FLYTRAP (2015)

Flytrap (2015)
Directed by: Stephen David Brooks
Written by: Stephen David Brooks
Starring: Ina-Alice Kopp, Jeremy Crutchley, Jonah Blechman

Available now on Amazon Video

A suspense movie being shot without a budget is sometimes a promising idea, depending on your perspective of course. With a lack of sets or locations the film-makers are forced to use other methods to tell a story. They have to be creative and get a lot of the strongest elements down on paper. But they have to get the basics right. There’s a certain amount of mystery that has to be included in this genre after all. It’s unfortunate then, that Flytrap opens with a voice-over from the main character which tells us everything. He met some space aliens and lived to tell us about it. He’s not an unreliable narrator, since the writers haven’t thought that far ahead. As a result when his predicament is actually introduced, there’s little intrigue.

The rest of the story is told with a similar lack of imagination. Astronomy teacher Jimmy (Jeremy Crutchley) arrives in L.A. from England to work at a university, but his car breaks down on route. Conveniently this one street in suburbia also has no phone signal, for some reason. He’s forced to ask for help, and picks the house he stopped right in front of. The writing is already pretty lazy here, and I’m afraid it doesn’t get much better. However we do at least get one of the funnier scenes as he’s greeted by Mary Ann (Ina-Alice Kopp.) Her demeanour is pretty weird to say the least, as she pours him a glass of wine instead of letting him make a phone call. Despite claiming she doesn’t drink she takes a sip from Jimmy’s glass only to have a coughing fit.

It’s all really strange and awkward, and the odd tone in this early scene is probably the only example of humour in the film. Their exchange of ‘you’re an alien? Me too!’ as they discuss his accent is a bit too on the nose, but it sort or works. So does the dialogue about Venus, and how it must be a place somewhere in Texas. Of course this is all part of the titular trap. Soon Mary Ann starts to behave even more robotically, asking Jimmy all about human reproduction. It seems to be her only hobby. Other characters, all named after those in Gilligan’s Island make brief appearances, and soon enough Jimmy is a prisoner in their home. Of course this is where we spend most of the story.

It’s stranger yet that in a tale of kidnap there is a distinct lack of any real tension building or drama. You’d be better off re-watching something like 10 Cloverfield Lane. There are plenty of examples of this sort of scenario being played out with more finesse. Escape attempts are frustratingly brief. Any subsequent developments don’t really escalate it to a point that makes the scenario interesting. Despite the introduction of an unseen character in the room next to Jimmy’s, things don’t become engrossing. Later his captors use electric collars to control him, but he doesn’t really have any realisations about the quandary he’s in. There are no Misery style trips into other rooms to make discoveries about his captors, and their motives aren’t explored.

It’s clear that Gilligan, Mary Ann and the Skipper are all trying to bring about the end of humanity. But it would at least have been nice to know why. Or even to see how they’re planning to achieve this global extinction. Considering they’re all fish out of water characters they don’t really act that strangely for long stretches. They don’t even do anything particularly sinister. They just want Jimmy to eat their terrible cooking, so he can get back to the reproduction. It would have been more effective if his suspicions that this is a religious cult of some kind were played on more. Later the true nature of things could be revealed in a shocking twist.

The idea of breaking free from the control of a human organisation would have added more character to it all. It would have also fit with the moments in which he starts to feel sympathetic to Mary Ann. It would certainly have boosted the effect of those few moments where she also starts to feel the urge to escape. Their gawky attempts at dancing and acting like a normal couple are cute. But it’s all too fleeting and there’s no real personality or depth to these characters. Like a lot of the elements here there’s not enough focus. Why wasn’t his expertise in astronomy used, instead of it being a footnote that leads to nothing? Doesn’t he have anything to offer them as a teacher?

There is a conclusion of sorts but it’s all so bland and uninspired. In the end we learn nothing that the first voice over didn’t already explain. There are no big twists or surprises, and no secrets in the house. There are no discoveries about any of the other residents. Ultimately things are just too dull and it’s impossible get invested in this. It’s not even creepy enough to build any sort of alien atmosphere. There are better examples of claustrophobic situations behind normal looking front doors out there. With a more twisted sense of comedy, or a bigger push towards the surreal, it might have maintained a clearer sense of personality at least. But it’s just too cold and empty much like the antagonists themselves.

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