Johnny Boy - new indie feature from Huntington
Seth Martin directed “Johnny Boy,” his own “Reservoir Dogs,” set in Huntington, WV. For 80 minutes we watch a film that shows the underbelly of a town now famous for a lot of real murders and drug busts. Like my friend Allen Toney said, “You can stand on some corners in Huntington and just watch the murders and mayhem….” ( He himself had to shoot a fellow who broke into his downtown loft, saving himself from possible murder. I saw the giant stain from the pool of blood that the intruder left behind, almost next door to the public library.) The film was shown at The Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington this spring and at the 2008 Spring WV International Film Festival Student Film Festival here in Charleston. If you like action, and low-lifes, this is your film!
The film is now part of a new group of films set in Huntington about local criminals. Another recent film is “Lake Forest,” a 2005 indie feature that shows bad stuff happening locally. Across the river in Ironton is another local indie feature filmmaker who has shown a little more positive side of the area in “The King of Ironton.”
What makes watching both “Johnny Boy” and “Lake Forest” painful to watch is that the films are about total jerks, not arousing any sympathy. This is a very common problem with Hollywood films, TV shows (”The Sopranos”) and lots and lots of indie films. I have to admit that my own taste is obviously off base since lots and lots of people love “The Sopranos” so if you do - get a copy of “Johnny Boy” and “Lake Forest.”
Another recent Huntington indie won awards and other people enjoyed it even if I didn’t - “Maneater.” This film tells the story of a local Huntington jerk who has no awareness of anything but his own needs. Eventually he befriends a woman who doesn’t take “no” for an answer. Apparently quite a few people found the hero sympathetic and enjoyed the film. I did not. I did slightly enjoy the super indie Huntington film, “Burning Annie,” also about a group of jerk young men chasing women. I have to admit that I had a hard time watching “Reservoir Dogs” for the first time.
“Johnny Boy”’s hero is shown eating his daily breakfast cereal and watching cartoons. It is remarkable that a grown man, someone involved in murder, can have such an infantile interest in comics intended for five year olds. It was pathetic to see the hero include a lady friend in a short film available on the DVD, “General’s 18,” during which he and friend kill 18 people. I admit that it was impressive watching the hero run up the walls just like Jackie Chan, but the gun fire and stabbings were about half realistic - which is a lot better than many other indie features.
I would compare the script, acting, cinematography to be on the level of WV’s first indie feature, “Teenage Strangler,” also shot in Huntington in 1964 by local television people. It’s too bad that things haven’t improved much since then, but any effort has to be commended. Hopefully Seth Martin and the other people connected to this film will watch some of the better films being made these days, e.g., “Wanted”, in my mind the best action film of the summer.
PS A note on another recent violent film, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” I bought a DVD of the film, and found it almost impossible to watch, doing so for about 30 minutes at a time. The two brothers were such merciless jerks! The film received great reviews and one friend watched it twice in a film theater - almost unique in his life. He just loved the film!! The film ends with Albert Finney killing one of his sons for murdering his wife, their mother……….I bought the film because of the actors, and they did a job given the screenplay - but talk about stupid morons!!!!!!! I am not a “Little House on the Prairie” lover, but even bad guys need to have some redeeming characteristics - like the Sopranos did regarding their love of family and fellow criminals. I also valued seeing “There Will be Blood” for its honesty showing the early days of the California oil business, but have to admit I did not ENJOY watching the film - other than watching the great acting, physical sets, and truly perverse storyline. It was kinda like watching a Holocaust film….never enjoyable, but sometimes necessary. Like reading the daily news…and the Bible. True nightmares most of the time…
