Condemned (2015 film)

Last updated
Condemned
Directed byEli Morgan Gesner
Written byEli Morgan Gesner
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRichard Henkels
Edited byAaron Crozier
Music by
Production
company
Caliber Media
Distributed by Image Entertainment
Release dates
  • October 18, 2015 (2015-10-18)(Screamfest)
  • November 13, 2015 (2015-11-13)(US)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$500,000 [1]

Condemned is a 2015 American horror comedy film written and directed by Eli Morgan Gesner. It stars Dylan Penn as a rich youth who moves in with her musician boyfriend (Ronen Rubinstein) at a condemned building populated by drug addicts, prostitutes, and shut-ins. After their water supply is tainted, the inhabitants become violently psychotic and attack each other. It premiered at Screamfest in October, had a limited theatrical release on November 13, 2015, and was released on VOD and DVD on January 5, 2016. It is the theatrical debut of both Gesner and Penn.

Contents

Plot

Distraught over her parents' constant fighting, Maya moves in with her boyfriend, Dante, a struggling musician in New York City. Maya, who used to live in a wealthy neighborhood, is initially reluctant to even enter the condemned building in which Dante lives, but he convinces her to give it a chance. Dante explains that Shynola, the superintendent, still lives there, so it has basic plumbing and electricity service. Besides Shynola, the inhabitants include Alexa and Loki, Dante's roommates; Roxy and Big Foot, a transgender prostitute and her pimp; Tess and Vince, formerly-hip junkies; Cookie, who operates a meth lab; Gault and Murphy, death metal S&M gay fetishists; and Hoobler, a recluse nobody has met.

Although Maya gets along with most of the residents, she runs afoul of Gault, who threatens her for her naivety, which he says could bring the attention of the police and cause a raid. After Loki showers, his roommates initially believe him to be sick, but his apparent fever becomes worse, driving him to hallucinate and act erratically. Maya attempts to call the authorities for help, but when Gault objects, Dante quickly stops her, accidentally destroying her cell phone. Maya and Dante notice the other inhabitants exhibit bizarre, aggressive behavior. Years of poor plumbing have mixed together toxic chemicals, infected drug paraphernalia, and diseased human refuse, and the building's tap water now causes violent psychosis.

Cookie steps out to deliver a new batch of drugs, bolting the doors closed behind him. Two incompetent NYPD officers accidentally kill him, leaving the building's inhabitants trapped. Dante enlists Vince to help search for Loki, who has disappeared. At the same time, Alexa becomes violent, and Maya knocks out Big Foot when he attacks Roxy. After showing signs of infection, Vince stabs several people, and Tess aggressively rants about gentrification to Maya before being killed by Big Foot. As Murphy and Big Foot attack each other, Maya escapes and reunites with Dante. The two search for uninfected people to help them but encounter only more violence and mayhem as their former friends kill each other.

Murphy chases them into a bathroom, but he dies to his lover, Gault. Maya escapes through a small hole in the wall and retrieves a weapon for Dante. After fighting past Gault, Dante becomes stuck in rotted flooring and urges Maya to flee the approaching Gault. Dante falls through the floor, leaving Maya alone to confront Gault, who alternately expresses remorse and threatens to kill her. Hoobler, dressed in a hazmat suit, suddenly appears and kills Gault. As Hoobler urges Maya to contact the authorities, Loki kills him and chases her into the hole to the sewers Dante fell through.

Dante and Maya flee further into the sewers, but Dante's injured foot slows them down. Dante confronts Loki, killing him but becoming infected in the process. As he grows increasingly hostile toward Maya, she runs to a sewer grate and calls for help. The cops who accidentally killed Cookie earlier see her, and she blacks out. When she comes to, she is in a hospital. She cries out for Dante, hallucinating horrific imagery that involves the attending doctors, and they restrain her. While she struggles violently and threatens to kill them, a CDC official orders the entire block to be quarantined. As two earlier cops discuss their own heroism, Dante is seen roaming the sewers.

Cast

Production

The initial concept for the film dates back to 2006, when Gesner was working on an unrelated independent film. During a lull in production, he wrote the basic script for Condemned, then optioned it several times throughout the years. [2] Gesner, a New York native, wanted to set his film in New York but had trouble finding a believable way to isolate his characters and make them difficult for authorities to rescue. Recalling his youth spent exploring condemned buildings, he realized he could use that as a setting. The outbreak was designed to present the characters as having retained their personalities and possibly be capable of saving. Gesner disliked how in traditional zombie films the characters were irrevocably changed into enemies and wanted to make killing loved ones more of a difficult decision. [3] Casting did not intentionally focus on the children of celebrities. Gesner said he and Penn met with each other, unconvinced of each other's skill, but came away impressed. Gesner cited Penn's inexperience as a plus for her character, as Maya is intended to be inexperienced and out of place. [2] Shooting began in April 2014 [4] in New York City's Upper East Side. [5]

