Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Written/Directed by Adam Newman
A summoned creature. A history of genocide. A hotbed of disappearances. The sleepy little town of Newport’s Valley has a lot going for it. Why not book a room at the Barn Owl Inn and see for yourself?
Round the Decay: The Players
- Victoria Mirrer [Everwinter Night (2023)]: Kenzie Rhodes, a young woman haunted by past events in Newport’s Valley.
- Jamie Dufault [Flesh for the Inferno (2015)]: Gregory Newport, direct descendant of the town’s founder and current town mayor.
- Phil Duran [The Wave (2019)]: Larold, lives on the outskirts of town with a few like-minded people who want to put an end to the carnage in Newport’s Valley.
- Alexis Safoyan [Middleton Christmas (2020): Aida, part of a group of friends who venture out to Newport’s Valley for some hiking and find more than they bargained for in a mysterious cave.
- Sienna Hubert-Ross [Terrifier 3 (2024)]: Rosalyn (a.k.a., Roz), used to work at the Barn Owl Inn and finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Cary Hite [79 Parts (2016)]: Bart Blakewell, owner and manager of the Barn Owl Inn. He’s got big plans to revitalize the tourist trade in his new home town of Newport’s Valley.
Round the Decay: The Breakdown
Synopsis
Two years ago, Kenzie Rhodes lost her fiancé to a terrible accident in Newport’s Valley. Now she’s back looking for some much needed closure. Meanwhile, Aida and her hiking friends stumble on a cave in the hills outside town. They don’t realize this cave is home to a flesh-eating monster, The Wrexsoul [Rachel Pizzolato; TV’s The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs (2023)], and they’ve just disturbed her rest.
Kenzie, the hikers, and the rest of the townspeople now have to fight to survive the onslaught of this terrible creature.
Production
The production quality in Round the Decay is consistent and top-notch. Sound quality never wavers in spite of having scenes in tricky places like expansive caves and echo-prone auditoriums. The same can be said for scene lighting which often suffers when filmmakers go underground.
From what I could tell, all of the gore effects in Round the Decay are practical. They’re not over-the-top by any means, but they’re well done and effective.
Likely due to budgetary constraints, the creature itself looks a bit like a Halloween costume. Granted, a really cool Halloween costume. This is primarily because the creature’s head is just a mask that doesn’t move. Its toothy mouth permanently open no matter what’s going on.
However, the audio effects are spot on. Including the creature’s voice which, according to the director, is still being tweaked and improved pending the film’s upcoming theater release. I especially enjoyed the creature mimicking lines from other characters; adding some nice Predator (1987) vibes to the movie.
Cast and Story
Acting in Round the Decay runs the gamut, but all of the surviving characters do a great job. In particular, Phil Duran as Larold and Alexis Safoyan as Aida stand out with memorable performances.
Round the Decay‘s story line starts off pretty convoluted. There’s a ton of characters to keep track of plus a few early flashbacks which add up to a confusing start. Stick with it, though. The flashbacks begin to make more sense and the creature eats a bunch of the cast. Thinning the herd seems to streamline the movie from the second act on. Thanks, Wrexsoul!
Admittedly, the legend of the monster doesn’t play a huge role in the film. But the opening sequence with the creature’s “origin story” is one of the best in the movie.
Summary
Round the Decay takes a little bit to get going, but once the film finds its footing its a fun ride. Dialog is sharp, its got some good performances, and who doesn’t love a creature feature? It would’ve been nice to start off with fewer characters so we could get to know each one a bit better, but the ones we ultimately end up with are solid. I’m looking forward to seeing what Adam Newman comes up with next!
Round the Decay is hitting the big screen in select theaters on January 31st. Dreamscape Productions is selling ticket voucher codes that can be redeemed through Atom Tickets. Click here to secure your voucher code today!
Review by Robert Zilbauer.