Unholy: The Eastfield Exorcism filmmaker Nick Kozakis celebrates in his TIFF Midnighter Get started– or, more precisely, kill the party? I love “belly of the beast” thrillers: characters trapped in enemy territory with no escape. In this way, Get started we have the impression Green rooms little brother with much less to say, but comparable in terms of survival frenzy and explosive gore – the highest compliment, since Green room is almost perfect. Kozakis has more fun with drugged partygoers and brooding mobsters, serving up prim and practical ultraviolence on a silver platter.
Eden (Markella Kavenagh) and her friends party all night. They can’t continue without a pick-me-up, so Zack (Nikita Chronis) calls his dealer for a cocktail stop. Soon they find themselves in a sketchy apartment complex in Melbourne, where they deal with the son of a notorious crime lord, Ray (Nikolai Nikolaeff). Everything seems pretty cold, with Ray begging his new friends to try his new sniffable formula. But after the vibes sour, Ray’s volatility spirals out of control – and he’s the one holding a double-barreled shotgun.
The simplicity of Get started says a lot. Kozakis uses an energetic club-beat soundtrack, substance-fueled decisions, and caged-rat desperation to propel indescribable horror. It all takes place in a nepobaby’s modest Scarface living room, complete with sniffing glass surfaces and garish decorations (a car hood table that actually honks), heightening the sense of claustrophobia. A single penthouse elevator, too many floors above, with an exit guarded by Ray and his loyal thugs.
Eden’s bleak prospects fuel our enthusiasm; death descends like a terrible fatality.
Nikolaï Nikolaeff, best known for Stranger Things And Daredevilrages like a merciless agent of prolonged chaos. Ray trusts no one, rejected by his icy father and obsessed with his painting of the assassination of Julius Caesar. Writer Phillip Klimek plays with the allegiances and mind games that underpin the lively 90 minutes, giving Eden and her resilient but outnumbered and outgunned victims a fighting chance. But Nikolaeff’s performance is at the heart of the film’s hairpin psychosis, believable in his early sadness at hospitality (begging to feel important in front of newbies) and intimidating as the weakened nepo-gangster who wants to clean up his mess before Dad steps in.
Unfortunately for Ray, it’ll take more than an industrial pressure washer to clean body mess from…well, everywhere. Get started is a gush of exceptional practical effects that will keep audiences squirming. Kozakis leans into exquisite body horror that squeezes appendages into fleshy stumps or bursts heads like water balloons. At the top, direct nods to Green roompunishment corresponds to levels of The Raid And John Wick as Eden’s desperate heroes encounter legitimate henchmen ready to brawl. Kozakis’s special effects wizards never run out of juice; Crimson goodness flows like red wine on the tray of The godfather.
However, Kick The no-frills approach comes with its share of development issues. It’s the perfect storm of reckless stupidity on every level, and sometimes awkward coincidence. You’re here for the splattered bloodbath, not the blind eyes of law enforcement or greedy girls sticking their fingers in dangerous cookie jars. Eden’s subplot about a hospitalized sister in need of a costly, life-saving operation ups the ante, but it falters out of necessity. There’s a lot at stake without flashbacks to sick siblings, which puts a damper on the devastating momentum. It’s Friday night pizza night with the guys, for better or worse.
Yet, like this cheesy slice of after-dark entertainment, Get started is piping hot and loaded with toppings. Boos and screams are guaranteed; a radical exploitation film that doesn’t exploit much beyond mutilation. Honestly, it’s the perfect film festival adrenaline shot that will keep you buzzing and excited until the wee hours of the morning. They say nothing good happens after 2 a.m., but they’re dead wrong because Get started breaks down the bloody doors. Kozakis’ elevated meat pulverizer from an action-horror film is the good thing.
Movie rating: 3.5/5
