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FilmsScifi

Memory Lane (DVD review).

‘Memory Lane’ is a low-budget movie reputedly made for $300 and it shows. There are moments when sound and picture quality is just plain bad and the acting, while good in parts, is not of Oscar quality. At 70 minutes duration, it’s rather brief and, even though it’s padded out with a few extras, the buyer would still get the feeling of being sold short. Despite that, it’s a reasonable enough movie and does have a story which can be followed.

MemoryLaneDVD

That story concerns Nick, a soldier returning home to the USA from a spell in Afghanistan. Initially at a loose end, he saves a life of a girl attempting to jump off a bridge. Kayla is a bit neurotic and unconventional but they find common solace in their situations. Romance soon blossoms with everything going well, indulging in all sorts of pleasures and pastimes. Smitten, Nick decides to buy a ring and returns to propose marriage but is extremely distraught to find Kayla lying in the bath with her wrist slashed. Suicide or so it seems is the verdict but it’s all just too much for Nick. Sitting in a bath of water, he chucks in the tablet he is charging and this promptly causes death by electrocution.

Of course, most people know that the voltage at the tablet end is very small and would not cause any problem at all but it makes a good story nonetheless. This is when it becomes a bit like the movie ‘Flatliners’. During death, he has visions of his life with Kayla. Revived by some of his friends, he is brought back to reality. As you would guess, this is not good enough for Nick and, with a couple of mates, he begins to do experiments on near death experiences, basically electrocution in a bath of icy water. During these moments, he has further visions of Kayla and, each time, he begins to experience more and more of their life together.

Then something extraordinary happens in that he discovers her death was not suicide but murder. This leads him to more experiments and more revelations, all at the expense of his well-being. The final outcome will not be revealed here for obvious spoiling reasons but it is a good enough story to some extent. There are many things not to be liked about this movie, the first being the amateurish attempts to electrocute with run-of-the-mill equipment which can easily be purchased.

Some people would be mad enough to copy. Some people could end up dead. The plain truth is that if you electrocute yourself in a bath of water, you will probably die painfully in misery. There will be no revelations. The other reasons as mentioned above are the limited duration of the movie, the quality of acting, direction and shooting. The extra material which comprises a director commentary, deleted scenes, promotional video, screen tests and trailer are okay but essentially constitute a waste of time.

It’s very easy to make a movie these days. It can even be made using mobile telephones! It’s also easy to do editing using a laptop and suitable programs, so why was ‘Memory Lane’ a bit ropey in places? Surely a bit more effort in editing could have smoothed matters out a little bit more? While that’s okay for a family movie to be shown in a living room, it’s not okay for a movie to be transferred to DVD and sold to the public. It’s very difficult to recommend this movie to anyone.

Okay, the guys making it tried to the best of their abilities and a reasonable enough product was made for the amount of money spent on it but $300 doesn’t get you very far in the movie world. The subject matter was the big turnoff. For that reason it’s got to be given a thumbs down.

Rod MacDonald

March 2015

(Region 0 DVD. Pub: MVD Group/ Wild Eye Releasing. 1 DVD 70 minute film and extras. Price: $14.95 (US). ASIN: B00QR1JXOU) cast: Michael Guy Allen, Meg Barrick, Julian Curi and Zac Snyder check out website: www.mvdb2b.com

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