Actress Rachel Grace Interview © 2021 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod (House of Quarantine Chat!)

 

Above: Actress Rachel Grace (C) 2020 Robin Lorraine Photography, all rights reserved, image used for promotional purposes only, not monetized.

 

 

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. Actress Rachel Grace stops by and chats about her career and her new film 'House of Quarantine'. Rachel has some cool ideas and ways to improve, and shares her experiences. Sit down, relax, grab some tea and read what the talented Rachel has to say!

DMR: Please chat about your background and upbringing, and what made you decide to pursue acting? If you were not acting, what other profession or jobs would you have?

RG: When I was younger I tried a little of everything: dance, choir, band, and theatre. I realized in college I enjoyed acting, but not necessarily on stage. I really enjoy doing commercials and film, and that has been my side job whenever I can. Full time I work as a financial analyst, and I love that job as well! So acting is a fun, creative outlet for me and something enjoyable to do besides finance.

DMR: Chat about your  auditioning processes in general, is there a routine you follow?

RG: When I get an audition I read over the script multiple times without focusing on memorizing the lines. Then I create a story for the character, who are they, what happens before and after this, what is the emotion they’re going through? Once I get this down I memorize the lines.

Above: House of Quarantine Poster (C) 2020 All rights reserved, image used for promotional purposes only, not monetized.


DMR: How did you get the part as Macy? Did you test for other roles?

RG: I didn’t know exactly what each character was and what part I was auditioning for. The sides I had were a general female role from what I remember. From what I knew I was just auditioning for one of the college aged students. I think before the audition, casting had an idea of who we could play, but final choices were made after they saw us in person and saw that we were a good fit.

DMR: Interesting how the roles on films can change over time. How long was your portion of the filming process and did you encounter any major changes to your dialogue?

RG: I was on set for every day, but had a lot of downtime between my scenes. I had some changes to dialogue at the end. The ending of the script was adjusted last minute so some of that ended up being improvised.

DMR: Were you able to add any of your own personality to the movie or were things rigidly worked out ahead of time?

RG: I think a lot of it was worked out in the script, we also got direction from the director on what emotions were happening in that moment. From what I remember there wasn’t room for too much extra input from the actors.

DMR: Nice to hear how organized the script and directing was from Mitesh Kumar Patel What about watching the final product, are you over critical of your performance or do you look for the positives?

RG: I think I will always be over critical of my own work. Since then I have gotten an acting coach and work on scenes and emotions regularly. I am always looking for ways to improve and make the next projects better.

DMR: I love seeing people growing through learning. What is your next project and share some advice that a coach or mentor gave you in your early acting career that has helped you?

RG: I don’t have any huge next projects coming up, although I work on print and commercial work here and there. My acting coach always says, find out the emotion of the scene first. The best scenes always have a clear emotion. In addition to that, it is better to not show emotion on the face but rather have the audience feel what you’re going through by the subtext you’re putting out.

Thank you!
Rachel Grace 

DMR: Thank you Rachel for your time and thoughtful responses 

For further information on Ms Grace, please visit her IMDB page:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10506930/

House of Quarantine (2020) Movie Review © 2021 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

 

Above Image: (C) 2021 Gavitas Ventures, all rights reserved, used for promotional use only, image not monetized.

From Gavitas Ventures, HOUSE OF QUARANTINE launches its poster ahead of its theatrical release and VOD rollout on all major platforms on July 20th. 

Director Mitesh Patel (Anti-Coronavirus, Instant Karma) brings together a diverse cast for a tense, edge-of-your-seat thriller shot during the COVID lockdowns of 2020. 

SYNOPSIS:

Nine people have been locked down together in a house while trying to shoot a movie. Unknowingly, one of their group is infected with COVID-19. The next three weeks become a life and death struggle for survival with no help from the outside amidst a global pandemic and national chaos.

 

 

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. Across my desk today comes a film made during quarantine, about a quarantine of a more extreme variety. 'House of Quarantine' has a group in a home, who happen to be making a movie, so in essence we are watching a movie, about making a movie. Being brutally honest the first 20 or so minutes of the film I really did not care for, but the final hour is really amazing as things take a decidedly dark turn, no spoilers!

