Wuchak RELEASED IN 2011 and directed by Mike Nichols (not the famous director), "Bread Crumbs" is a slasher taking place on remote Long Island where a 9-person crew travel to shoot a porn flick at a rented house in the woods. Unfortunately for them, two weird teens and perhaps a woodsman are lurking in the area and the crew starts getting violently assaulted one-by-one.The reason I watched this movie is because it was included in a DVD multi-pack of slashers where the five other films were no-budget independent flicks. What's strange is that "Bread Crumbs" doesn't fit that category because this is a slasher that smacks of professionalism. Now, people may not like it, but it IS a professionally-made movie. But, is it any good? I think so, here's why...While the topic of a porn crew is distasteful (to me, at least) it's a perfect set-up for the slasher tradition that sexual immorality equals death. Although a couple of the crew are unlikable, most of them are more-or-less genial with past-her-prime Angie particularly winning the viewer's sympathy (Marianne Hagan). Two of 'em are the requisite sexpots, a typical vapid blond (Alana Curry) and a voluptuous equally-vapid brunette (Zoe Sloane).The "Hansel and Gretel" characters look to be around 17 (Henry) and 16 (Patti). The former is played by Dan Shaked while the latter by Amy Crowdis. Patti is a somewhat interesting character and Amy possesses a unique beauty.The tone is austere with maybe a little realistic humor thrown-in, but the air quickly turns dead serious by the second act with suspense effectively building. Meanwhile you wonder the purpose behind the attacks and who's going to live, if any. The cinematography features some awesome visuals, particularly in the last act, and the score & soundtrack are fitting.THE MOVIE RUNS 88 minutes and was shot in far eastern Long Island, New York (Sag Harbor & Southhampton).GRADE: B ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further if you haven't seen the movie).An armchair critic argued that the crew could easily overpower the two teens & the woodsman, but (1.) it was night, (2.) they didn't know the area, and (3.) they didn't have any weapons. By contrast, the antagonists (1.) lived there, (2.) knew the area well, and (3.) had several weapons, including bow & arrows, knives, axes and hidden traps. Besides, Henry wasn't a kid and could have easily been around 20 years-old, same thing with Patti. Then there's the woodsman who was a formidable full-fledged adult.Lastly, the crew wasn't sure how many people were behind the attacks. Some of their colleagues were either seriously wounded or dead and they were understandably freaking out and simply seeking a way to survive the night and following day.

ASouthernHorrorFan "Bread Crumbs" is a 2011 horror that goes for broke in an attempt to combine a disturbing horror plot with a classic, often overlooked, disturbing didactic, fairytale of two children left tend to the elements, deep in the woods. "Bread Crumbs" is directed by Mike Nichols and stars Kristina Klebe, Dan Shaked, Marianne Hagan, Zoe Sloane, Alana Curry, Douglas Nyback, Shira Weitz, Steve Carey, and Mike Nichols. The plot follows a porn crew and cast into the woods to shoot a movie. Unfortunately there is a twisted brother, sister duo using the area as their personal killing field. The story is pretty cool with a basic principle of setting the characters up for a kill scene which for the most part work without seeming contrived. The drama and action begin almost instantly and manage to keep a steady, straight forward pace through most of the movie without becoming exhausting. The porn set concept brings plenty of flesh to the screen but in the most censored, conservative manner. Nothing really explicit here (by my standards anyway). However, it is obvious that entwining the "Hansel & Gretel" aspect to the story is very much contrived, playing out more like a bit of stretched, nonsensical moments of weak dialog meant to bring the viewer to the breadcrumbs "table". Still the kids are so d*mn dark and disturbing that it manages to pull off a good concept in a, "middle-of-the-road, mediocre way, but it does get there. The soundtrack and special effects in "Bread Crumbs" really make the film enjoyable for me personally. I can forgive weak dialog, loose story arcs" as long as the effects and sound track hold me to the story and drama unfolding on screen. Nichols does a pretty good job tying it all in to make a fun, standard horror mythos in "Bread Crumbs" with eerie sounds, and a strong attention to practical effects and blood consistency. The film doesn't give us a new look at horror or bring something extraordinary to the genre but it is an entertaining, modern classic that stays true to the roots of the genre. It gave me that 80's feel that I only get with a certain type of horror movie story, I dug the homicidal brother and sister and the unfinished ending is beyond retro! (That is a good thing cause retro is candy for me!)

