When a young girl is taken prisoner by a sadistic killer, she uses her wits to escape. But her freedom is just the beginning of the gruesome, and oddly hilarious, downward spiral her family takes when they decide to get even with her abductor. -Yahoo Movies

Otis is a welcome addition to the horror-comedy genre without tipping over into the land of parody such as films like Black Sheep and Shaun of the Dead. Otis is at first, instilled with just enough humor to take the edge off while letting us inside the head of two types of people: The psychopath Otis (Bostin Christopher) himself, who just wants to have his perfect Prom night (at least 25 years too late) and the Lawsons, his latest victims family played wonderfully by Daniel Stern, Illeana Douglas, and Jared Kusnits. Kevin Pollak turns in a different performance as Otis's older, meaner brother whose life Otis is trying to emulate, something that isn't directly addressed but you pick up along the way. What makes this film different than other psychopath/serial killer flicks is that the Lawsons get their revenge, which is where the fun really begins. Taking a few unexpected turns is always a good thing in these types of movies, and Otis pulls darkness, humor, tension and a great soundtrack into a tight and different type of film.

The film may be called Otis but the real star of the show is Illeana Douglas, who, although I haven't seen in much, have always admired. She has a quirkiness that lends well to the slightly off Kate Lawson. Complimenting her and helping the strange family dynamic is Daniel Stern, who may be famous for his bumbling crook in Home Alone, but is no stranger to dark comedy. Anybody remember Very Bad Things? He is the consciousness of the family and is pretty much coerced into action by Kate. Jared Kusnits fits the bill as the messed up teen, (who wouldn't be with Daniel and Illeana as parents?) but also shows that he cares for his sister, or does he just want to get medieval with a baseball bat? Actually he has issues, he videotapes his sister dancing in her undies to post on the internet, but I feel he redeems himself in the end.

Speaking of the sister, you have no idea how surprised I was upon checking the IMDB page for Riley (Ashley Johnson). Lo and behold, she was little Chrissy Seaver in the later seasons of Growing Pains! She has turned out to be a beautiful woman with an acting skill born from acting since she was six years old. Unfortunately it seems that she is only a means to an end and not given a whole lot of room to let her talent show. Otis himself is Christopher Bostin in his first leading role. In the behind the scenes he says that people may sympathize with Otis, and I can see how some may relate, but he just came across as creepy to me. I know I never went to my prom, but I turned out ok, for the most part. Kevin Pollack is here as mentioned earlier and has what is basically an extended cameo. Jere Burns is great at what he does but I think director Tony Krantz may have given him too much leeway as he is a bumbling inconsiderate idiot and kind of pulls you out of the moment. However, he does redeem himself in the end like Jared Kusnits' character. I really didn't intend to dwell so long on the cast but when you have a superb cast like this it's hard not to.

Extras include a commentary that I have yet to listen to but plan to in the near future, a semi generic behind the scenes, an alternate ending that would have changed the whole tone of the film, and a quirky little montage of Otis's past victims edited together from his home movies so they say exactly what he wants to hear. Also included are a few trailers for other Raw Feed films.

8/10

Mitch Emerson

mitchemerson@hotmail.com