PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Over the past few weeks, I’ve watched several that were directed, written, produced, and starring powerful and inspirational women. It’s been quite the experience and I’ve loved every second of it. Most recently, I watched Quarries (2017) and was surprised by my reaction.
Quarries is a female lead horror thriller directed by Nils Taylor and co-written by himself and Nicole Marie Johnson. Nicole also stars in the film along with Leisha Hailey, Carrie Finklea, Sara Mornell, Joy McElveen, Nicole Duport, Rebecca McFadzien, Luke Edwards, James Devoti, Cody Davis, and Dean Alioto, Wes McGee, as well as a few others. This film has such a kickass amount of women, behind the scenes as well as in front, that I was excited before I even sat down to watch it.
Official Synopsis:
To escape her abusive boyfriend, Kat (Johnson) joins a wilderness expedition with a group of women, all of whom are struggling with the uncertainty of life. What was supposed to be an opportunity for personal discovery quickly becomes a fight for survival, forcing each one to discover the strength within themselves that they didn’t even know they possessed. While being brazenly chased by a pack of predators, the strong quickly set themselves apart from the weak. In a battle of will, stamina, and heart, these very virtues present themselves at the most crucial moment. With death looming, each is left with what is truly important – the strength within oneself.
Nils Taylor and Nicole Marie Johnson delivered such an amazing story about a group of women searching for peace and strength just before everything goes haywire when they are abruptly attacked – forced to step up their A game and kick major ass. Each woman was different, had their own burdens and troubled pasts, but when the time came to work together they did, using each other’s strengths to defeat the sadistic pricks that were hunting them down.
All of the cast members were phenomenal and brought something unique to the table. Above all, though, I really love and appreciate Kat’s character, played by Nicole Marie Johnson. She’s the outsider of the group and when she arrives, you can tell she’s been dealing with some type of domestic abuse from the bruises and cut on her lip. She appears as the vulnerable and weak one, but ultimately ends up being the biggest badass of them all. When its time to put up a fight, she jumps into it kicking and screaming, resulting in a bloody, wonderful mess. Basically, it was seeing her growth throughout the film that stood out and inspired not only the characters but the viewers as well.
Last but not least, the predators are disgusting, ruthless, and a bit mysterious. There’s really no good reason for why they attack these ladies or do half of the things they do. They just do what they want. Living in the wilderness, knowing the area like the backs of their hands, these ferals have an advantage over anyone who trespasses on their land. The most interesting antagonist was Aja played by Cody Davis. He was half animal/half human and definitely a doormat for his sadistic hillbilly acquaintances.
Final Thoughts:
Quarries is the perfect film to watch for Women in Horror Month. It’s a powerful, female-driven horror thriller that brings intensity, epic and brutal kills, and strong character leads. These chicks fight back and don’t think twice about it. That’s what I love the most; it’s not just one of the women, it’s all of them. Quarries is available for pre-sale on iTunes and will be released on March 10th, 2017… so don’t miss out!
