She’s a device more than an actual person, and so we struggle to care what happens to her. And the biggest problem of all is that Sawyer is the least engaging, least realized character from Julie Lipson's script. It’s ostensibly a thriller, but it’s rarely thrilling, way more interesting with its character beats between Corfield and the movie-stealing Jay Paulson than in any of the scenes that feel like they should be tense but aren’t. The problem with “Rust Creek” comes back to tone and protagonist. It’s a remarkably confident use of setting, and the most well-done aspect of the film. You can feel the cold Southern air even as the sunlight streaks through the trees. And she ends up sketching a surprisingly vibrant world in these Kentucky woods, thanks in large part to great cinematography by Michelle Lawler. Sawyer’s attackers aren’t smart enough or interesting enough to be the film’s true villains, so McGowan introduces another ally for Sawyer and a few local cops who may have hidden agendas. The opening act is familiar and flat in terms of filmmaking, but McGowan isn’t only interested in telling a predator-and-prey horror story.

She headbutts and even gets control of a knife before fleeing into the woods-her assailants follow. As she struggles to find her way back to civilization, McGowan cuts to shadowy figures in the woods, indicating this is going to be a “city girl in a country world” horror story, likely a riff on “ Deliverance” or “ The Last House on the Left,” movies that remind us there is evil in them there woods.Īnd it appears that “Rust Creek” is going to be exactly a low-budget hillbilly horror film when Sawyer pulls over to check a map on her hood and a couple of clearly-no-good dudes pull over to “help.” Before you know it, her car door has been blocked and she’s been groped, but Sawyer fights back hard. Most of us who have done any amount of traveling have been there, rerouted through small towns to avoid an accident on a major byway. Sawyer ( Hermione Corfield) is headed to DC for a job interview when her GPS takes her off the freeway path and directly into a “Road Closed” sign. This entry was posted in drama, Film Festival, Film School interview, Horror, Indie, Los Angeles Film Festival, Thriller by admin.

“It’s tight without being punishing, and its humor takes you happily by surprise.” – David Edelstein New York Magazine/Vulture “…what looks on the surface to be a film we’ve seen a thousand times, turns out to be a multi-layered, multifaceted convolution of curve balls and metaphor.” – Amyana Bartley QBP Reviews “Rust Creek, in addition to its success as a thriller, also has a strong emotional core in its consistent admonishment of amorality and apathy, a deceptively layered thriller that touches upon the inherent horror in being a woman.” – Christina Tucker Film Inquiry “Fighting off a bunch of backwoods yokels is nothing new to horror movies, but somehow Rust Creek makes this old tale feel fresh and tense.” – Deirdre Crimmins HighDef Digest Director Jen McGowan joins us to talk about her multi-faceted, nuanced “woman in distress” storyline and her decision to work with a predominantly female crew.įor news and updates go to: /films/rust-creek Though she’s not sure she can trust him, Sawyer must take a chance if she hopes to escape Rust Creek alive.

With nowhere left to run, she is forced into an uneasy alliance with Lowell (Jay Paulson), an enigmatic loner with shadowy intentions. S uddenly, the young woman with everything to live for finds herself facing her own mortality as she’s punished by the elements and pursued by a band of ruthless outlaws Hollister (Micah Hauptman) and Buck (Daniel Hill). While on her way to a job interview, a wrong turn leaves her stranded deep in the frozen Kentucky woods. Sawyer (Hermione Corfield) is an ambitious, overachieving college senior with a seemingly bright future.

Rust Creek is a gripping tale of an ordinary woman who must summon extraordinary courage to survive a nightmare odyssey.

Rust creek