A student’s experiment into neuropsychology and memories goes horribly wrong in Tim Morrill’s sci-fi thriller, Look into the Fire. Adam (Artie Shase) is a graduate student partnered with Samantha (Jackie Dallas), Seth (Myles Brown), and Jerry (David Silva), who struggle to get their group thesis off the ground. The team’s groundbreaking yet very experimental has found a way of accessing and introducing memories into a patient’s brain. The problem is they are running out of time to complete their project, and their test subjects are no-shows.
Against the team’s better judgment, Adam volunteers to be the subject of their experiment. The procedure is simple, Adam will enter the machine, and the team will transfer an image of a cabin in the woods into his mind. But, of course, something goes wrong, and Adam has lost the majority of his short-term memory.
After passing out at home, Samantha takes Adam to the ER and contacts his estranged step-sister Janet (Nina E. Jordan). Janet takes Adam to the family cabin in the woods to recuperate. Concerned that Adam’s repressed family memories might surface, she keeps her brother drugged and sedated. As Adam’s memories return, he reaches out to his friends to rescue him.
Look into the Fire is an indie psychological thriller that makes the most of its low budget. Adam, played by Artie Shase, is our lead protagonist. He falls into the typical tale of an unknowing hero with a deep dark secret and an uncontrolled experiment that unleashes the “demons” of his past. The film’s basic structure involves slowly revealing bits and pieces of Adam’s past. As Adam attempts to escape the prison, Janet sets up for him. Then, he has to piece together the clues of that past with his friends.
“Against the team’s better judgment, Adam volunteers to be the subject of their experiment.”
As it stands, Look into the Fire makes the most of its indie thriller status. However, considering the budget was not high by Hollywood standards and, yes, it would have been significantly better with about ten million added to the film’s coffers. So now the film is about overcoming its budgetary shortcomings.
First, writer/director Tim Morrill with strong lead actors in Artie Shase as Adam, Jackie Dallas as Samantha, and Nina E. Jordan as Janet. The three pretty much carry the film with engaging performances from start to finish.
Morrill’s story is solid as a thriller, and he effectively used what resources he had available to get that story across. Most of my issues with the story falls in spoiler territory. Let’s say a story of this nature needs to address the main character’s point of view if he or she is used as an unreliable narrator.
My one big wish for Look into the Fire was that it pushed the suspense and thrills up a few notches. There are dozens of tricks guerilla filmmakers use to make this happen, involving sound, lighting, camera movement, and editing. Hitchcock was a master of this. You always want to be looking for ways to push cinematic boundaries.
Tim Morrill’s Look into the Fire is an exciting and engaging psychological thriller with a cast of emerging actors to elevate the material and the budget.
For more information, visit the Look into the Fire Facebook page.