There is a film director, a sound guy, a PA, and of course the stars all together in the producer's house. When it appears that no one is allowed to even leave their own home, actually this did happen in China and parts of Italy, they become increasingly agitated and scared, lashing out at one another.

I really cannot describe the movie without spoiling the plot. I could classify this film as a thriller, as there are no exterior forces, no monsters, and no supernatural elements. The acting is average, but not too bad for this level of film, some seems a bit wooden, but again the story is solid in the second half.

Director Mitesh Kumar Patel seems to focus on what he wants out of his actors. Because they are supposedly stuck inside the same house for over two weeks, they do not have a change of clothes except for the lead actors. I think although this understandable they are in a home so I would have to figure the owner of the home would at least have t shirts and shorts etc... Let us just say other things in the home were taken or removed, but not clothing!

There is some action and violence near the middle and the end, some things are predictable, some are not, again solid story, but nothing Earth-shattering. The lighting, music and sound are decent, slightly above the B movie level. Rachel Grace as Macy and Zoey Walker as Brenna seemed to rise above the rest of the cast Zoey in particular had some great sarcastic lines, plus she has potential as a strong actress in the future. The rest of the cast were solid enough to not waiver or slow down the story.

Overall, I just thought the first 20 minutes were tedious, even though this was setting up the story, the house was not super nice but say upper middle class, color grading was a bit drab. With all of those detraction's yet 'House of Quarantine' is worthy of a rent, and rates a 6 out of 10!

The Fatal Raid (2019) Movie Review – © 2020 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

 

Above Image: Theatrical Release Photo for The Fatal Raid. (C) 2019 Yes Culture Limited https://www.yes.com.hk/thefatalraid All rights reserved, image not monetized, and used for promotional use only.

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers. Thanks to John over at Action-Flix I heard about 'The Fatal Raid' being released in the USA on Well-Go, yet the film was actually released a couple of years back in Asia and is actually available to buy as an import with English subtitles. Being an old guy, ha the HK Girls with Guns and action films from the 1988 thru 1998 era are just amazing to me, I can easily recommend many of them, including 'Her Name is Cat' and of course 'Naked Killer', I always thought that one of the really underrated films was the essential remake of LeFemme Nikita entitled 'The Black Cat' far better than the U.S. Remake, actress Jade Leung is a power house talent that I always thought could easily have been at a level of Maggie Q or Michelle Yeoh given her demeanor and skill. I always wondered what would happen if a 1990s style girl with guns film, shot in the same style would be like in the modern era. The end has a cool twist to tie things in from the 'The Black Cat', no spoilers!

Again it is VERY important to know, these films are highly violent with some softer interludes, but ultimately they are lower budget B movie fare, yet 'The Fatal Raid' manages to bridge the gap and mix younger and older people, thus audience for this should be higher. Well-Go USA is absolutely the right company to release this, I must say, PLEASE Jade Leung, continue and give it another go, even if it more in a supervisory role.

In 1995 Jade played a rookie police woman who enlists a pimp to help her catch the person who attacked her called 'Fox Hunter' so this 2019 film is kind of like her passing through the force, yes they are unrelated, but oddly they are. I recommend watching Jade in 'The Black Cat' and 'Fox Hunter' prior to watching 'The Fatal Raid'.

'The Fatal Raid' has a definitive style, yet minus the high tech cell phones, cars and presentation, the style hearkens back to a day before the handover of HK to China when movies were really thriving, Yes gone are the hypersexualized cat III or Category 3 films like 'Robotrix' another crazy film I recommend, yet 'The Fatal Raid' has that seething under, intense quality that is sadly missing in many HK films after 1998.

The action in 'The Fatal Raid' is more explosive when it happens, yet enough downtime occurs to not be lost in the madness. There is a particular scene in the middle, I will not spoil yet it involves some pretty crazy on purpose car crash, yet they never over exploit the violence. The film's setting in Macau may have had something to do with the exterior action, but who knows.

'The Fatal Raid' is a classic crime drama, mixed with action. Director Jackie Lee, has a firm grasp on the style of movie he wants to make. Veteran actors Michael Tong and Patrick Tam adds an air of experience and authority. What I like here is that the ladies are also experienced with Jade Leung and Kristy Yeung. I think the experience of the actors really helps the director to create a more entertaining, and detailed story film as well.

