Pod (film)
Pod | |
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Directed by | Mickey Keating |
Written by | Mickey Keating |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Mac Fisken |
Edited by | Valerie Krulfeifer |
Music by | Giona Ostinelli |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Vertical Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Pod is a 2015 American horror film written and directed by Mickey Keating. It stars Lauren Ashley Carter, Dean Cates, Brian Morvant, Larry Fessenden, and John Weselcouch. Carter and Cates play siblings who stage an intervention for their unstable brother, played by Morvant. As the situation spirals out of control, they begin to wonder if what they had dismissed as their brother's paranoid delusions may be true. Writing was influenced by The Twilight Zone and classic horror films of the 1970s, including the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which inspired the title. Shooting took place in Maine in winter 2014. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 16, 2015, and was released theatrically on August 28, 2015. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 67% approval rating based on six reviews.
Plot
After receiving a warning not to come to their family lake house in Maine, siblings Lyla and Ed stage an intervention for their brother, Martin, a dishonorably discharged veteran who believes the military has experimented on him. When they arrive, they find that he has descended into apparent paranoid psychosis and claims to have trapped a monster in the basement. Martin explains that he found a pod while hunting in the woods and believes it to be part of a government conspiracy to create artificial, inanimate assassins. Martin subsequently pulled several of his teeth to find what he believes is a tracking device. However, since he destroyed it, he can not prove it to his siblings. When Ed demands to see what is in the basement, Martin refuses to let him and reveals infected scratches across his torso, which he says were made by the trapped creature.
Ed, a mental health professional, insists they take Martin back to the
Ed initially finds nothing in the darkness, and when he turns on a light, it blows a fuse. Flipping the power back on reveals a humanoid creature, confirming that Martin had actually been telling the truth. The creature immediately attacks Ed. Ed barely escapes back up to the house. After telling Lyla to flee the house, Ed becomes disoriented as he remembers that Martin said the monster had some kind of hallucinatory venom. He slows down the monster by stabbing it with a syringe that contains a mild sedative he had intended to give Martin, then retrieves Martin's rifle. As the monster recovers and tries to rush him, Ed shoots it. Meanwhile, Lyla discovers the car will not start and runs to a nearby house. After banging on the door to no effect, she stops a passing motorist, identified later as Smith. Smith calmly questions her, says the creature is not a government conspiracy, and kills her with a shot to the head.
Back at the house, Ed deliriously celebrates his victory against the creature, which he has repeatedly struck with the butt of the rifle to make sure it is dead. Ed calls out to Lyla, saying that it is safe to return; hearing this, Smith shoots and kills him. Smith contacts someone on a walkie-talkie and reports that the creature is dead, though he does not know whether there is a nearby colony of them. After giving his coordinates, Smith hears a noise behind him. The creature, still alive, attacks and kills him as he turns around.
Cast
- Lauren Ashley Carter as Lyla
- Dean Cates as Ed
- Brian Morvant as Martin
- Larry Fessenden as Smith
- John Weselcouch as John Boy
- Forrest McClain as The Pod
Production
Writer-director Mickey Keating had worked with several of the cast members prior to Pod, but the roles were not written for them specifically. Keating had interned for Fessenden at Glass Eye Pix while he was in college.[2] In relation to his previous film, Ritual, Keating wanted to make a more accessible film that could be enjoyed by wider audiences besides fans of his first film.[3] The title is a reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but Keating wanted to use it partially as misdirection, as he wanted to play with audience expectations based on the title.[4]
Pod was shot in
Release
Pod premiered at
Reception
References
- ^ a b c Oliver, J. W. (2015-03-02). "Horror film shot in Maine to premiere at South by Southwest festival". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ a b Gorman, Howard (2015-03-12). "Mickey Keating Talks SXSW Midnighters Movie 'POD'". Scream Horror Magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Gingold, Michael (2015-03-10). "SXSW '15: Exclusive director comments on the chilling premiere film "POD," plus videos". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 2015-03-14. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Miska, Brad (2015-03-12). "[SXSW '15 Interview] Mickey Keating's 'Pod' Channels Classic "Twilight Zone" Episodes". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Wixson, Heather (2015-03-16). "SXSW 2015: Exclusive Interview with Pod Filmmaker Mickey Keating". Daily Dead. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Smith, Jerry (2015-03-15). "Icons of Fright SXSW Interview: Director Mickey Keating Talks POD, RITUAL, DARLING and CARNAGE PARK!!". Icons of Fright. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Benardello, Karen (2015-03-24). "SXSW 2015 Interview: Pod's Mickey Keating, Dean Cates, Brian Morvant and Giona Ostinelli". Shock Ya. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Buckley, Heather (2015-08-27). "Q&A: Filmmakers and Cast Talk "POD," Paranoia and Performance". Fangoria. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- Indiewire. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- ^ Miska, Brad (2015-08-13). "'Pod' Poster Hatches Horror (Exclusive)". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- ^ "Pod (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- ^ Whittaker, Richard (2015-03-17). "SXSW Film Review: Pod". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Cooper, Patrick (2015-03-21). "[SXSW '15 Review] 'Pod' Is a Frantic Tale of Sci-Fi Horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Donato, Matt (2015-03-18). "Pod Review [SXSW 2015]". We Got This Covered. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Scheck, Frank (2015-03-31). "'Pod': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
- ^ Boiselle, Matt (2015-08-20). "Pod (2015)". Dread Central. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
External links
- Pod at IMDb