For more proof that the great Texas indie tradition rides on, take a good squint at the stark black-and-white crime feature Blind Escape, written and directed by Chris Kinzie. Fred Herman (Evan Jackson Moore) is a despondent laundry detergent salesman stuck in a quicksand lifestyle of sinking into nowhere. One morning, he got repeated calls from the wrong number. The caller, Aunt Sug (Candy Afflerbach), thinks Fred is her long-lost nephew Charlie. He keeps hanging up until Aunt Sug mentions that she has Charlie’s $30,000 inheritance waiting for him. Fred heads out to the dot on the map where Aunt Sug lives and owns a honky-tonk, pretending to be nephew Charlie. He catches the eye of the neighbor, Maggie (Jazmin Diebler), which her man, Joe (Preston Ware) doesn’t take to very kindly. Joe and his buddies bend their elbows all the time at Aunt Sug’s bar and are eager to get to know dear nephew Charlie a little better off the ends of their knuckles. Fred is playing with fire by lying to everybody, but like a moth is drawn to the twin flames of the money and Maggie.
“… despondent laundry detergent salesman stuck in a quicksand lifestyle…”
I have been writing for years how my former state of residence, Texas, has retained its unique eco-system that feeds its maverick indie film output. Blind Escape is such a film, radiating with that specific Lone Star indie venom. The stunning monochrome imagery by Kinzie and Thomas Blanks has black and white visuals on the same level as The Last Picture Show. The rich bleakness of the compositions is enhanced by an arsenal of angles and silhouettes straight out of art photography.
Kinzie also adds a splash of acid with a touch of David Lynch. There is a motif of repeatedly revisiting the white picket fences along the houses which comes off as very Lynchian. Other Lynchian elements is finding a black doorway and plunging into it, as well as the surreal finale that wasn’t what you saw coming.
"…has black and white visuals on the same level as The Last Picture Show."
