A different approach is taken in Wild Eyed and Wicked. The film follows Lily Pierce (Molly Kunz) as she struggles with dark family secrets. The film begins as a slow-burning drama and ends with a literal, horrific fight as Lily attempts to free her family from the evil that has been taken from them for generations.
Pay close attention to the opening scenes. Everything at the beginning will be important once the drama turns into a very dark fantasy.
Director: Gordon Shoemaker FoxwoodWriter: Gordon Shoemaker FoxwoodStars: Colleen Camp, Molly Kunz, Stefanie Estes
It's important to note that the first half of the film is a slow-moving drama. Lily's life in the present is defined and connected to the traumatic death of her mother. The film slowly reveals that Lily is separated from her father, Gregory (Michael X. Sommers). He is still in the family home, dying of colon cancer and depression.
Lily's messy life and estrangement are soon explained as her nightmares increase. In her childhood home, Lily's reality begins to slip back into the horror she experienced as a child. Soon, the monsters that haunted her after her mother's death return. Lily must defeat them, only with the help of her therapist (Colleen Camp) and her girlfriend (Claire Saunders).
This is where Wild Eyed and Wicked becomes fantastic. The horror elements seep through. This is also where audiences will begin to see the thread of generational trauma. Lily's mother comes from a long line of tragic deaths, depression, and darkness. Her father also suffers from survivor's guilt. Their tense and awkward encounters do not prepare the audience for the second half of the film.
This movie is the first time I've seen generational trauma literally combated in medieval style. The final message is that the family must first recognize the trauma and then bravely confront it before they can overcome it.
Wild Eyed and Wicked takes a moment to adjust to the genre shift from drama to fantasy. The first half is usually “long-winded” in the elaboration of the story. There seems to be a lot of backstory about Lily that the movie could do without. However, the sometimes slow opening is made up for by the action at the end.
The film was shot in 16 days on the same farm where writer-director G.S. grew up. Foxwood. The story is inspired by the life and work of Elizabeth Foxwood.
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