The fact that you have 50 year old vets, some 30 year old and younger starring in 'The Fatal Raid; is important. To have a random older person in a supervisory role just to have them in a film is often a tactic used and thus they only have to be seen, either on the phone or in their office. Jade and Michael Tong are both over 50 yet, action for them is not just a second thought.

My only real problem with this film aesthetically is the entire film even at the brightest settings needed some more vibrant color correction, that said, it looks just like a film shot in the 1990s so if that is what they were going for, the succeeded.

Musically 'The Fatal Raid' is unobtrusive, but in a good way, it gets very loud during the action, and a low tense hum during the tense dialogue. Several different styles were used, even one heavy rock song!

The sound is clear and even though the film is not in English, the voices are easy to hear as well as the inflection.

Dealing with the action, there is a pretty crazy opening scene in a brothel or something like that which really kicks things off, yet the rest of the film is more of a police procedural with action interspersed.

The ladies are not afraid one bit of the action, I am sure doubles were used in some parts, but it is not as obvious as some films so good work.

At just 91 minutes, trying to tell a story that should have ran another 10-15 minutes is hard, but then again, this is the norm now for direct to video as it was back in the late 80s early 90s HK film era. I just wanted more, more drawn out action sequences, a bit of a back story on the new characters. Jade Leung, is also not in the film as much as I would have liked to see, but she is in there, so points for that

Was reading that this film was written and directed by Jackie Lee, a daunting task for the man, and kudos for assembling such a cast, as a second time feature film maker. I hope to see more of his work in the future, hopefully a US release of this film will help all involved.

'The one who breaks the law should be punished' is one of the quotes in this film, and the kind police lady who says this means business, yet so do the criminals! No dumb police here, these ones are no keystone cops!

Overall, I could go on and on, just go out and get either the upcoming USA version or the original Asian version as both are on Amazon! The 'Girls with Guns' HK style 1988 to 1998 genre is back! Would love to do an interview with Jade Leung! OK I have to put it out there! This is a very specific genre film so I rate it based on how it would interest fans like myself of these films, and thus rates a solid 7 out of 10.

For further info go to www.wellgousa.com

To buy the film: https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Raid-Region-English-Subtitled/dp/B085VRB5KK/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+fatal+raid&qid=1624219907&sr=8-2

Amazon has the pre-release sale as it will unleash on August 24^th https://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Raid-Blu-ray-Jacky-Lee/dp/B093QCHWRV/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+fatal+raid&qid=1624219979&sr=8-1

Blu-Ray for under 20 dollars is well worth your time!

 

Below is the original theatrical trailer for 2019:

 

Miranda Veil (2020) Movie Review © 2021 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

 

Above Image: Poster for 'Miranda Veil' from IMDB, all rights reserved to original copyright holders, image used for promotional purposes only not monetized. Lionsgate Releasing

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers. Across my desk today thanks to Mr. Williamson comes a movie entitled 'Miranda Veil' I always like watching indie movies. If at all possible it is often best for me to view films without watching any trailer or even reading anything about them, usually that is hard but, in this case I did. I was working on judging films for the IDTV Action Fest, and I decided to go all in and watch, literally as soon as the link was sent over! I must say, the film is surprisingly complex, many layers of allegory, wrapped in an enigma, people mirroring the lives of animals, one can only imagine the life you would lead if you could not die. 'Miranda Veil' explores the nuances of life and death.

It may seem intrinsically simple, a serial killer movie where a man hears voices in his head. In 'Miranda Veil he cannot act upon them, because he cannot find the right girl. The first girl is taken back to this ramshackle building, yet he cannot go through with the final act. Zach Steffey (Soren) is a tortured soul, conflicted, yet seemingly a horrible person in waiting. He soon meets up with Annabel Barrett (Miranda Veil) first by seeing her drunk then running into her again the next day. I refuse to spoil the content, let us just say that Barrett and Steffey put on a master class in acting, angst, anger, joy, and horrified emotions.

