Don’t look back

“With Don’t Look Back I wanted to create a mystery/suspense/horror film that deals with people’s lack of empathy of each other…as well as the themes of guilt, karma and faith. That’s what I love about our genre…we can entertain and scare people…while hopefully giving them something to think about when they finish the film. By doing this as in Indie film, I was able to cast who I wanted and I discovered a wonderful black actress, Kourtney Bell, as our leading lady. Kourtney is a gem who loves the genre and wants to be scream queen. “- Jeffrey Reddick

Horror cinema remains a fertile ground for directors who are passionate about cinema and wish to direct films that resemble them, are sincere, innovative and original. Don't look back is thus a first film as successful as it is frightening. The director and screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick (creator of the cult saga Destination Final) manages to play on the codes of thriller and fantasy film to deliver a film that will perfectly know how to make you shiver and especially how to question you about having to intervene when people are in danger.

At a time when horror cinema tends to be repetitive and lacks audacity, Jeffrey Reddick proves to be an excellent screenwriter as well as a great director in the making. His first film is worth the detour. Far from the Hollywood cinema in which most directors are muzzled, Jeffrey Reddick gives life to a film that resembles him. After scenes highlighting the climate of violence and insecurity on the streets of certain American cities and showing us innocent people attacked by dark individuals, we discover a young woman, Caitlin Kramer (Kourtney Bell), marked by a tragic event in her past and who finds herself among several witnesses of a man mortally assaulted and who did not dare to intervene to stop an assailant from committing the unforgivable. The witnesses in turn find themselves threatened by a vengeful presence.

Don't look back succeeds in cleverly mixing thriller and fantasy film and above all makes the spectators thrill with many memorable scenes. Jeffrey Reddick after having created one of the best horror film sagas and having directed two short films Good Samaritan (2014) and Divine Cure (2016) delivers us a first film mastered despite a limited budget. While discovering this film, we will certainly think of many thrillers, notably the films of Alfred Hitchcock (the presence of a crow is not a fortuitous coincidence) but also of horrific films playing at the same time on dreams and reality like the cinematic saga The Claws of the Night (Nightmare on Elm Street). Until the rather original final dénouement, Don't look back keeps us in suspense and turns out to be a successful first film.

The use of music to reinforce the immersion in this film and the great care given to the sound gives Don't look back a special aura and shows that it is still possible to make excellent horror thrillers without having to pour into the outrageous or staging bloody outbursts. On the contrary, we must give the characters a real psychological depth and put them in dangerous situations in order to create a real emotional bond with the spectators.

Note that this film will be screened as part of the Britannic festival Frighfest which will be held virtually from October 21 to 25.

Don't look back
Written and Directed by Jeffrey Reddick
Produced by Roman Dent, Ashleigh Snead
Starring Kourtney Bell, Will Stout, Skyler Hart, Jeremy Holm, Jaqueline Fleming, Amanda Grace Benitez, Damon Lipari, Han Soto
Music by Christopher Thomas
Cinematography: Andy Steinman
Edited by Mike Mendez, Erik Rosenbluh
Release date: October 16, 2020 (USA)
Running time: 87 minutes

Viewed on October 4, 2020 (press screener)

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