A story about a
mysterious creature and research scientists ended up being best picture of the
year. Of course we are talking about The
Shape of Water, which began filming in 2016.
Wild Eye Releasing, with
sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has
selected May 22 as the DVD debut date for writer/director Jim Hickcox’s Soft
Matter, which also features a mysterious creature and research
scientists. However, genre fans will
soon see that the similarities between Hickcox’s research scientists and their
mysterious creature and those of Guillermo del Toro’s begin and end right
there.
Filmmaker Jim Hickcox has
been perfecting his craft for over a decade — grip, gaffer, cinematographer, electrician,
editor, writer, director, producer, etc. — and at about the same time that Guillermo
del Toro was going into production on The Shape of Water, Hickcox was busy
exhibiting his award-winning (kickstarter-funded) short film Slow
Creep (about a mutating pile of garbage) at festivals.
It was time (in the fall
of 2016) to make the move from producing short films (The Rise of Kenji Gojira,
Fantastic the Amazing, True Will, Slow Creep, etc.) to that of a
feature film … Soft Matter is the result of a decade of hard work and learning
the craft. Another thing that genre
fans will learn on May 22 is that Soft Matter is not a quickie rip-off
of The
Shape of Water as its production history belies that assertion.
As to the story itself, a
pair of Austin, Texas graffiti artists by the name of Kish (Ruby Lee Dove II)
and Haircut (Devyn Placide) happen upon what they believe to be an abandoned
medical facility — formerly used for hospice care — and are inspired to turn
its interior walls into an impromptu art exhibition. They quickly spread the word among the
local critics in the hope of getting their work noticed (sort of an instant
art-rave).
What Kish and Haircut are
blissfully unaware of, as they begin their work, is that two “mad” scientists —
Grist (Hal Schneider) and Kriegspiel (Mary Anzalone) — are also making use of
the seemingly abandoned facility. They are working on a process to make humans
healthy and perhaps immortal, but as Leo G. Carroll learned when his “tarantula
took to the hills” that mad scientist experiments, no matter the motives,
usually end up with creatures that go on killing sprees.
With the arrival of the
Austin art critics (aka: the victim pool), Kish and Haircut’s art exhibition
quickly descends into a haunted house thriller as artists and scientists alike
try to find hiding places to escape the creature’s wrath!
For a grand time in a
“haunted house” — complete with creature “that spits lightning and kills” —
mark May 22 on your viewing calendar for the DVD arrival of writer/director Jim
Hickcox’s Soft Matter from Wild Eye Releasing.
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