Customer Reviews

Joshua

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This movie leaves you with the eerie sense that nothing's right with the world. The story concept is one of the most twisted I have seen and I doubt I will be able to get it out of my mind for a long time. If you want to get a real scare, check this movie out. It will mess with your mind.

When you watch a new low-budget indie horror film & at the end as the credits roll you find yourself picking your jaw back up off the floor,thats when you know you stumbled apon something very special & thats exactly what happend to me after viewing Travis Betz's horror freak-show 'JOSHUA'. I'm not even gonna begin to try & explain the movie,all i'm gonna say is that this is simply one of the best horror films i have ever seen & i am so glad i stumbled into this gem! All you video store weekender's Look'n for nightmares rent this one if you can find it & as for collectors like myself this one is a future cult classic must!

You will either love this movie, or hate it. In my case I loved it. I can see why some people do not like it. The story is very demented, sick and twisted. Mainly the reason I like it so much. As a die hard horror fan, some of the scenes are even a shock to me.

The movie starts out with a guy named Kelby and his fiancee Amelia. Kelby brings along Amelia to the town of Bisbee,Indiana where he grew up, for the funeral of his sadistic father that died of a heart attack on death row for the murder of Kelbys baby sister. As much as Kelby tried to move on from his past, his family and friends refuse to let what he did as a child go. As the famous saying goes, " The past always comes back to haunt you", or in this case eat you. Amelia soon finds out that her soon to be husband is not what he appeared to be. What comes next is full of indescribable, unnatural happenings that will change anyones mind about the human race. Just when you think people are normal a movie like this one comes out to show you what individuals are really capable of.

For a really low budget film, everything was well done. I recommend this movie to anyone that can appreciate independent horror cinema.

Kelby ,newly engaged gets a call from back home telling him that his father has just died in jail;a father who was a notorious killer and a father whom he cannot even remember.

His father's funeral is a lonely affair as no on attends and neither do they care. It's here that Kelby meets up with his deadly past of murder,tortue and kidnap, a past which he has successfully repressed until he meets up with his childhood friends,James and Wally.

At aged 13 these three had found a baby recently abandoned and in their childhood ignorance, decide to raise it as their own,naming him JOSHUA, this they did duefully until this love of the child became more and more sinister and in the process they revert to primal behaviors on the young child thus raring him into a monster, inflicting awefull mutilation upon the child.

When however it tries to be more than a horror film is when it lagged and dragged.

This film depects violence and abuse which include cannabalism , eating of feaces by Joshua at his birthday in the form of a cake given to him by the sadistic James.


For a low budget film this is a great effort and the acting is nothing to be scoffed at for a film of this budget;this is a film which i recommend.

This might be the most unique film I've ever attempted to write a review about. There are so many aspects to talk about; so many qualifiers, so many issues. I'm going to need to break this into pieces.

-SHOULD THE BUDGET MATTER?
This is what I asked myself when deciding to rate "Joshua". Should I cut a film slack for having a $2 budget? The answer turned out to be YES and NO. Yes, I should cut it some slack and, in this case, even give extra credit for achieving so much with so little. No, I really should not cut slack as far as the entertainment factor goes. You might use this review to decide if you want to buy "Joshua" and cutting slack would not be fair to you. So there, you and I now know where I'm coming from; Joshua should be admired for its achievements as a low budget indi-horror film and criticized for any problems that arise while attempting to entertain horror fans.

-TO BE ADMIRED
The first thing that struck me about Joshua was that the film makers had to hold back on how they executed violence and gore mostly for budget reasons. They really needed to be strategic about when to let the meat fly. Despite this, the implications of horrific deeds were clear enough to make even hardened horror fans squirm. The next thing that became obvious was that these actors were getting free room and meals and the promise of at least 3 pages of spoken lines as payment. Some of them were pretty "summer workshop" While the lead actors earned steak and a room with a view; fairly strong performances by them. By far the most impressive thing about Joshua was the original story. I can't explain the concept without spoiling it, but it might be the most demented idea for a horror film and I would seriously question Travis Betz's (Writer/Director) overall mental state. I would not dare, in my darkest fantasies, to imagine this concept, let alone the details of it. There are multiple surprises at the end of the film that you could not possibly put together completely, yet none of them are cheap or extraneous.

-YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL
As admirable as this effort was, some things about "Joshua" made the viewing experience less than great. Perhaps the worst thing about this film was the script (not the story, but the spoken words). Sometimes what is said and how it is said made little sense. As an example (I'll try hard not to spoil anything); at one point, a couple of "conspirators" are discussing hiding evidence. Instead of arguing in angry but hushed voices, they are shouting so everyone can hear. And they say things that don't quite jive with the established mindsets of the characters. Of Course, many of the actors were not very good. I usually can forgive this in a horror film if it is played in a campy or cheesy way, but this is such a heavy story that light acting is a distraction. These are actually mild criticisms but they did have a detrimental effect to the overall mood of the film.

-ABOUT THE MUSIC
Music is a very evident element of "Joshua". From the beginning, you realize this is not going to be a dated sound track. In an attempt at dissonance, classical music was used at strategic moments. This was admirable in a sense but also became a bit of a cheap devise. Using classical music is almost an automatic ticket to a declaration of art. Even though it added a bit to the creepiness in the beginning, it started to feel forced as time elapsed. This is obviously a very subjective topic and could be viewed an infinite number of ways. I admired the attempt but I thought the use of classical music was a bit clumsy and pretentious.

