“Don’t Look Away” feels like a great short stretched into a poor full-length film. Released in 2023, I couldn’t overlook the straight-to-video (streaming) feel. Written by Michael Bafaro and Michael Mitton (the former also directed) it’s only 83 minutes, much of which are replays of earlier scenes as characters recall things we the viewer just watched. The acting is terrible, the production? Amateur. But is it fun?
A random hijacking of a delivery truck unleashes its sole cargo. A mannequin with a disturbing face. Said mannequin is an evil entity, murdering without care everyone and anyone that encounters it. The mannequin moves indiscriminately unless eyes are trained on it, hence the title.
Our main character is Frankie (Kelly Bastard) a college student who accidentally crosses paths with the mannequin and brings havoc upon her and her friends. Frankie is dating Steve (Colm Hill), a snobbish fellow student who doesn’t seem like an ideal match. Frankie’s best friend Jonah (Michael Mitton) is in love with her, drawing the jealous ire of Steve.
Abu Dukuly, Sophie Thom, Rene Lai, Brittany Pilgrim, and Vanessa Nostbakken round out the cast, most of which are fodder for slaughter at the plaster hands of the mannequin.
Sub-Par Performances
The acting is less than passable from the cast. That may be the point. It’s an overly goofy concept about a mannequin stalking and killing people. “So you said the killer was a mannequin?” A cop asks Frankie with a deadpan expression after a mass killing at a nightclub. It was absurd how easily the friends got over the deaths of the members of their click.
Equally silly was how quickly they all accepted the idea that a mannequin was killing them with no explanation or backstory provided until nearly the end of the film. I do love names like Kelly Bastard and Brittany Pilgrim, so points for that.
There’s only so much juice one can squeeze out of a killer mannequin. I am a sufferer of Pediophobia/Pupaphobia/Automatonophobia and was drawn to the plot for this facet. But the ultimate scares come from the thought of dolls, puppets, or mannequins being in the room. Their presence is unsettling. Once they start stalking and killing it gets weird.
Take the mannequin out of the shadows of a room and put it in a backyard and it loses whatever credibility is has.
Horror Fun
I’ve turned off higher budget horror movies many times. “Don’t Look Away” is terrible but I sat through the entire thing. It’s fun in a bad way, and I think the cast and crew understand that. Its not passable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a watch. For some reason once you start, you won’t look away.
