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Jack (Ireland) who is just returning home from a camping trip with his friends to find his wife having a mental breakdown. She is savagely rubbing her arm and removing the skin because it “wont come off.” He goes with her to the hospital and discovers that everyone is no longer themselves. Everyone is now angry and hateful. As time progresses people become hostile and either kill each other or themselves.
Jack panics and seeks refuge from the hospital filled with maniacs. He soon finds Candace (Coker) and learns why he is not like everyone else. For thousands of years we have added an extra day every four years which throws the ancient Mayan calender off kilter. Now, they are in the 13th day of the 13th month in the 13th year bringing about a world of demons and only those born on leap year are not infected. Now the two must battle a world of maniacs to get back to his home to check on his friends and daughter…but are they possessed? **Spoiler Alert**
When I look at the posters and titles for some movies I often get that feeling of dread or concern because it just does not make sense to me. When I first read the title for 13/13/13 I was fucking confused but the artwork looked amazing so I was open-minded and I’m glad I was because this movie was great. This movie was just as brutal and chaotic as I came to expect from Bressack.
The acting is top notch which is something you typically cannot say about a flick from The Asylum. It was cool to see the cameo by fellow director Jared Cohn who also directs many of The Asylum’s films. I also want to take a second and say that Jody Barton is one hell of an actor. He was amazing in To Jennifer and even fucking better in this one. He needs to star in more movies. The story is nothing original. Zombies and infected people movies are a dime a dozen but I did like the Mayan twist to the storyline. The film did remind me of the Exorcist Chronicles with only one big difference…it didn’t suck.
Finally, those looking for on-screen deaths should look no further because this film has a metric ton. The special effects are hit and miss but it does not take away from this bloody flick. Overall, Bressack delivers another film that feels like a punch to throat and does not let up. I highly recommend this one!
This movie was fucking awful and you need to take grammar lessons.
I didn’t enjoy it and I find it harrowing to watch. Not because of its brutal deaths, because everything is awful. It’s probably one of those films I would see in a bargain bin, like any other asylum films out there.
Yeah man. Had potential but ended up being a huge fucking fail. Give it credit for keeping my attention though.
This film seems to have been casted by college or high school students with their friends, for a film festival or for a class project. 3/10 for the entire film, and the only reason it gets a 3, is because of the artwork, which is the only eye catching thing.
Caught this on peacock TV today the poster art interesting. The lead in on the movie gave a feel of ok this should be a ride, then we float on a river of chaos until 30 min in. Otherwise campy , a small budget and troupe filled film if your seeking a backdrop Halloween party film to have going while people mull about.
If they were to remake/expand I would have driven it more twords a college and archeology relation of central American sudden cultural groups that disappeared then move into the mass hysterical violence , mayhem and bloodbath. ( Possible to do this as another leap year birthday person in a different location perhaps a remote college location )