Deliverance, The Defiant Ones, High
Sierra and even First Blood … little parts of many of
these films come to mind when taking in the writing/directing team of Abe Levy
and Silver Tree’s chase thriller, Deep Dark Canyon. This surprising independent, out on DVD Apr.
23 from Screen Media Films, comprises many of the best themes from all of them.
A routine deer hunting
trip (filmed in and around the picturesque Guerneville area — including the Russian
River — in Northern California) is the catalyst for tragedy when brothers Nate
(Spencer Treat Clark — Gladiator, The Last House on the Left,
Camp
Hell, etc.) and Skylar Towne (Nick Eversman — perhaps best known as
Michael Winstone on the Missing TV series, plus such films
as Hellraiser:
Revelations, Urban Explorer, etc.) accidently
kill a member of the powerful Cavanaugh clan — not just any member, but the town's mayor.
It was a hunting
accident; nothing malicious. Skylar,
the younger of the two, elects to take the blame — figuring that as a teen he
will have fewer problems with the law than his “of-age” brother. That’s the thread that slips the figurative
ball of twine and sets a cascade of fateful events in motion.
There are two problems
with the brothers’ solution — and neither actually includes the age of who
fired the fatal shot. First, their
father is the sheriff (played by Ted Levine — The Silence of the Lambs,
Heat,
Shutter
Island, etc.) and secondly, the Cavanaugh’s run the town.
Mix in Nate’s growing guilt, the suspicion
that the story of the accident might not be on the up-and-up — and perhaps dad
is covering for them (some internal double-dealing in his own department) — and
you have the makings of a volatile mix are in place; a fuse to be lit.
When the breakdown does
come at the end of the first act — that murder charges be filed against Skylar
— a series of very bad decision (by all involved) takes Deep Dark Canyon down a
path where you begin to suspect that there will be no good outcome. Blood will be shed.
Chaos ensues when Nate
elects to break his brother out of jail.
They end up handcuffed together and on the run. What makes their plight so enthralling is
that you, the viewer, can’t help but be upset with everything that followed
after one unintentional death.
Two young brothers,
locked at the wrist, become running targets in the woods, constantly dodging
the bullets of the Cavanaugh’s little posse (“don’t bother bringin’em back
alive”), while their father (reminder: he’s the sheriff!) tries to reign things
in (unsuccessfully … mostly).
You quickly; easily root
for these two kids — scream at them when they’re just steps ahead of their
hunters, sympathize with them when the universe seems to be aligned against
them. But you’re always with them, win
or lose … and that’s a sign of great storytelling.
Filmmakers Levy and Tree
keep the cat-and-mouse chase plausible as long as they can … and bring us to a
conclusion that fits with what has transpired (look for the clues).
To download this week's
complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report: DVD & Blu-ray Release Report
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