Trigger Man

(Kino International, 3.18.2008)

With The House of the Devil, Ti West may have finally lived up to the hype and established himself as one of the key American horror filmmakers of his generation. Based on that film's unlikely display of skill and confidence, it's tempting to seek signs of life elsewhere in the director's scrappy filmography (still in his twenties, West has already directed four features). However, between his overrated debut (The Roost) and the Cabin Fever sequel he tried to remove his name from, there's only one more place to turn: 2007's little-seen Trigger Man.

This minimalist horror effort is light on plot, but here's the no nonsense description from the back of the DVD: "Reggie, Sean and Ray leave Manhattan for a day trip of deer hunting in Delaware, expecting to drink a few beers in the woods free to the city-life responsibilities that are slowly forcing the childhood friends apart. But with one well-aimed shot, a walk in the sun is transformed into a frantic and desperate fight for survival." To clarify, a mystery gunman starts randomnly shooting at a trio of semi-drunk friends, who desperately search for cover.

Trigger Man was produced on a shoestring by Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix, the same company that produced The Roost and The House of the Devil. Like the former (but unlike the latter), Trigger Man is marred by West's clumsy, even amateurish visual strategies. For reasons that are never made clear, the camera whips, zooms and pans constantly. This half-hearted stab at kineticism only emphasizes the lifelessness of the characters populating the frame. At one point, these maddening frat boys take a break in the forest and crack open a few beers. One of them says something about the "awesome" weekend they're having and you're left wondering, "What could he possibly be talking about?" Offscreen awesomeness?

Presumably, the film's shortcomings are at least partly the result of its meager budget, but it doesn't cost anything to frame a shot properly. Fortunately (for future horror-goers), West's visual abilities have improved drastically since making Trigger Man. The House of the Devil may appear to be a much bigger film, but that has more to do with West's evolution as a filmmaker than any substantial increases in budget or shooting days. If nothing else, the larger scale of West's Cabin Fever debacle -- which was shot between Trigger and Devil -- looks like it helped him develop a greater understanding of the medium's visual potential.

But don't write-off Trigger Man just yet. In spite of its numerous shortcomings, this is clearly the work of someone with a solid understanding of horror and suspense. For the film's first half, our interest is held -- even though virtually nothing happens -- because we want to a) see bad things happen to these characters and b) find out how this misguided (but "awesome") hunting trip goes awry. Do they get eaten by bears? Do they get raped by hillbillies? Do they run out of beer? Thankfully, West has some actual tricks up his sleeve and the movie starts to gain momentum as the cast shrinks.

Trigger Man also has a refreshingly subtle, unresolved quality, though this may have more to do with confusing filmmaking than intentional obliqueness. While West seems vaguely interested in investing the proceedings with strange metaphysical undercurrents -- he acknowledges the influence of Gus Van Sant's artier work, though he never comes close to Van Sant's quite sense of dread -- the literal reality isn't coherent enough to sell the film's more abstract leanings.

That said, West shows a great deal of confidence in his handling of the film's more straightforward horror elements. Sure, he relies a bit too heavily on spooky (but effective) flourishes of sound design, but somewhere beneath all that clutzy pacing and amateurish acting, there's a credible and slightly unconventional horror exercise struggling to get out. Ti West circa 2010 could probably transform this learning experience into a genuinely accomplished nail-biter, but three years ago, he delivered little more than a middling student film.

Although Trigger Man didn't get much play outside the festival circuit, Kino offers several substantial extras. In addition to an accurately ugly 16x9 transfer, we get the film's theatrical trailer, a 15-minute Q&A from the Los Angeles Film Festival and two commentary tracks (one by the not-as-funny-as-they-think-they-are cast and one by the more insightful West and his sound designer, Graham Reznick). The extras all circle back to one of the most harrowing making-of anecdotes I've ever heard -- fire arms are cocked, arrests are made -- but I'll leave it to those who seek out this disc to uncover the particulars. -- Jonathan Doyle