Foreverisacastironmess Okay, they start out with this really cool and Gothic animated intro sequence that shows the origin of the "kids". Such a pity that it turns out it's the best part of the movie! It really was pretty much downhill from there. I personally thought a lot of this was kind of okay, it was a little better than mediocre, but it was still bad though-at the same time! It was very uneven and all over the place. I'm sort of in the middle when it comes to it myself. It was certainly never an even remotely frightening film, and it always lacked any suspense. Definitely nothing too spectacular here. Most of the actors were just straight-up bleh, and were just completely boring and held no interest for me at all. And when they finally started to drop I just didn't care. What I did care for the most about this flick was the far-out twisted siblings Pattie and Henry. There was something poignant and compellingly mysterious about them. I thought that "Adam's Family" thing that they had going on was great, I got that they were "evil", but they just weren't scary or even creepy! Shame, really. I also liked Marianne Hagan as Angie. I found her whole mid-life crisis and gravely misguided motherly affinity for Pattie interesting. ::: Amy Crowdis was so weird...like she was from Mars or something! She looked a lot like a young Alicia Witt. I have an inkling that most of the hate for this movie is actually due to her insufferable humming, which is indeed highly aggravating and annoying. Her character was okay, in a freaky lightheaded kooky kind of way. She makes me laugh in the scene where she badmouths the guy who's wife she has just "accidently" dropped on the floor, causing the arrows pin-cushioning her body to impale her further and polish her off! She sounded really amateurish and stupid near the end when she spouts some pathetic girly nonsense about "houses of candy" that just sounded totally meaningless. I did find Dan Shaked to be much better, although together they did make a good haunting duo. I loved Dan's performance. He kinda came off as a gay retard, which I thought was so funny. The murmurous voice he used with his few lines was so strange, he sounded like a little boy. I liked his sinister body language and the robotic way that he moved. I really love a little vocal exchange between him and Hagan where he says some-I guess it's supposed to be cryptic stuff about a woodsman and being "very cut and dry..." I thought he spoke the words so beautifully. One of the very few highlights is the great big what-the-f**k moment when Henry breaks his composure and completely wigs out!!! His friggin' huge girlish shrieks of insanity are all the more hilarious to hear because up to that point the character has been so completely rigid and subdued. I also thought he was really cute and adorable with his pouty little puppydog expression! He is my favourite thing about this movie. ::: I thought the theme tune was really great, bittersweet and ominous and quite soothing, to me. That's the main problem with this film, it's not really any kind of Hansel and Gretal tale, nor anything remotely fantasy whatever. But as slashers go, I thought it was a different approach. It's definitely not a good one by any means, I personally enjoyed it but I can see how many will think it poor or worse. But it's peculiar and odd and uh, I like that about it! Things even get a tad surreal and atmospheric during the final act. I do not get that ending. Were they gonna kill her too? Or was she one of them now? Had they finally found their "mommy..." It sure is an unsatisfying floaty type of ending, but overall, I think as long as you go at it not expecting something brilliant and try to like it for what it is, you might just find yourself enjoying this little house of rotten candy!

Paul Andrews BreadCrumbs is set in the remote wooded wilderness & starts as the cast & crew of a porn film arrive at a log cabin, they plan to make a porn film there but straight away several members of the group are unhappy as the cabin is so remote there's no phone signal. For veteran porn starlet Angie Hart (Marianne Hagan) this will be her last production & will retire afterwards but the show must go on & as the cast & crew start filming each other having sex they slowly become aware of the presence of two children, brother & sister whom seem somewhat creepy yet harmless. Then that night as Dominick (Douglas Nyback) learns his lines outside he is attacked & hung on a huge hook to dangle, the other's inside find him & realise that there is a killer about. Angie is worried about the two children & manages to persuade the young girl to stay with her but it turns out that the two siblings are the killer's...Edited, co-produced & written by Mike Nichols who also has a fairly big part in the film as porn producer & director Eddie this is a tired cross between your typical teen slasher fare & some lazy thriller, Breadcrumbs works as neither a straight horror or a thriller & ends up being nothing in particular. At just over 80 minutes long not that much actually happens, besides the totally unconnected to anything else opening sequence it's nearly the forty minute mark before the first attempted kill during which time very little happens to be honest. The build-up is reasonable with no logic or reason behind what the two siblings are doing but the film ends like that as well, I was expecting some sort of motive or explanation or even some sort of origin for the killer's but we get none that I could make any sense of. I was actually expecting some sort of twist ending but there isn't one, Breadcrumbs really does just finish leaving almost as many questions as when it started. The fairy tale references are here with a few mentions but it's all very half hearted & adds up to nothing, I don't really even understand the title Breadcrumbs either or what relevance it has to what happens. The character's are pretty stupid as you would expect in a slasher film as well, why does Angie suddenly care so much about the two children? Everyone else is telling her that they are the killer's yet she insists on defending them calling them 'just children' or 'she's just a little girl'? Maybe the script was trying to show how deep a woman's love for a child can be but on screen the way it's portrayed just comes off as total lunacy & makes zero sense in the context of what's going on.Even with the build-up there's very little pay-off here, in facts there's none really. Considering that this is meant to be a horror film there's very little blood or gore here, there's a slit throat, a few people are shot with arrows & there's a bit of blood splatter but all the killing's are extremely tame almost like the makers were afraid to show any blood. Considering that the setting for Breadcrumbs is a porn film shoot there's no nudity or sex either which is surely a missed opportunity. The one positive aspect of Breadcrumbs is that it's very well shot in full 2:35:1 widescreen & is well made, there's no great suspense or scares but it looks nice enough & not like a lot of low budget shot on camcorder horror films floating around. The opening titles are animated & are quite cool but I would rather the makers saved the money & put it towards some decent gory special effects which would have been more appreciated.Filmed on Long Island in New York the production values are surprisingly good but the script is still poor so despite the positives there's plenty of negatives. The acting is alright, nothing too bad I suppose but nothing great either.Breadcrumbs is a pretty forgettable horror thriller that can't quite decide what it wants to be, it neither thrills or scares & leaves one feeling very unsatisfied. I thought it was well made but that's the best thing I can say about it.