Wearing multiple hats as producer, writer, and director, Mike Lordi brings horror fans We Can’t Leave, a true independent low-budget horror film. In the spirit of Scream, a group of actors answers the call to audition for, what else, a horror movie! And they have no idea what’s in store for them.
We open on a woman pleading to the camera about the current situation she’s in. It’s dire — there’s no escape. This is Vanessa (Julie Tzivas) giving a monologue to her director (Ernie Daw), who praises her audition. A creepy assistant to the director, Angus (Ron Lordi), then escorts Vanessa out of the building. As Vanessa looks out into the dark parking lot, her car is gone. She recalls echoes of her monologue about missing cars and phones not working. She returns to the building to find an empty floor that seems like a maze until she finds Kelly (Christina Mignella), an actor whom she met at the audition. Kelly is dripping with blood, having been stabbed numerous times, and dies in Vanessa’s arms. Vanessa then encounters dark-robed individuals — “the freaks” — and meets her own fate.
“It’s not a question of whether they’ll die, but in what order…”
On another floor is a group of actors awaiting their turn to audition. As Fay (Grace Allison), Lucy (Caterina Dorsey), and Glen (James Parent) make small talk, Jack (Freddie Maas) makes fun of the project and all the tropes that go into a horror movie, such as a low budget, no-name actors, and one location. This is now our cast. It’s not a question of whether they’ll die, but in what order, and which one of them possibly stays alive at the end. There’s also the mystery of the “freaks” who killed Kelly and Vanessa: how many of them are there, and what is their real purpose besides just killing the hopeful actors?
When I first started watching the movie, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t watching a big studio film, but a true independent movie. The film even makes fun of itself, similar to the Scream franchise, which loves to explain the rules to the audience about the beats that have to happen in horror films for the participants to die.
If there was one area that I wish had been thought out more, it’s the costuming of the “freaks.” Essentially, it’s a Scream costume without Ghostface as the mask, instead using a different design resembling the Cobra Kai skeleton face from The Karate Kid. What truly makes a horror film unique is the creation of your villain. It doesn’t have to be complicated — just look at the William Shatner/Captain Kirk mask used for Michael Myers. I think Mike Lordi could have used a bit more TLC in that aspect.
"…It’s dire — there’s no escape."
