Resurrecting the Street Walker Ozgur Uyanik

Low budget horror films can often be a very scary prospect - for exactly the wrong reasons. Too many films have made it onto the shelves that look woefully amateurish. But for once the shoddy, on-screen visuals and mockumentary style actually help this movie as they add a touch of realism to the events portrayed.

James Parker is a film student working an internship at a small independent film company. Being given the menial task of cataloguing the company basement changes his life when he discovers the reels of an old, incomplete video nasty called "The Street Walker".

He becomes obsessed with the film and determines to complete the filming of the story. The only problem is he seems to be crossing the line from the fake snuff style of the original footage into the real thing.

There are some wonderfully gruesome moments in this film. Really, really nasty little sections. Just the kind of things any gore-hound is after. But there's so much more to this film. It builds some decent psychological tension too. Through the documentary style of mixing live footage with after the event, talking-heads interviews you follow James's decent into insanity as he becomes totally fixated on this lost film and its mysterious director.

Too often low budget means low thrills, little talent, poor story lines and laughably lousy effects. This film far exceeds what you expect going in. This is a real treat.

Page updated 18 July, 2010