The Lost

Jack Ketchum is one of the most prolific horror writers around and, with The Girl Next Door, The Lost and the upcoming Red, is becoming quite accustomed to seeing his books adapted for the big screen.
 
He's someone that knows his true life crime and incorporates it quite freely into his books, with this based on a real life serial killer, Charles Schmid, who killed three or four people in the 1960s.  Ketchum takes certain events from this case, such as Schmid stuffing crushed beer cans into his boots to make him look taller, killing women because he thought they were lesbians and confiding in his friends, of which he had many, that he had murdered and kept them quiet through his unstable and occasionally terrifying behaviour.
 
Adapted for the screen and directed by Chris Sivertson, this stars Marc Senter as Ray Pye, the manager of his mother's motel and a man who flaunts his age to attract friends.  A local marijuana dealer, he hangs around with Timothy and Jennifer and the film opens in the woods with a camera behind Pye's legs showing the odd way he walks due to his improvised heel lifts.  Approaching an outhouse, a naked girl emerges and, unfazed, he asks her if she has a cigarette.  The woman goes off to where her friend is sunbathing and the two dress and move away.
 

 
As night falls, Pye has obviously told Tim and Jennifer and they spy on the girls while they sit around the fire by their tent.  Pye is obsessing that they're probably 'lezzies' and decides that they should be killed as it's not like they're going to have kids anyway.  His friends are a little disturbed and, when Pye takes out two guns and kills the campers, they are stunned.
 
Four years on and Pye is a free man with detectives Charlie Schilling and Ed Anderson having failed to secure a conviction. They know he killed them as he was their only suspect but with Tim and Jennifer's silence, there is no proof.  All they can do is keep an eye on him and wait until something gives, providing them the opportunity to get their man.
 

 
The Lost is a great story and the novel was set in the mid- to late-1960s but the film has been updated whilst still keeping the look and feel of the sixties.  The title refers to the lost generation and those killed in Vietnam so it loses some of its meaning here but Pye is dressed like an Elvis fan, in black with slicked back hair and his car is a vintage Buick.  This is very much a film of three acts, with the first and third full of murderous violence with the middle section entirely comprising the tension between the three and Detective Schilling's obsession with Pye.  Ed Anderson has retired and begun a relationship with an acquaintance of theirs and daughter of a local prosecutor, Sally Richmond.
 
The opening is very chilling and the film maintains a real unsettling feeling throughout, leading right up to the explosion of violence at the end which, although it leaves the most serious stuff to the imagination (as all you can make out is the sound), it is certainly not for the faint hearted or weak of stomach.
 
Marc Senter is superb as the deeply disturbed and psychopathic killer, maintaining a dark undercurrent when he comes across as very charismatic and occasionally likeable.  As Jennifer, Shay Astar, unrecognisable from her time in 3rd Rock from the Sun, proves herself a fine dramatic actress and the rest of the cast to a sterling job.   The only actors I recognised were Michael Bowen, probably best known for his role in Jackie Brown, and he is a consummate professional and Ed Lauter.
 
This is a really interesting and occasionally very disturbing film that, although not a 'pure' horror, more fitting into the thriller or psychological drama category, is unsettling and well worth watching.  It's not the greatest film about a serial killer but I enjoyed it a great deal.

The Disc

Extra Features
Oddly there's no contribution from writer/director/producer Chris Sivertson so it's up to Jack Ketchum to provide an audio commentary.  He is joined by fellow horror author Monica O'Rourke who plays the role of moderator, keeping Ketchum on track while they talk about the film, her playing Devil's Advocate, the book and wider horror writing in general.  This is a busy and informative listen, especially for fans of Ketchum's work who will glean more from this than those who have never read any of his books.
 
There is also six minutes of audition footage which shows how impressive Marc Senter was in an office at losing his temper and why the other actors got the gig.
 

 
The Picture
A very clean and quite clear anamorphic picture which is very stylishly shot with each of the main characters given their own colour and lit in a certain way.  When the tension escalates, the cutting rate increases to show how Pye's mind operates and shows how he s losing it.
 
The Sound
Complementing the visuals well, the DD 5.1 soundtrack is pretty clear with the surrounds playing the sound of a fly buzzing which seems to illustrate when Pye is at his most unstable.  The music is really interesting and complements the cutting with one scene using both heavy metal and dance music in alternate cuts just to emphasise the killer's unstable mind.
 
I did find the dialogue a little muddy and occasionally hard to make out so I flicked on the subtitles which helped out and were clear and free of any spelling or grammatical errors.
 

 
Final Thoughts
The Lost was Chris Sivertson's first major movie and one he made just before I Know Who Killed Me, which shows that he really has an interest in serial killer movies.  It shows quite assured direction and writing, especially as he's working with a generally young and inexperienced cast.  After the violent opening, it would be easy to let the pace and tension drop and he does purposefully slow the film down but this only serves to keep the pressure high with those around Pye starting to feel the strain of keeping such a massive secret whilst his erratic behaviour threatens those around him. When you get to the end and he evokes the Manson murders there is one part which is extremely uncomfortable viewing even though you don't see anything and it's a fantastic decision to drop all non-diegetic sound so all you hear is the cutting and the screams from those in the room.
 
For fans of serial killer movies and those willing to give low-budget films a try, this is worth checking out.  It won't be the best horror film you'll see all year, but it merits a look.