The Wanted (2012)

(Screener Copy courtesy of Dream Awake Films)

Directed by Joshua Weixelman

Written by Greg Gale, Bryan Harmon,  Joshua Weixelman, 

Stars: Sydney Ray, Mary Douglass, Joe McCracken, Eric Ojeda, Alyssa Fialla







Joshua Weixelman brings home the creepy with his babysitter in peril horror film The Wanted. I found this short and sweet, hour long movie to be extremely creepy and very entertaining and really appreciated the old school 80s vibe running throughout it. Think When a Stranger Calls not being afraid to show some blood and gore, or Black Christmas going right for the jugular instead of a longer build up.

The plot involves young Marissa (Sydney Ray) babysitting for the Kellers (Mary Douglass and Eric Ojeda) for which an ominous atmosphere has already been set due to the grisly opening murder of another young girl.

As the night wears on, Marissa finds herself plagued by a number of creepy occurrences such as prank calls and phantom knocks at the front door. It's not until her moody boyfriend (Joe McCracken) shows up, that things take a far more deadly turn as Marissa soon learns, someone is out there, watching her, and wants her dead.

The film then takes a decent, home invasion spin, as Marissa is hunted through the home of her employers by a hooded killer, concealed by a creepy gold mask. In fact the mask kind of reminded me of the possessed mask from Argento's Demons! A very nice touch.

Marissa is running out of time as her assailant closes in and she will have to keep her wits about her if she is going to make it back home in one piece!
I found The Wanted to be a really fun, sometimes creepy little film with a nicely done final reveal. I kind of guessed the killers identity but that's cool, I'm sure some wont, I wouldn't want to give anything away so I will stop there but the ending is quite disturbing and quite shocking even if you do have your suspicions.

I recommend checking out The Wanted, it does something a bit different with the stalked babysitter scenario and gives a solid hour long watch. Find out more about the director Josh Weixelman via Facebook where you can also ask him about snagging your very own copy of the film! Can't wait to see what these guys come up with next!