Spring (2014)
Review by Dawnrazor
Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci from Carriers and The Evil Dead remake) is having a bad run of luck. His mother dies, he loses his job for punching out an asshole customer. When the cops start showing up he decides it’s time for a change of scenery.
If he was Bill Murray he’d just join the army, but he’s not so he takes the money his mother left him and heads to Europe for a life of boozing and backpacking. There he meets Louise, (Nadia Hilker in her first feature after lots of German television credits). He’s smitten, she’s reluctant, he has issues, she’s got secrets…nasty, dark secrets. Of course, this being a movie they fall in love anyway. But it is a horror movie, (kinda sorta), so there are some ugly complications. Will love triumph or has Evan taken the term “a girl to die for” a little to seriously?
Now admittedly I’m not a big fan of love stories at the best of times, and this ain’t the best of times, but Spring seems a little too concerned with the romance at the expense of horror. In their first film 2012’s Resolution directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead balanced the drug addiction and supernatural elements fairly evenly, here the balance is off perhaps by intent and while it seems to work for a lot of the reviewers it left me looking for the horror film thought I was watching.
That said the romance angle is well done and the leads have some very good chemistry. The dialogue between them often feels natural to the point of improvisation. Even the scene where she finally reveals her true nature as they wander the Italian streets and alleys has an unforced feel to it, (as well as some great camera work). This would have been wonderful in a quirky indie romance but between it and the time spent with Evan’s backstory it’s all just to leisurely paced.
To be fair however, they have put a good deal of thought into the horror elements and thankfully didn’t go the Twilight, (or even Underworld for that matter), route. No cliched vampires or werewolves here, Louise is something unique with her own mythology a strange, immortal being with some very strange habits. While not directly pulled from the works of Lovecraft, there’s enough of his influence, (Dagon and The Shadow over Innsmouth come right to mind) to justify the quote from RogerEbert.com on the poster. ( As to all the comparisons to Richard Linklater, I haven’t seen any of his films so I can’t offer a judgment there.)
The effects are a mix of good old fashioned practical effects and some fairly weak CGI. I really wish low budget film makers would just forget about CGI, while it has it’s uses, for the most part it needs a good bit of money to be done right and that just isn’t happening here. However when they work the effects do deliver, adding several good jolts to the proceedings which, along with some skin, will keep those who like their films a bit less cerebral interested if not fully engaged.
In the end Spring isn’t a bad film. It’s well done from a technical point of view and it does what it does well enough. The problem is it never really seems to know what it wants to do and as a result falls short of being what an audience wants. The typical romance fan will not be amused when the film finally veers off into horror territory and most horror fans will be looking for the fast forward button on the remote before things finally get interesting.
However, if you like your movies more cerebral and artsy, or like me can deal with it when they’re well enough done, then you might enjoy this. I don’t regret watching it but it failed to live up to the hype from the friend who recommended it to me and I can’t help wishing they’d gotten to the meat of the story a bit quicker. Recommended for those patient enough to deal with the slow build up or the more romantic among you.
