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THE DRAFT! introduces us to five friends – the jock, the nerd, the pretty one, the rich one, and the popular one – head to a remote villa for a weekend getaway – and of course, things start to go awry as soon as they arrive. The generator fails so there is no power, there’s a locked room that the caretaker warns them all to stay away from, and the ghost of a long-dead relative may be haunting the hallways.
After one of them is found brutally murdered, the remaining four try to make their escape only to find they aren’t able to leave the villa. As trope after trope piles up, the film-obsessed nerd of the group starts to believe they are trapped inside a horror movie, but can he convince his friends what’s happening before they’re all killed?
Director Yusron Fuadi expertly weaves all the familiar “cabin in the woods” beats into this meta horror-comedy, while still providing plenty of surprises along the way. And each of the friends is likable and charming (and perfectly cast)! Whether you believe these friends are “real” or not, you’re still rooting for them all to make it to the other side.
It’s also got some fun and bloody special F/X, making it a hilarious love-letter to filmmaking that delights me the same way ONE CUT OF THE DEAD does. A very clever look at all of the obstacles and criticisms a screenwriter has to push through in order to get to the final version, which may not end up being anything close to the vision they started with. I highly recommend you check this one out!
THE DRAFT! is currently screening at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. Fingers crossed for a theatrical and streaming release soon.
I Love Splatter! 