Mr. Jones (2013 film)

Last updated
Mr. Jones
Mr Jones 2013 horror thriller poster.jpg
Directed byKarl Mueller
Written byKarl Mueller
Produced byJamie Carmichael
Ross M. Dinerstein
Angela Sostre
Starring Jon Foster
Sarah Jones
Mark Steger
CinematographyMathew Rudenberg
Edited bySaul Herckis
Music byHerwig Maurer
Production
companies
Preferred Content, Preferred Film & TV
Distributed byAnchor Bay Films
Freestyle Releasing [1]
Release dates
  • April 19, 2013 (2013-04-19)(Tribeca Film Festival)
  • May 2, 2014 (2014-05-02)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mr. Jones is a 2013 horror thriller film and the feature-film directorial debut of Karl Mueller, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Jon Foster and Sarah Jones in lead roles. [2]

Contents

The story follows Scott and Penny, who retreat to a remote cabin in the wilderness for a film, but their plans are disrupted when they encounter strange sculptures and eerie occurrences linked to a mysterious artist named Mr. Jones.

Mr. Jones premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2013, and was released on DVD on May 2, 2014. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. It was praised for its unsettling atmosphere and unique premise but criticized for its narrative execution and slow pacing. Despite the reception, it found a niche audience in the horror genre.

Plot

Scott (Jon Foster) and Penny (Sarah Jones) move out to the woods for a year to make a nature documentary. After a few weeks tensions rise as it becomes obvious that the project isn't as well thought out as they had intended. Things begin to look up when Scott's backpack is stolen and they trace the thief to a cabin not far from the one that they are staying in. This new cabin is surrounded by bizarre stick figures and other strange objects.

They go into the cabin and retrieve Scott’s backpack. Scott sees that there is a basement, and a sub-basement, and wants to explore more, but Penny persuades him to leave. They realize that this is the home of the almost legendary and mysterious artist, Mr. Jones (Mark Steger).

Scott and Penny decide to make Mr. Jones the subject of their documentary. Scott flies back to New York City where he discovers that Mr. Jones is an elusive artist who has been sending his artwork to random people across the country with no rhyme or reason. He interviews several of them, all of whom seem to indicate that the weird figures have led to disturbing events in their lives. One tells him that he should stop his investigation of Mr. Jones, and if he sees him, he should just run away.

While Scott is away, Penny goes out to photograph Mr. Jones' figures. On one occasion, he approaches her silently from behind, carrying a new figure. Penny tries to ask Mr. Jones for an interview but he does not respond. As she approaches him, she is shocked to glimpse a gnarled and blackened face. She leaves, but films Mr. Jones putting up his new figure from a distance. Darkness falls and suddenly Penny is terrified as thunderous growls fill the air and she glimpses a disfigured face watching her from the bushes. She runs around disoriented until she sees Mr. Jones in the distance holding a lantern. Penny makes a decision to follow him and eventually Mr. Jones' lantern dissolves into one of the lights of her own cabin, and Mr. Jones vanishes. Penny later tells Scott that she felt safe, and thought that Mr. Jones guided her home.

Scott returns to the woods and he and Penny make plans to return to Mr. Jones's house. They wait outside until he leaves, before Scott sneaks in with Penny keeping watch and communicating by radio. Scott enters the house and goes down into both the basement and the sub-basement where he finds a huge underground maze of tunnels filled with more stick figures. In one of the rooms he finds a figure the size of a doll, with candles for eyes. He puts it in his backpack and starts to make his way out.

Outside, Penny is trying to warn Scott that Mr. Jones has returned. She can't reach him though, and her camera crashes to the ground. Underground, Scott is having trouble finding his way out. He frantically calls Penny, but can't reach her. Eventually he finds the right passage and runs out of the house. Penny is nowhere to be found.

Scott runs back to his own house, determined to find Penny. What he does find is that there are now stick figures in his front lawn, and even inside of his cabin. Penny turns up in their bedroom, seemingly unharmed. She doesn't know how she got there as she just remembers waking up there.