Miranda's parents, expertly played by Vida Ghaffari as Alice Veil and Kelton Jones as Daniel Veil, are trying to have normal lives, yet something is off, again no spoilers, but it gets pretty crazy! This is one area I kind of wish was explored more in the movie, more of Miranda's home life.

Director/Writer Levin Garbisch has a very detailed and creative script, and watching this movie makes me think that he had to direct it, as the script had so many nuanced dialogue and placement of the people involved. Garbish did something also amazing, while on the road, Miranda Veil and Soren meet up with several characters, each representing an animal you would find. Upon second viewing, yes it takes two full watching, the characters could all represent aspects of human life, but wrapped in human form, One man they meet is dressed in a bunny suit, he describes his story. I will not spoil it but one of the more interesting ones was Irena Violette as (The Cat) she is found perched on top of a dumpster, her movements were quite intriguing. Dean Satriano as (The Fox) was like a hippy guy, yet had a very odd vibe. Garbish to his credit never gets sidetracked in the 104 minute movie, the movie is a bit longer than many slasher films, but things are not what they seem! All of his actors are well coached and very much engaged in the dialogue.

Aesthetically the movie is solid, of course the film is independent, yet camera work is clear, many shots are during the daylight hours, and the simplistic, yet effective settings work wonders in a film like this allowing the viewer to take in the dialogue and performances. Musical score is very good, as is the ADR and Foley. Respect on this! Hard work getting these types of films to look and sound amazing.

Minor gripes as I said before, I wanted more time spent with Miranda's parents. I will not spoil the ending, but to be honest, it was something I did not expect, not that it is bad at all, yet I guess I really thought it was going to end different, but upon second watching, and thinking, 'Miranda Veil' can only end two possible ways. Again, no spoilers!

'Miranda Veil' is an innovative, and unusual story, with top notch acting, minor issues aside, the film rates a very strong 8 out of 10, a must watch! Support indie! Hopefully the creative people involved will level up due to the popularity of this on the streaming services!. 'Miranda Veil is available all over the World!

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Miranda-Veil-Annabel-Barrett/dp/B096C92N3N

Check also Itunes and various other services, for additional links.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirandaVeilthemovie

IMDB: https://www.facebook.com/MirandaVeilthemovie

Hopefully later in 2021 I can do an interview with director Levin Garbish, want to get his thoughts on the film. Also I would like Annabel Barrett to discus her thoughts on her character. For Vida, as always she is amazing and creative, we will do an interview, I know long overdue, great work in a motherly role!

The Reef: Stalked - In Production Now © 2021 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

Above Photo: Pre-production poster for 'The Reef: Stalked' (C) 2021 Amp Films International, Image used for promotional purposes only not monetized. https://amp-film.com/screeners/the_reef_stalked.html#

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers, IF.com.au reports that a sequel to the 2009 film The Reef is currently in production. Writer/Director Andrew Traucki returns in the same capacity. Article Credit: Matthew Kappos https://www.if.com.au/andrew-traucki-returns-to-the-deep-end-as-the-reef-stalked-enters-production/?fbclid=IwAR2r_R-y7wAItGg-p7HGo5Zm9geLOrVKrkK4mZnoIwNzFad4o-MtZY09CvA

Amp Films International is returning for the sequel. The movie began pre-production in November of 2020. Connect with them @ https://amp-film.com/

Currently the film is in production in Queensland, Australia. The six week shoot should wrap in early August. 

Above photo credit: (C) 2021 https://www.if.com.au  A;; rights reserved, image used for promotional use only not monetized. 'The Reef: Stalked' lead cast (L-R): Saskia Archer, Ann Truong, Kate Lister, Teressa Liane

Synopsis:

In an effort to heal after witnessing her sister's horrific murder, Nic, her sister Annie and two close friends travel to a remote Pacific island for a kayaking and diving adventure.

Only hours into their expedition, the women are stalked and then attacked by a massive Great White Shark.

To survive the women will need to band together, and Nic will have to overcome her post-traumatic stress, face her fears and slay a monster.

'THE REEF: STALKED' is the franchise sequel to Andrew Traucki’s hugely successful 2010 thriller 'THE REEF' which regularly features in best shark films of all time that aren't JAWS.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12735282/ IMDB link for 'The Reef: Stalked'