Video cameras made it so that anyone could make a movie, though the technology available wasn’t fantastic, they got the job done. The last five years or so however have made things even easier for film makers. Computers and editing software are affordable, digital video makes transfers much easier, and if Hollywood won’t back your feature, you can always get a group of friends together in order to get the job done. The amount of independent and self produced films has definitely been on the rise, especially if you want to make a horror film, and the latest to come from the far fringes of Hollywood is Joshua.

Kelby Unger (Ward Roberts) is a man trying to escape his past, and his life seems to be looking up. He’s just proposed to his girlfriend Amelia (Christy Jackson) and she has accepted, but problems are on the horizon. Kelby has recently received word that his father, who has been in prison for allegedly killing Kelby’s baby sister, has passed away and now he needs to go home for the funeral. This is where the past slowly begins to creep up on him.

Kelby has a dark secret, and seeing his friends James (Aaron Gaffey) and Wally (Jeremiah Jordon) isn’t helping the situation any. Years ago Kelby and James found an abandoned baby and decided to raise it as their own in an old shack they used as a home away from home. Their child rearing however became an experiment in torture and James decided that they would raise the baby, Joshua, as an instrument of evil. They disfigured and tortured him, they fed him live animals, and when things grew out of hand, Kelby burned the shack to the ground with Joshua inside. Years later however, it seems that Joshua may very much be alive and Kelby must confront the terrible past that he has so long tried to forget.

Joshua is an experiment in two different categories; what you can do with an independent film, but also what should not be done. Both written and directed by Travis Betz, Joshua is a film that definitely needs some work on a few categories. I accept the fact that this is a low budget feature, but the acting isn’t exactly fantastic, though it is much better than another horror film I watched recently, and it actually had a few recognizable names. Many of the actors comes across as a bit wooden, Aaron Gaffey in particular, or there’s the case of Jeremiah Gordon who can be unimpressive in one sequence, and then too outrageous the next. I also will note that the camera work needs a bit of improvement as too often it isn’t steady, even in straight shots featuring only actors.

But, there is some good to be found as well. Joshua doesn’t necessarily try and present itself as a gross out fest, and that can be taken either way depending on what your taste in horror happens to be. What makeup effects do appear in the film tend to be done rather well, in particular the blood, and I’m glad to see the movie move away from the trend of horror blood being a bit too unreal looking. There are some effects areas though that also could have a bit of work. Towards the end of the film you will find a human flesh suit that looks like something that Leatherface would have thrown in the trash. It’s poorly put together, and the makeup effects used for the final appearance of an abused child are also rather shabby looking. It creates something of an anticlimactic ending when you take these into consideration, though you will get another perfect example of well done gore in the ending portions, so that tends to balance things out just a little.

What I do like though is the approach of the film. The idea of depriving a child of normal, human contact has often been something that has been debated, and what the end result would be is, as far as I know, something of an unknown. That’s the direction the film takes, and while the actors themselves don’t necessarily carry the film, there are other elements that do. I like that the movie doesn’t take the typical path of a happy ending, and you’ll also find a twist that is rather unexpected. There aren’t the standard plot elements that would hold your hand and lead you to this ending conclusion like so many other movies do, and that’s something that I think anyone can appreciate as many movies simply are watered down to such a degree that the audiences is literally pushed throw hoops, just in case they can’t follow what’s going on.

There are two different extra material sections. One of these includes a number of deleted scenes as well as an alternate ending, and they also include director commentary on why they were removed form the film. This is always a nice touch as many deleted scenes I have seen on other releases don’t give any reasoning why they ended up on the cutting room floor, and at times they actually are rather entertaining. There is also a photo gallery with scenes from the film.

Joshua isn’t a perfect movie, but it’s not a bad one either. I’d say that if Betz was given a bigger budget and a few other necessary touches, he could make a fantastic horror film, and Joshua stands as a good effort to say the least. It’s not a movie that I’d consider to be frightening nor excessively gory, and it does drag in a few spots, but it’s also not the type of movie that you would find yourself turning off either. If you’re looking to get beyond pointless remakes of horror films, unending sequels, and mind-numbing horror that plagues theaters and video stores these days, Joshua is worth a look.

-mike-