Woodyanders Troubled, bitter, and hot-tempered Roger (a solid and credible performance by Marc Rose) returns home for Christmas so he can reconcile with his estranged sister Brooke (a sturdy portrayal by Frankie Ingrassia). Things go nightmarishly awry when Brooke's hostile and antagonistic alleged boyfriend Marcus (forcefully played with frightening intensity by Ross Kurt) crashes the party and starts torturing everyone with cruel mind games. Writer/directors Bob Hardson and Rich Robinson astutely capture the darker, more cynical, and stressful side of the yuletide season in which people not only bicker and get on each other's nerves, but also grim family secrets are gradually revealed throughout the duration of the evening. Moreover, the angry and confrontational tone gives this picture an extra fierce kick to the guts, the startling moments of harsh violence are quite gruesome and nasty, and the uncomfortable tension steadily builds towards a devastating downbeat ending. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps the movie on track: Besides the impressively aggressive work by Kurt and Rose, there are praiseworthy contributions by Scoot McNairy as the sarcastic Charles, Jade Dornfeld as the unhappy, yet assertive Gwen, and Samantha Shelton as the catty Kate. Nelson Craig's rough'n'grainy cinematography provides an appropriately gritty look. George Shaw's shivery orchestral score hits the spine-tingling spot. Unpleasant for sure, but undeniably effective and unsettling just the same.

Robert_Hearth "Marcus" (2006) Directed By: Bob Hardison & Rich Robinson Starring: Ross Kurt, Marc Rose, Scoot McNairy, Jade Dornfeld, Samantha Shelton, & Frankie Ingrassia MPAA Rating: "Not Rated" Roger (Rose) is a troubled young man who returns home for Christmas to try to patch up his relationship with his sister, Brooke (Ingrassia). He brings with him his new fiancée, Gwen (Dornfeld). Brooke's friend, Charles (McNairy) also shows up…with Roger's ex-girlfriend, Kate (Shelton). But, when they all arrive, they find that Brooke is mysteriously missing and her supposed boyfriend, Marcus (Kurt), has taken her place. What they do not know is that, as they bicker and argue, Brooke has been tied up in the bathroom with her head smashed open and that Marcus has plans for each of them. Everyone has something to hide and, before the night is over, everything will be exposed. As tensions mount and the guests realize that there is something wrong about the entire evening, Marcus unleashes his violent and terrifying plan that will shake them all to their cores and reveals his ultimate deception. 'Tis the season to eat, drink, and die merrily.I had never heard of "Marcus" prior to my viewing of it and I didn't even realize that it had been released on DVD here in the United States until just a few hours ago. For the first hour or so of "Marcus", I was completely enamored with the various dramatic happenings that plagued the characters and the various ties that brought them all together. As secrets began to unfold and motives were revealed, I kept anticipating the ending more and more. I could not wait to see how the movie was going to draw everything to a close. Who is Marcus? Why is he there? How is he connected to these four people? Then, the movie ended…and everything fell apart. There was a glaring lack of a comprehensive or even passable conclusion. Very little was explained and the ending actually makes us have more questions than answers. The problem is that we were never given enough information to make our own assumptions. In the end, "Marcus" just didn't gel.I liked the performances in "Marcus" for the most part. Ross Kurt plays the title character or Marcus and I have mixed feelings about the overall performance. On one hand, I thought he did a fine job at the beginning, balancing regularity with evilness…but, by the end, I really wanted him to branch out and really show the darkness behind the character. It never happened, unfortunately. Marc Rose gives an emotional, vulnerable showing, especially at the ending. I was quite surprised. Scoot McNairy (love the name, by the way) does a fine job. It was a standard performance. Jade Dornfeld and Samantha Shelton weren't really given that much to do and, like McNairy, gave rather average performances. Nothing very difficult was required of either of them, but they handled the easy stuff well enough. Frankie Ingrassia (love that name too) has shockingly limited screen time, though she plays a very pivotal role. She hit the nail on the head and really made me sympathize with her character despite not being on screen much. I bought it.It is very rare that a movie completely wins me over and then, in the final fifteen minutes, completely loses me…but "Marcus" did just that. I was quite bitter when the end credits rolled and I simply sat there, staring at the screen in disbelief and disgust. What started off as a mature, character-driven suspense thriller quickly dissolved into a bland, pointless, and completely pretentious mess. In deciding how I should write this review and whether or not I should recommend this little title, I knew that I had to be as straight-forward as possible. I could not beat around the bush. I enjoyed this movie for the first hour and then hated it after that. I do not recommend it in any sense of the word and I can't even say that you should watch the beginning and then turn it off before the ending because half of the fun of the beginning was trying to figure out how the film would end. I now know why I had never heard of this movie before…but now I can only wish that I had never seen it.Final Thought: "Marcus" falls apart in the last act.Overall Rating: 3/10 (C)

dog-126 I had a chance to see Marcus at the Appalachian Film Festival last week. I was very impressed with what the filmmakers were able to achieve on a shoestring budget. While certain parts of the story became a little claustrophobic at times, the mixed relationships of the four visitors proved to be a great combination and setup for Marcus' creepy personality to play such a disturbing and violent game with. The real payoff of the film happens in the last twenty minutes when Marcus turns frighteningly hostile towards the Christmas dinner party, leaving only the brother left alive to deal with the serial killer's bloody massacre.The film won best narrative feature at the festival, and proves to be a great niche cult film for horror/thriller enthusiasts.

dirksmiglr This movie had potential but was doomed within the first 10 minutes. Missing was any sense of rhythm or dynamic arc to the story. Major plot points at the end of act 1 and 2 were hard to find. What was a shame was the actors seemed like they had something more to offer. They seemed like they could have given much stronger performances. Instead we get a group of people together that are impossible because everyone is mad at each other or grumbling at each other the entire time. This seems like intentional directing of the actors rather than the performances brought by the actors themselves. The protagonist is uncertain - was it the boyfriend or was it the brother? These two characters the entire time talked in grumbles and demands the entire way through. Now if I showed up at my sister's house and met her new boyfriend and all he did from the very start was order me around and never smile or act welcoming, I'd think I'd immediately think he's psychotic. This never seems to cross anyone's mind. If these characters had some life, the story would have had a chance - in fact, I think it might have almost worked where you actually rooted for the boyfriend. If you are forced to watch it, think about that.Technically, the sound was well done. Music was fine. Lighting seemed like they were going for the film noir/old time mystery feel but it was a little under lit for a lot of it. Some of the shots were memorable. The edit seemed fine. The failure of this movie happened while in front of the camera and in the script itself - I think it would be hard to recut any better from what I saw. It would have been nice to see how much we could have learned to love Marcus, the boyfriend as the psycho that he is.