CLAY (2007 dir Ron Bonk)

*Pre-Release Edition Review*

Sub Rosa Studios' Ron Bonk of Syracuse, NY has returned to directing after an eight year hiatus (his last film being 1999's STRAWBERRY ESTATES) with this unusual horror-drama concerning the world surrounding a disturbed psychopath named Clay (Wes Reid).

Clay is not your average serial killer. He chooses his victims by going out in public, putting both his hands out and seeing whoever walks by him touches his hand. He follows the people home, waits around and plans for the right time to strike and commit his acts of murder. Clay enjoys making villages out of dirt and cardboard boxes with little clay people placed throughout. Clay thinks his father (Tom Minion) is "God" because he was responsible for his existence. His father never really wanted him to begin with. While Clay is out looking for victims by "fate," dad meets up and becomes friends with a young girl named Jessica (11-year-old Emma Koziara) who lives next door.

Jessica hates her parents because she felt they cared more about her younger brother who died tragically than they cared about her. Clay's dad and Jessica drink lemonade, play tag, and draw with sidewalk chalk. One day Clay makes physical contact with an old man in public. He follows the man home and sees that he's married. He then decides to ask his wife while he's away if they need a handyman to do some work around the house. The wife takes the offer. She tells Clay that he looks like their son Jimmy who died in Vietnam. She gets out Jimmy's old uniform and Clay puts it on. She's convinced that Clay is Jimmy back from the dead. When the husband gets home, he's furious at his wife for letting a stranger into the house and that he's wearing his son's old uniform. Once the situation turns from ugly to physical, Clay smashes the old man's head in with a trophy and then does away with his wife the same way. Clay's situation continues to deteriorate. His father doesn't want him. Jessica wants to run away from home. Clay continues his murderous rampage. Jessica convinces his dad to run away with her. It all leads to an intense climax involving a final battle between father and son and the life of Jessica and her family being on the line.

CLAY is one of the most original low budget efforts to come along in quite a while. The film holds your interest throughout as the story brings about very interesting characters with lots of depth. It does this much better than most Hollywood movies. The acting is very good and the some of the music is downright beautiful and atmospheric giving the film a very art-house feel. While the film isn't horribly gory throughout, the actual on-screen blood and violence is used very discretely and not in-your-face like most Hollywood horror flicks. CLAY is overall a very beautiful and mesmerizing indie effort from a director who hadn't made anything in eight years. The film is further proof that you don't need big budgets to put together something very artsy, intense and well-acted. I tip my hat to Ron Bonk and Sub Rosa Studios for putting together such a well-crafted project. Here's hoping more folks will take notice of their effort.

Visit Sub Rosa online at www.b-movie.com and www.srscinema.com