In June 2020, the film's costume designer Stacy Berman told The Daily Beast that actor Johnny Messner had exposed himself to her during a costume fitting. Berman and Jack Heller went to the film's lead-producer Dallas Sonnier in an attempt to get Messner fired, to which Sonnier refused to do. [1] Sonnier had previously been accused of downplaying on-set abuses on VFW and Satanic Panic , both films produced by Sonnier's Cinestate. [6] Berman's assistant Samantha Hawkins and five unnamed crew members allege that Sonnier had also made actress Dylan Penn uncomfortable by asking her to remove her bra before filming a scene with Messner. Director Eli Morgan Gesner confirmed Sonnier's poor treatment of the cast and crew. Rayna Savrosa, the film's production designer, claimed her poor experience on set made her leave the film industry. [1]

Release

Condemned's world premiere took place at Screamfest on October 18, 2015. [7] Image Entertainment gave it a limited released on November 13, 2015, [8] and it was released on DVD on January 5, 2016. [9]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 25% of eight surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 4.4/10. [10] Metacritic rated it 14/100 based on four reviews. [11] Geoff Berkshire of Variety called it a forgettable horror film that squanders an opportunity to make a countercultural exploitation film like the work of Frank Henenlotter or John Waters. [12] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the most egregiously awful horror films in recent memory", citing the special effects as the only highlight. [13] Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times called it "a stylish, pointless exercise in sleaze". [14] Chris Coffel of Bloody Disgusting rated it 2/5 stars and compared it negatively to Street Trash , saying that it "just feels gross to be gross and is in general kind of boring". [15] Matt Boiselle of Dread Central rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote that it may please gorehounds who are not put off by the overly odd characters. [16] Chris Alexander wrote in Shock Till You Drop that the film's negative reception is unwarranted, as it is an amusing black comedy that is memorable for its disorienting shifts between Troma-style splatter and serious drama. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Lowry</span> American actress, screenwriter and producer

Linda Kay "Lynn" Lowry is an American actress, screenwriter and producer.

<i>Reeker</i> 2005 American film

Reeker is a 2005 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Dave Payne. The plot centers on a group of young adults who are stranded in a desert oasis where they fall prey to a horrific decaying creature.

<i>Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever</i> 2009 American film

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever is a 2009 American comedy horror film directed by Ti West and stars Noah Segan, Rusty Kelley, Alexi Wasser, Marc Senter, Rider Strong and Giuseppe Andrews. It is a sequel to the 2002 film Cabin Fever and the second installment in the Cabin Fever franchise. The film is about a high school prom that descends into chaos when a deadly flesh-eating bacteria spreads via a popular brand of bottled water.

Curse of the Maya is a 2004 American horror film written, directed by and starring David Heavener.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Lovett</span> Fictional character

Ethan Lovett is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The role was originated by Nathan Parsons, who appeared from January 30, 2009, to March 7, 2012. Parsons returned for guest appearances in April 2013, July 2015 and September 2020, respectively. In April 2023, the role was portrayed by James Ryan.

<i>Paranormal Activity</i> 2007 film by Oren Peli

Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film produced, written, directed, photographed and edited by Oren Peli. It centers on a young couple who are haunted by a supernatural presence inside their home. They then set up a camera to document what is haunting them. The film uses found-footage conventions that were mirrored in the later films of the series.

<i>Forget Me Not</i> (2009 film) 2009 American supernatural horror film

Forget Me Not is a 2009 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tyler Oliver. Premiering on August 24, 2009, the film had a limited theatrical release and stars Carly Schroeder, Cody Linley, Micah Alberti, Brie Gabrielle, and Jillian Murray.

<i>Psych 9</i> 2010 film

Psych: 9 is a 2010 American-Czech horror film directed by Andrew Shortell. It stars Sara Foster and Michael Biehn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Tait (actor)</span> American actor, stuntman, and independent filmmaker (born 1978)

Douglas Tait is an American actor, and independent filmmaker. Tait has played characters in several films, including Freddy vs. Jason, Star Trek, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Land of the Lost, Annabelle Comes Home, and Hellboy.

<i>Prisoners</i> (2013 film) American film by Denis Villeneuve

Prisoners is a 2013 American thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Aaron Guzikowski. The film has an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano.

<i>The Town That Dreaded Sundown</i> (2014 film) 2014 American film

The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a 2014 American slasher film and serves as a metafictional sequel to the 1976 film of the same name. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon in his feature-length directorial debut, the film was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy. The film stars Addison Timlin, Travis Tope, Spencer Treat Clark, Veronica Cartwright and Gary Cole and was one of the last films of Ed Lauter and Edward Herrmann before their deaths in October 2013 and December 2014, respectively.

