ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

Reviews 

GOODBYE HONEY – Review by Susan Granger

Susan Granger , , ,
0 Flares 0 Flares ×

First-time feature filmmaker Todd Rawiszer and his partner/co-writer/director Max Strand capture today’s isolation paranoia with this timely, nerve-frying, B-thriller that exudes topical significance in cinematic storytelling.

When a young woman, Phoebe (Juliette Alice Gobin), who has been kidnapped, runs into Dawn (Pamela Jayne Morgan), a driver for Nate’s Haul & Go movers, they’re on a desolate road in a state park. Frantic, Phoebe’s determined to escape from captivity – but that’s far more difficult than either woman anticipated.

As a recently widowed, long-haul trucker, Dawn’s exhausted and she’s not sure she really believes Phoebe’s seemingly far-fetched abduction story. But her phone is broken and she can’t find the keys to her rig.

Then two threatening punks – Zach (Rafe Soule) and Tyler (Jake Lawrence) – come along, breaking into Dawn’s rig.

Showing imaginative versatility, Todd Rawiszer certainly knows how to use the camera to amplify the chilling anxiety and suspense, while the pulse-pounding music augments these traumatized women’s ominous desperation.

The lighting – or lack of it – is far too dark, which is often frustrating to the viewer. That’s one of the reasons why when the stoners force Dawn to dump what’s probably a urine bottle on her head it does not resonate as it should, along with several other far-too-shadowy scenes.

Nevertheless, Rawiszer and Strand have successfully steered this low-budget, 96-minute horror/actioner with two, strong female protagonists through Dances With Films in Los Angeles, the Garden State Film Festival, and the Nightmares Film Festival, along with various other festivals throughout the country.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, Goodbye Honey is a creepy, survivalist 6, streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Fandango Now.

0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 0 Flares ×

Susan Granger

Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at R.K.O., M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures; her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M. As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O'Brien and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Phi Beta Kappa, with highest honors in journalism. During her adult life, Susan has been on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic. Her newspaper reviews have been syndicated around the world, and she has appeared on American Movie Classics cable television. In addition, her celebrity interviews and articles have been published in REDBOOK, PLAYBOY, FAMILY CIRCLE, COSMOPOLITAN, WORKING WOMAN and THE NEW YORK TIMES, as well as in PARIS MATCH, ELLE, HELLO, CARIBBEAN WORLD, ISLAND LIFE, MACO DESTINATIONS, NEWS LIMITED NEWSPAPERS (Australia), UK DAILY MAIL, UK SUNDAY MIRROR, DS (France), LA REPUBBLICA (Italy), BUNTE (Germany), VIP TRAVELLER (Krisworld) and many other international publications through SSG Syndicate. Susan also lectures on the "Magic and Mythology of Hollywood" and "Don't Take It Personally: Conquering Criticism and other Survival Skills," originally published on tape by Dove Audio.