‘Black Rock’ Trailer: Mumblecore Stars Katie Aselton And Mark Duplass Make A Generic Horror Thriller
Married coupleKatie AseltonandMark Duplasshave worked together on a range of projects, includingThe Puffy ChairandThe League, but their latest collaboration looks like a pretty sharp change of pace. Unfortunately for them, different doesn’t always mean better.
Directed by Aselton (The Freebie) from a script by Duplass,Black Rockcenters around three women (Aselton,Kate Bosworth, andLake Bell) on a camping trip on a remote island. They cross paths with a trio of war vets (Will Bouvier,Jay Paulson, andAnslem Richardson) who happily take up the girls' invitation to join their cozy party. After one sexual encounter takes a very nasty turn, however, the ladies find themselves running for their lives. Watch the trailer after the jump.
Neither Duplass nor Aselton are known for their horror work, but Duplass has dabbled in the genre before with the playfulBaghead. What makesBlack Rockso surprising is that it doesn’t seem to be anythingbuta straightforward thriller. Aselton’s previous effort,The Freebie, brought sharp insight into a studio comedy concept.Black Rock, in contrast, seems to have a generic premise with none of the subversion or wit we’ve come to expect from Aselton and Duplass.
AndBlack Rockdoesn’t even seem like a particularly good thriller, at that. The film was coolly received at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, with reviewers complaining about the cliched plot,“weak"characterization,“wholly unconvincing"action,“lackluster"direction.Badass Digesteven went as far as to wonder, “What happened to this promising filmmaker?” I think it’s probably too soon to mourn the decline of Aselton’s directing career — everyone’s allowed a few missteps, after all — but let’s just hope her next outing looks better than this one.