-ABOUT THE CAMERA WORK
Like the music, the camera work had its highs and lows. Sometime we have inventive and adventurous angles and techniques. Other times we get amateur handi-cam work that perhaps was intended to add a sense of realism but came off simply as bad camera work. Fortunately, the good outpaced the bad and the bad could certainly have been worse. Overall, It was the clever ways in which things were NOT shown while still making me squirm that I found worthy of praise.

-GREAT TOOL FOR PARENTS WITH DAUGHTERS
I'm going to show this to my daughter before her first date. She may cancel before it begins. (Heh, heh, heh!)

-SO, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
I think this film is definitely not for everyone, even some horror fans. "Joshua" is not an easy view. Some of the characters here would make Hannibal Lecter seem like a viable option as a baby sitter. There's plenty of disturbing violence despite the limited gore. The characters are a bit uneven in portrayal and conception but overall interesting. The story is highly original and equally "sociopathic" (if that's a word?). For those looking for fun and camp, this is played pretty straight, so you might not like it. And for those so inclined, no nudity occurs ever. The DVD is very limited (a handful of "deleted" scenes) but the quality is fine. I don't regret buying "Joshua" but I would still recommend renting first.

Concept and Story: 5 stars
Execution: 2.5 stars
Low Budget Bonus; 0.5 stars
A strange and very shaky 4 star average (3.75 without the bonus).

While low-budget, good acting and creative directing compellingly deliver a story about the nature of human evil. The main character leaves his idealic life to visit his home after his estranged father dies. There, he encounters the strange and vile people of his childhood and finds himself in the middle of several murders. As the mystery unfolds, we learn of his own past demons and influence on the present events. The film examines both the gullability of human beings and their willingness to be perverse, and of the power of "bad seed" in shaping a person's destiny. The make-up is just as disturbing as the content. It's easy to imagine this film being remade on a larger budget and wider release given its great story.

I only rated this one star because I was FORCED to give it something. I LOVE horror movies...almost all of them...campy, serious thrillers, slasher, fantasy, etc. And I'm pretty easy to please in the horror genre, allowing a LOT of room for "out there" kinda stuff. But THIS movie...THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE 2nd WORST horror movie I've EVER seen. I've almost never seen worse acting, a worse story line or worse camera work. It literally looks like film students conjured up a movie in their heads, smoked a few joints and then picked up a camera and filmed their trash. It's not scary, it's not "horrific" and if you actually even RENT this movie, you'll hate yourself for wasting the time to watch it. Again, I LOVE horror films, but this one is NOT that...it's a waste of a blank DVD. (and if you're wondering what movie I consider even worse then this, it's Automaton Transfusion (Ws)).

Some friends of mine said that they had found a new horror 'jem' called 'Joshua'. I thought, what the hell, and I bought a copy. WOW! They were right and then some. This sick and twisted movie is a great throwback to the classic horror films of the 70's. While the budget was obviously shoestring, the story's good, the acting's good, and boy is it disturbing. You should definitely pick up a copy.

And from someone who's more than just a horror fan - the alternate ending - Genius and worth the viewing.

I just finished watching this film and I can't shake it off
this was a disturbing and original piece of work. I am actually at a loss for words. The acting was not bad at all it acutally added an eerie surreal homevideo type of effect.....like this might be possible.

Anyway,

Three disturbed young boys Kelby, James, and Wally come up with the idea to "bring nightmares to life" (nothing better to do for boys who basically raised themselves). Kelby and James find a baby crying in an ally and they decide to keep it a secret and raise the baby on their own. They built a fort in the woods (called it OURS) and brought baby Joshua home. They do every thing they can to make sure that they bring the baby up healthy and strong . A year passes by and........... I can't say more with out giving the movie away and that wouldn't be fun, this movie might make you upset, it's not for the faint of heart. If you love horror movies and want to see what a real HORROR movie is supposed to be like than this is the movie to see.

This DVD Features: Deleted scenes and
Horror Gallery (Production Stills)

baisc but the picture
quality was very good.

Raw and surreal are the two words I can best use to describe Joshua. This film is a nightmare brought to life. It has the aesthetic of 70's grind laced with what I can best describe as analog surrealism. I have no idea if that could possibly make sense to anyone who hasn't seen this.

I was hesitant on this one because I thought it was going to be another lame shot-on-video "throwback" attempt. It is nothing of the sort. It is low budget, but in the "Evil Dead" sort of way.

The plot twists are a lot of fun. No, nothing mind blowing or genius but it is just clever enough to feel fresh and not fall into mediocrity. Joshua shines. Made in 2005, I was not expecting this to feel like genuine 70's/80's low budget horror cheeze... but oh does it ever.

I don't want to go too in depth because the plot doesn't matter. I read some of the negative reviews here and all I can say is that those people just don't get it. If you love films like "Basket Case" you will love this as well. And even if you don't love it, you will at least see that it belongs in the category of great b-horror cinema. I think the type of horror film this is by way of the look and feel are more important for you to be aware of. Especially since the horror market is so saturated with junk that you have no idea if it is worthy or not since producers clog the internet with fake reviews to pump up sales.

I wasn't sure if the Fangoria stamp on this should have been taken as a sign of greatness or lameness. Turns out it was greatness and I'm glad it was done so with integrity by Fango. Horror b-cheeze, gore and sleeze fans take note: Joshua is a winner!