Scott and Penny are now terrorized with a series of bizarre and dreamlike images where they encounter strange sounds, a monitor that shows them video footage of themselves that they didn't film, and even a duplicate of Scott who is trying to break into the house. Time is also distorted as they experience a night that doesn't seem to end, even though their clocks indicate it should be mid-morning. During one episode of terrifying noises outside, there is an urgent knocking on the door. Penny tells Scott to open it, and that it's Mr. Jones. Scott opens the door to find a masked figure who grabs Scott - but he is just trying to hold on in vain as strong winds suck him away into the night. Scott is left holding only the visitor's sack-like mask in his hands.

Eventually they decide to leave the cabin and hike out of the area. Immediately they are separated and Scott runs into a duplicate of Penny who urges him to return the doll that he stole. Another Penny tells him that she never returned to the cabin and that Mr. Jones is gone. She wants him to forget about the doll and just leave.

Scott ends up back in Mr. Jones' house and in the sub-basement where he is chased by hooded figures. He returns the doll and relights the candles in its eyes. He then puts on the mask he was left with earlier and pulls up his hood, making him look quite strange and bizarre.

In the final scene we see Scott kissing Penny goodbye. A voice over suggests that he has become Mr. Jones. Apparently Mr. Jones was a shaman that guarded the borderline between a dream world and the waking world. Somehow Scott and Penny disturbed the balance between those worlds, so now Scott must protect it.

Cast

Production

Filming for Mr. Jones took place near Santa Clarita, California, at a movie ranch that featured derelict houses and an abandoned mineshaft, which director Karl Mueller utilized for scenes set in caverns. [3] Mueller drew inspiration from a range of sources, including director David Lynch and the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), aiming to design the soundtrack to evoke an underwater or "in somebody’s head" sensation, as if they had a bad cold. [3] He was also influenced by his childhood memories of a mysterious neighbor in Minnesota who lived in a primitive cabin, trapping animals and surrounding his home with eerie objects, inspiring a "boogieman" archetype in the film. [4]

Reception

Mr. Jones received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its narrative execution and slow pacing, but minor praise for its unique premise and unsettling atmosphere.

The film holds a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews and a score of 38 on Metacritic based on 5 reviews. [5] [6] Dread Central and The Hollywood Reporter offered mixed reviews for the film, with Dread Central noting that while the movie was "nicely shot" and featured solid performances, its final act was difficult to follow and visually unclear. They remarked, "By the time I got to the final ten minutes, I had had enough of the ongoing trippy scenes and was absolutely ready for the end." [7] [8] IndieWire criticized the film for not fully delivering on its premise, comparing it unfavorably to projects from "screenwriting classes during workshop sessions" and calling it "sloppy." [9]

On the other hand, Bloody Disgusting praised Mr. Jones, stating that it "captures the visuals of a nightmare" and provides "panicked thrills" for more engaged viewers. [10] Twitch Film also gave a generally positive review, while cautioning that the movie might not appeal to all audiences. [11] One Star Classics agreed, highlighting that fans of surrealist cinema might appreciate the film more. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Mr. Jones | Freestyle Releasing". Archived from the original on 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
  2. ↑ Gingold, Michael. "Exclusive photos: Pumpkinrot's creepy scarecrows for "MR. JONES"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 Piepenburg, Erik (18 April 2013). "Tribeca Film Festival: 'Mr. Jones'". NYT. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Meet the 2013 Tribeca Filmmakers #46: Exposing Our Inner Nosy Neighbor in Karl Mueller's 'Mr. Jones'". IndieWire. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Mr. Jones". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Gonzales, Ed (27 April 2014). "FILM REVIEW: Mr. Jones". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  7. ↑ DeFore, John (20 April 2013). "Mr. Jones: Tribeca Review". THR. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Hallam, Scott (6 May 2014). "Mr. Jones (review)". Dread Central. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Toro, Gabe (2 May 2014). "Review: Supernatural Horror 'Mr. Jones' Wastes A Promising Premise". IndieWire. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  10. ↑ Taylor, Lauren (6 May 2014). "'Mr. Jones' Packs Panicked Thrills". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Chaplinsky, Joshua. "Tribeca 2013 Review: Does MR. JONES Take Found Footage Horror To A New Dimension?". Twitch Film. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Olsen, Remi (30 October 2014). "One Star Classics review: Mr Jones". One Star Classics. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
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