Review by John Delia
This low budget movie Dead Envy has a very good soundtrack, able acting, and novice directing, but in all it’s the kind of film I can support. Being a one-man-band Harley Di Nardo doesn’t quit with his weird story that starts out with a hopeful singer trying to make it back into the limelight. What saves the film from dropping below average is the production value and the music that should be a welcome breath of fresh air for Classic Rockers.
Following a battle of the bands “Grand Slam Saturdays†night where the winner gets a shot on the Bobbie Brown Show that could rocket the winner to fame, Classic Rock band Katonic Spin’s gets a thumbs down. Shortly after, front man for Katonic Spin David Tangiers (Harley Di Nardo) gets a knife pulled on him by a drunk. Jumping into action, a stranger Javy Bates (Adam Reeser) knocks out the drunk before he could cause any damage to David.
Thankful for his help, David questions him and finds out he’s a singer and a hair stylist who is out of work. As it turns out, when he’s not singing in the band, David and his wife Cecily (Samantha Smart) eke out a living as owners of a hair salon where he’s a beautician himself. He invites Javy to his salon for saving him and he accepts a small position as an assistant hair dresser. When Cecily finds out that Javy has a demo album, she tries to convince David to buy one of the songs. It’s the start of a friendship and a possible deal that could make them all good money.
Writer and director Harley Di Nardo moves his story along at a very fast pace adding a mystery with a psycho twist. His characters are fleshed out pretty good and the film crew works a little magic to make the movie work much better than expected. Low budget films have very few set changes and expect that with Dead Envy. Some sets get repeat use however, as you can see with the many camera angles that even repeat use of them works nicely here.
While the acting shows “novice†in a big way, I have to hand it to Di Nardo for choosing a small cast so he can control the action without too much difficulty. Of the three main characters each shows that they know how to act, but I’m convinced that it’s probably the direction that gets them through some of the more difficult scenes. I do like Samantha Smart as Cecily who gives viewers a nice performance as a wife who’s leery of the newcomer, but falls for his charms and gets sucked into a dream that Javy may be able to help get the couple out of debt.
In all Dead Envy’s best bet is the fact that it will be available on VOD and Digital HD. If it had gone the Theatrical route I don’t think it would reach a big enough audience to get Di Nardo any chance of making a future full feature. The film isn’t over however, until you watch the credits where you will find sort of a “wrap up†of the story in news headlines.
Dead Envy has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, language, drug use and sexual situations. You can see the film on Cable and Digital HD, including iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play and Vudu,
FINAL ANALYSIS An average indie that shines with its excellent musical score. (2.5 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Harley Di Nardo, Adam Reeser. Samantha Smart, Carla Wynn, Joe Medina,
Directed by: Harley Di Nardo
Written by: Harley Di Nardo and Stacy Hullah
Genre: Drama, Music, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, language, violence, dreg use
Running Time: 1 hr. 11 min.
Theatrical Release Date: August 24, 2018
VOD, Digital HD Release Date: September 3, 2018
Distributed by: Random Media
Released in: VOD, Digital HD