JP Nunez
As I said in our FrightFest curtain raiser, I love movies about people who love movies. For example, I’m a big fan of Scream, The Monster Squad, and The Final Girls, so it should come as no surprise that Test Screening grabbed my attention the minute I heard about it. The name alone sounded like it would be right up my alley, and when I read the plot synopsis, it just confirmed what I already knew. I needed to check this film out, so I immediately called dibs on it and requested a screener.
Test Screening was directed and co-written by Clark Baker, and it stars Chloë Kerwin, Drew Scheid, Johnny Berchtold and Rain Spencer. The movie takes place in a small town in 1982, and it follows four friends—Reels, Mia, Simon, and Penny—as they get the opportunity of a lifetime. A test screening of a mysterious Hollywood film is coming to their local theater, and they all have tickets.
But as you can probably guess, this isn’t an ordinary test screening. In fact, it’s not a movie at all. It’s a mind-control experiment, and everybody who sees the film falls under its thrall. Those initial victims then spread the mental contagion to their neighbors, and soon, the entire town falls victim to this malicious experiment.
If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, I think you’re going to love Test Screening. For starters, the four main characters here are pretty good. To be fair, they’re not all quite as fleshed out as I would’ve liked, but they’re unique enough that you’ll never find yourself wondering who is who.
In particular, I had a great time with Reels. As his nickname suggests, he’s the hardcore film buff of the group, and he’s played excellently by Drew Scheid. His enthusiasm for movies is almost contagious, so even if you’re not a film geek, you can’t help but enjoy watching this guy talk about the things he loves.
Most notably, there’s a scene where he acts out the plot of The Thing for his friends, and even though Test Screening only shows the final few minutes of this one-man performance, it’s surprisingly riveting. Reels manages to capture the chilling feel of the movie’s ambiguous ending, and as a huge fan of The Thing myself, that just endeared him to me even more.
Then, when these characters finally attend the titular test screening, the film gets even better. I can’t go into specifics without ruining the movie’s surprises, but I can say that the second half of this story doesn’t quite play out the way I thought it would.
I’m not sure why, but for some reason I was expecting an immediate, somewhat Demons-esque descent into madness right after the screening, but that’s not at all what happens. Instead, Test Screening takes its time building the mystery and letting you stew in your uncertainty about what’s really going on, and the film is all the better for it.
The first hint of horror we get is a genuinely spine-tingling jump scare with an almost Lovecraftian mystique, and from there, Test Screening slowly reveals its secrets with pitch-perfect pacing and eye-catching horror. Director Clark Baker does a great job of cranking up the atmosphere whenever the terror comes to the fore, and when the movie gets disgusting, it does not disappoint.
I can’t tell you exactly how it grosses you out, but I can say that the film doesn’t feature much typical gore. Instead, it takes its cue from a mostly bloodless, lesser-known 1980s body horror classic whose influence here is so unmistakable even naming it would be a spoiler. But trust me, these gross-out moments are utterly revolting in the best way possible, and they’re brought to life with top-notch practical effects.
Last but not least, I want to talk a bit about the deeper meaning of Test Screening. Beneath its outlandish sci-fi premise, this film is essentially a diatribe against forced homogeneity. It’s all about the horrors of making people deny their true selves and conform to someone else’s standards, and like any self-respecting horror fan, I appreciated that message.
However, I did have one issue with it. Test Screening places a special emphasis on the role religion, especially Christianity, can play in this kind of compulsory conformity, and as a Christian myself, I think it goes a bit too far. Yes, the Christian faith can be misused for all sorts of nefarious purposes, but the movie seems to imply that Christianity is inherently repressive.
At one point in the third act, a pastor invites his congregation to conform themselves to Jesus Christ, but what he really means is that they should sacrifice their individuality and join the homogenous mass that’s taking over the town. Now, if you’re familiar with the Christian faith, you might know that conforming yourself to Jesus is basically the whole point of the religion, so by equating it with this evil scheme, Test Screening seems to be equating the entirety of Christianity with this problematic attitude.
But in reality, being conformed to Christ has nothing to do with denying the unique traits that make us who we are. It’s all about loving like Jesus loved, and history makes it clear that there are as many different ways to do this as there are people in the Church. So even though Christians throughout the ages haven’t always respected people’s freedom, the core tenets of our faith are very different from the narrow-minded conformism Test Screening rightly rails against.
Thankfully though, that one problem isn’t nearly enough to ruin the entire experience. The likable characters, effective horror, and mostly good message ultimately win the day here, so if you get the chance to watch Test Screening sometime in the future, I definitely recommend that you check it out.
Test Screening had its world premiere at FrightFest on August 22.
