Charlie Shepard is a modern day faith healer earning a meager living in a small town in Alaska providing hope and health for sick member’s of God’s most devout flock. But Charlie’s life takes a tragic turn after his wife and young son are brutally murdered for no known reason. The attackers remains at large and Charlie abandons God’s work and begins committing a long, guilt-ridden suicide by alcohol. That is until a young girl named Sarah comes to town looking for Charlie, asking for him to use his powers to help with her grieving father. Charlie accompanies the mysterious girl to her parent’s remote home in the Alaskan wilderness. Once there he meets her intense brother, Luke, and learns the true motives behind Sarah’s request, a motive that leads to one man’s revenge and another man’s retribution colliding violently beneath the Alaskan sky.
Nothing I enjoy more than to sit down and check out a movie I know little about and end up watching something surprisingly good and memorable. If you get a chance, track this one down as Robert Saitzyk (“True Love”, “Boundaries”) delivers one superb, taut thriller that has some great performances and looks hauntingly gorgeous. Written by the two main stars, the movie focuses primarily on two men dealing with loss in different ways whose lives intertwine. Luckily for the viewer, both men have compelling stories. Charlie’s (Joseph McKelheer) is a Job like story. A man being sucked through a proverbial meat grinder in order to find possible redemption on the other side. Luke’s (Cory Knauf) story is as complicated yet fueled by hate. His path, if all goes according to plan, will place him in a position to better yank on God’s beard while socking Him in the face.
Because of the film being an intimate type of thriller, close-quartered and focused on few characters, its effectiveness relied on some strong performances. Thankfully, “Godspeed” has some amazing acting going on. Specifically McKelheer and Knauf. If you watch this for any reason, watch it for these two. Some of you horror fans will remember these two from their roles in “The Hamiltons” – a movie I am no fan of and disliked immensely. But I am telling you, if you dig watching good performances you gotta check this out. McKelheer plays the tortured Charlie well enough in the first half of the film, but it is the last chapter where he truly shines with some very powerful emotions competently on display. As for Knauf, watching him play Luke was a real treat. His hate-filled, Manson-like persona was convincing and surprising. The scenes in which these two square off with each other verbally are as tense as a coiled up rattlesnake.
Both of these actors also served as producers on “Godspeed” as well as an upcoming film they both star in titled “Hamill”. But the one I am looking forward to the most is The Butcher Brother’s “The Violent Kind”, an indie horror film about a group of young bikers who find themselves tormented in a secluded farmhouse. You can check out a couple images to that film over at Bloody-Disgusting. So if you like these guys, you are in luck as it seems as if they are staying busy. After watching “Godspeed” McKelheer and Knauf each can count me in as a fan and I look forward to their future products. As for “Godspeed”, an easy 3.5 removable tattoos out of 5.
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Tags: Alaska, Cory Knauf, Courtney Halverson, Ed Lauter, Film, Hallock Beals, Horror film, Jessie Ward, Joseph McKelheer, Lynn A. Freedman, Movies, Robert Saitzyk, thriller
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