<i>Rites of Spring</i> (film) 2011 horror film

Rites of Spring is a 2011 American horror film written and directed by Padraig Reynolds. It stars A. J. Bowen, Sonny Marinelli, and Katherine Randolph as kidnappers who encounter an unrelated kidnapping victim who is fleeing a monster.

<i>Fear Clinic</i> (film) 2014 American film

Fear Clinic is a 2014 horror film by Robert Green Hall, based upon the web series of the same name. The movie, which was partially funded through crowdsourcing, stars Robert Englund as a psychiatrist that tries to cure phobias by using extreme methods. The film received its world premiere on 22 October 2014 at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival and was released on DVD in the United States on 10 February 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Penn</span> American actress and model

Dylan Frances Penn is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright. Her early public roles included modeling campaigns for Gap Inc., a magazine cover for treats!, a music video appearance in Nick Jonas's "Chains" and an acting role in Elvis & Nixon.

<i>Fractured</i> (2013 film) 2013 American film

Fractured is a 2013 psychological horror film that was directed by Adam Gierasch, based on a script by Gierasch and his writing partner Jace Anderson. The film had its world premiere on October 12, 2013 at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival. It stars Callum Blue as an amnesiac trying to discover what exactly happened to him.

<i>Burying the Ex</i> 2014 film by Joe Dante

Burying the Ex is a 2014 American zombie comedy film directed by Joe Dante and written by Alan Trezza. The film stars Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Alexandra Daddario and Oliver Cooper. It screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. The film was released on June 19, 2015, by Image Entertainment.

<i>Parlor</i> (film) 2014 American film

Parlor is a 2014 American horror film and the directorial debut of Devon Downs and Kenny Gage, both of whom also wrote the film's script. It had its world premiere on October 14, 2014 at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival and was shot over a 20-day period in Vilnius, Lithuania.

XLrator Media is an American film distributor headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The CEO is Barry Gordon, who founded the company in April 2010. In 2014, they began offering film production services in partnership with other companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Davies (musician)</span> British-American musician and composer

Daniel Davies is a British-American composer, musician and songwriter. He is best known for his contributions to horror director John Carpenter's Lost Themes and Lost Themes II albums, and for his work with rock bands Year Long Disaster, Karma to Burn, and CKY. Davies is the son of guitarist Dave Davies of The Kinks, and the godson of John Carpenter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stern, Marlow (June 30, 2020). "How the Horror Movie Condemned Became a Real-Life Nightmare". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Gingold, Michael (2015-11-12). "Q&A: Writer/Director Eli Morgan Gesner on His Unconventional Infection Shocker Condemned". Fangoria . Archived from the original on 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  3. ↑ Gingold, Michael (2014-06-05). "Exclusive first set visit and photos: "CONDEMNED," with Dylan Penn et al". Fangoria . Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  4. ↑ Barton, Steve (2014-03-21). "Dylan Penn Condemned by Director Eli Morgan Gesner". Screen Daily . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  5. ↑ Dickson, Evan (2014-04-17). "[Exclusive] Nick Damici and Michael Gill Get 'Condemned'!". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  6. ↑ Stern, Marlow (June 6, 2020). "How a Right-Wing Movie Studio Enabled the 'Harvey Weinstein' of Indie Film". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Squires, John (2015-10-01). "Screamfest 2015 Film Lineup Revealed; Premiere of Martyrs Remake". Dread Central . Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  8. ↑ Barton, Steve (2015-10-14). "Image Gallery and Artwork Condemned by RLJ Entertainment". Dread Central . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  9. ↑ Brickley, Sean (2016-01-05). "DVD and Blu-ray Releases: January 5, 2016". Dread Central . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  10. ↑ "Condemned (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  11. ↑ "Condemned". Metacritic . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  12. ↑ Berkshire, Geoff (2015-11-16). "Film Review: 'Condemned'". Variety . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  13. ↑ Scheck, Frank (2015-11-11). "'Condemned': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  14. ↑ Murray, Noel (2015-11-12). "Review Horror film 'Condemned' has a bad virus not worth catching". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  15. ↑ Coffel, Chris (2016-01-06). "[Blu-ray Review] 'Condemned' is Messy Film That Never Finds Its Footing". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  16. ↑ Boiselle, Matt (2015-10-15). "Condemned (2015)". Dread Central . Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  17. ↑ Alexander, Chris (2016-01-04). "Blu-ray Review: Eli Morgan Gesner's Cheerfully Filthy CONDEMNED". Shock Till You Drop . Retrieved 2016-04-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.