Rose of Death Shows the Hidden Sins of Youth.
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Rose of Death is an Independent horror movie about sins of youth and final retribution. The moral of the story is: Be careful how you choose your friends.
Written by BHM Editor Don Sumner
August 14, 2007
Release: August 7, 2007
Written, Directed and Co-Produced by: L. Alan Brooks
Starring:
Sandra Winogrocki as Meg
Luke Jones as Jake
Sarah McGuire as Rose
Ash Dauenhauer as Kevin
Matt Thomsen as Det. Haines
I’ve heard of having crazy times at the senior prom, but this is ridiculous.
The beginning scene of Rose of Death, and Independent horror creation by L. Alan Brooks, shows two young love birds making out in their car. After a bit of conversation it becomes clear that this is a very unlikely couple: The most popular girl in high school and the biggest nerd in the chess club.
“Miss Popularity”, named Rose (Sarah McGuire), is not very popular with the captain of the football team though (Luke Jones)…because he is the one that she dumped to suck face with El Nerdo Kevin (Ash Dauenhauer). Speaking of Mr. Football Captain, he pays the kissing couple a visit this prom night, and it is not pretty. This is where the really bad decisions begin.
First, football-guy loses his temper while beating up the nerd-guy, and kills him. Then, to
teach his ex-girlfriend Rose a lesson, he rapes her from behind with two of his buddies
holding her down and egging him on. This upsets his new girlfriend (Sandra Winogrocki)
who is along for the ride, of course, but he doesn’t seem to mind that at the time.
To make a long story short, the group of rough necks decides that their scholarships and futures may be jeopardized if Rose decides to go to the authorities and report the rape and murder, so they kill her too. All of the night’s events are sworn to secrecy as they push the car loaded with the two dead lovebirds over a cliff and into the river.
Ten years later each of the teenage criminals have moved on with their lives and seem to be
doing well, until one by one they start to turn up dismembered and dead. Have the prom-night
lovebirds come back for revenge?
Rose of Death has a lot of good things going for it. The acting, for the most part, is very good. The blond homicide police officer Detective Haines (Matt Thomsen) in particular is outstanding comic relief and almost steals the entire show. I had to get his name from Brooks because Rose of Death is not listed in the Internet Movie Database - we're going to have to work on that. The story is interesting and compelling (if not likely), and the kill scenes are imaginative and sufficiently gory to please the adolescent gore-hounds (like me).
Rose of Death is being released by Brain Damage Films, and I sure hope they get some promotion out there…it is next to impossible to find any information about the film. This is unfortunate too, because as far as Independent horror offerings go this is an incredible stand-out. The story, acting, scares, gore and comic-relief characters come together to create an enjoyable horror offering that is much better than many of the big-budget studio horror fiascos I have seen lately.
Many times Independent horror requires a special audience that can appreciate how much a film
maker can do without much money and who is willing to overlook certain film quality issues
that result from lack of budget. I don’t think this one is dependent on this special
audience. Instead, Rose of Death should appeal to a wide variety of horror fans,
and would be a good “first timers” film for those interested in exploring the
low budget fare from the Independent film producers.
If you have been wanting to see some low-budget horror but were afraid to take the plunge, Rose of Death is just the ticket. Questions or comments about Rose of Death? Contact us!
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