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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ZombieKeeper.com Track 16 Review, April 1, 2002
The Story: Paul Matthews, a recording artist, accidentally records a murder during a session and is now the lead suspect in a murder case.Before we get started here, Track 16 is not a horror film per say. Sure, we have a couple of on-screen murders from a so-called serial killer, but it's more of a murder mystery/thriller than it is a horror film. After watching it though, I felt the need to write a review to help a friend spread the word about a great independent film. We open the film with the Paul Matthews Network laying down some tracks in a small recording studio. It's nearly midnight when Paul (Franks) decides to call it quits for the night. After the band leaves, Paul decides to record the vocals to a song one last time. While listening back on his recording, he catches a scream on Track 16, and shortly afterwards finds a dead woman in the alley just outside the studio. That same night Paul is taken downtown for questioning by Detective Dermer (Fox) and Detective Nicholson (Pratt). After some interrogation, they find Paul's story to be believable, but are concerned with a time gap in his story. The following morning officer Russo (Ashton) knocks on Paul's door and tells him she was a friend of the dead girl. Paul doesn't immediately recognize Russo as an officer from the night before and reluctantly agrees to show her where he found the body. While Paul is off with the under-cover officer, his band-mates find the studio entrance wrapped with yellow police tape and begin to wonder what's happened. Mason (McCleery) contacts Paul by phone and agrees to meet him later that night at a scheduled gig in a local bar. That evening shortly after the band plays, something hits Paul, he heads back to the studio and listens to more tape. The tape eventually reveals who the killer is and leaves Paul in a panic while running the evidence over to Russo's place. What happens from this point, will remain a mystery, at least until you see this one for yourself. Track 16 was written, directed, and edited by Mick McCleery. McCleery's early days in independent cinema consisted of horror films such as Addicted to Murder 2 and Vampires and Other Stereotypes. It became obviously clear after watching Track 16 (three times to be exact), that he's grown tremendously not only as an actor, but more so as a writer, editor, and director. The idea for the film came to McCleery 13 years earlier. It's not unusual for a project like this to take so long to actually get realized. In fact, many of today's great movie's take years to come to fruition. For McCleery, this was the case for Track 16. The film was shot using a Sony DSR-200 (DVCAM) on a so-called shoe string budget. The majority of the movie was filmed in South Jersey on location, however, a few sets where built in the basement of McCleery's home. Track 16 is an original, smart, well written film with virtually no holes in its story. McCleery puts together one of the strongest casts I've seen in any recent Indie film. Billy Franks as Paul Matthews was more than convincing as the films suspected killer and Bobbie Ashton as officer Fallon Russo also delivers a solid performance. Other notable performances are that of C. Fox (Dermer) and Alan Pratt (Nicholson). Both worked well as the films investigating detectives. A shout also goes out to the rest of cast (the band members). Not once did I say "jeez, these guys are horrible". Something I say too often when watching Indie films. Part of what makes Track 16 work so well is its music. A musician, Paul Mathews (Franks) accidentally records a murder one evening while laying down some tracks in the studio. That not only sets the tone for the film, but also allows McCleery to fill his story with some great music from leading actor, Billy Franks. Franks is already an established "real-life" musician, and in case he's unaware of it, he's also a damned good actor. In the end, Track 16 is a breath of fresh air. It's original, smart, well written, and unlike many Independent films, it's actually good. So good in fact, I suspect this will be the film that gets McCleery the recognition he deserves. If not, my theory of Hollywood execs [not knowing what they are doing]still holds true.
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