Edward's Julia (2012)

Directed by Jody S. Dean

Written by Jody S. Dean

Stars: Jody S. Dean, Kelly Novinski, Stephanie Walk, Alex Indest, Blair Baker and Mary Leonard.






I was really impressed with Jody S. Dean’s work after checking out his psychological horror film Edward’s Julia last night. The funny thing is, this film serves as a bonus feature to the official DVD for Don’t Go on the Trail (review upcoming) but I think it definitely stands up as its own movie. It’s a short and sharp 47 minutes in length and therefore the film comes across as concise and to the point which I really appreciated.

Plot wise we have Jody in the main role as ‘Edward’, a young man tormented by the discovery that the love of his life Julia (Kelly Novinski) is having an affair. Unable to cope with this life shattering revelation, Edward loses his temper in a devastating way and after confronting Julia, shoots her dead. The story then moves on 6 months and we see Edward living an empty life, torn apart by guilt and lost without Julia, who he managed to convince the police was killed by a burglar. It isn't until Sarah (Stephanie Walk) a friend of Julia’s enters Edwards’s life claiming to have communicated with her from beyond the grave that things begin to change. While Edward is starting to be tormented by his dead love, he is also developing feelings for Sarah and this whirlwind of mixed fear and emotions causes Edwards mind to shatter further and also presents to viewers a few dark twists on things that were never what they seemed from the very start. The movie soon propels towards a dark and bloody climax and a haunting denouement which I found to be both fitting and creepy.

The most impressive thing about this movie for me was that in just under an hour, it manages to have a decent beginning, middle and end and still has plenty of time to drop a few bombs to elaborate the plot beyond a simple revenge-haunting.

The acting was also great. Jody was brilliant in his role as Edward, conveying a range of emotions and goes from little boy lost, seeking solace form his mother, to raging intimidator with ease. I also thought Stephanie Walk as Sarah was extremely likeable and natural in her role and Kelly Novinski as the titular ‘Julia’ nailed it as the bloodied ghost returning to show Edward some macabre home truths.

I highly recommend heading over to Sickafyed Films official website and grabbing a copy of the Don’t go on The Trail/Edwards Julia DVD. It’s well worth your time and also nice and cheap! Also look out for a review on Don’t go on The Trail coming VERY soon.