Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Police Detective Film
Themes: Murder Investigations, Kids in Trouble
Main Cast: Marc Senter, Shay Astar, Alex Frost, Megan Henning, Robin Sydney
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 119 minutes
Plot
A charismatic psycho suspected of killing two innocent campers in a cold-blooded double homicide grows increasingly unstable as his suburban empire starts to crack at the foundations in director Chris Sivertson's adaptation of author Jack Ketchum's chilling take on the 1960s-era Charles Schmid murders. Ray Pye (Chris Senter) may be well out of high school, but the kids in his sleepy town are strangely drawn to the drug-dealing outsider who stuffs cans in his boots to boost his stature and sports pancake make-up to cast a rock-star aura. But Ray Pye isn't just eccentric, he's downright dangerous. It was during a weekend camping excursion with his sometime-girlfriend Jennifer Fitch (Shay Astar) and best pal Tim Best (Alex Frost) that Ray shot a pair of pretty campers simply to satisfy his own morbid curiosity, and after bullying his friends into silence, the case would go strangely unsolved. Despite the fact that one of the girls eventually managed to escape, she lay comatose in the hospital for months on end before eventually succumbing to her wounds. Local detective Charlie Schilling (Michael Bowen) suspected Ray of the crime from the very beginning, and now that the girl has died without being able to identify her killer, Schilling is determined to ensure that justice is served. These days the womanizing Pye has turned his attentions away from Jennifer and toward newly arrived rich girl Katherine Wallace (Robin Sydney) and innocent Sally Richmond (Megan Henning) -- a recent high-school graduate who, unbeknownst to Ray, is involved in a tender May-December romance with retired cop Ed Anderson (Ed Lauter). Now, as Katherine and Sally reject Ray's advances, and Tim and Jennifer's once undying loyalty begins to slip, the increasingly unstable pied piper's fragile ego spirals into an explosive tailspin. With the rage that's bubbling up in Ray threatening to send him on a murderous rampage, Detective Schilling and Ed Anderson desperately attempt to gather the evidence needed to arrest the swaggering psychopath before more lives are lost. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
Playing like something of a less-abstract Twin Peaks for the sadistic horror generation, director/screenwriter Chris Sivertson's stylish take on underground literary horror icon Jack Ketchum's chilling novel The Lost (itself inspired by the murderous exploits of 1960s-era serial killer Charles Schmid) successfully winds up tension in the viewer before virtually exploding on the screen with a near-overwhelming display of cinematic brutality. The key difference in Sivertson's film and Lynch's surreal cult hit, however, is that this time around the audience knows precisely who the killer is, and is simply forced to watch as his adolescent empire slowly crumbles along with his fragile ego. What follows when that inevitably happens certainly isn't pretty, and is likely to send many viewers scrambling towards the nearest exit. The Lost isn't your traditional horror film, but rather a near-satirical drama that first locks viewers in with a frightening act of violence, and then knowingly pulls back to show just what kind of man would be capable of committing such a reprehensible act. That man is Ray Pye - a sociopathic, mascara wearing American nightmare whose strangely seductive swagger is actually the result of crushed tin cans stuffed into his boots. After seeing The Lost, it's difficult to imagine anyone other that Marc Senter occupying Pye's curiously uncomfortable footwear. Senter's performance is nothing short of fearless, and when Pye stands before the mirror applying his pancake make-up and dotting the beauty mark on his right cheek, the viewer can plainly see that all hell is about to break loose. But what's an effective screen maniac if he doesn't have an ample cast to back him up? Though his performance reads borderline overwrought in the early minutes of the film, screen veteran Michael Bowen (Kill Bill, Vol. 1) and TV's Lost) eventually strikes a pitch perfect note as weary but tenacious Detective Schilling - who has been forced to watch helplessly as the mother (Dee Wallace-Stone in a brief but devastating performance) of Pye's early victim withers away into an alcoholic haze. Likewise, perpetual "that guy" Ed Lauter takes an exceptional turn as the conflicted retired cop who struggles through an affectionate May-December romance with barely-legal sweetheart Sally Richmond (Megan Henning) while attempting to steer her clear of Pye and help ex-partner Schilling nail the simmering young psycho. Zoran Popovic's seductive photography serves the story well as his lens takes on Pye's alcohol and pot-fueled perspective during one of his legendary parties and shades him in darkness early on, with the soundtrack offering an impressive array of everything from Japanese stoner rock (Boris) to Norwegian experimental (Kaada) and ear-bleeding Australian death metal (Blood Duster). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Marc Senter - Ray Pye
Shay Astar - Jennifer Fitch
Alex Frost - Tim Bess
Megan Henning - Sally Richmond
Robin Sydney - Katherine Wallace
Erin Brown - Lisa Steiner; Ruby LaRocca - Elise Hanlon; Michael Bowen - Charlie Schilling; Dee Wallace - Barbara Hanlon; Ed Lauter - Ed Anderson
Credit
Michael Bowen - Associate Producer, Marc Senter - Associate Producer, Jack Ketchum - Associate Producer, Dino S. Ladki - Casting, Lisa Gaye Norcia - Costume Designer, Alisa Fredrix - First Assistant Director, Chris Sivertson - Director, Poppy Gulch - Editor, Koko Poovey - Executive Producer, Temistocles H. Rutili - Composer (Music Score), Chris Davis - Production Designer, Zoran Popovic - Cinematographer, Lucky McKee - Producer, Chris Sivertson - Producer, Mike McKee - Producer, Shelli Merrill - Producer, Ron Eng - Sound/Sound Designer, Chris Sivertson - Screenwriter, Jack Ketchum - Book Author
