I managed to get my hands on a screener DVD of Craig, as the film is currently making its way around the festival circuit. The next scheduled festival screening in the USA of this indie flick from Denmark will be at the Last Call Film Festival on June 5, 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Craig (Sonderholm) is a man who loses his entire family to a large fire. After being questioned by the police, Craig goes on to live his lonely and reclusive life, occasionally seeking therapy and taking his prescribed Lithium pills. In an attempt to bring his life back to some form of normalcy, Craig begins to ween himself off of his pills and make some awkward attempts at dating. As a result of his actions, Craig finds himself slipping further out of his own sanity and with each disappointing attempt at developing a relationship, the body count slowly rises. Craig continues to get bolder and more confident, seeking women who inevitably become victims.

Craig is written and directed by Kim Sonderholm, who also stars as the lead character. Sonderholm has taken what is clearly a low budget endeavor and has run with it. Craig is by no means perfect, but there are some elements I found impressive.

The story takes a bit of patience on the part of the viewer and those not accustomed to viewing very low-budget films may want to prepare themselves, as this is the kind of movie one cannot appreciate through the same eyes that watch mainstream Hollywood productions. Sonderholm has, however, developed some images and stylistic approaches that add a great deal to the film and the soundtrack is surprisingly captivating for much of the 100 minute running time.

There two short cameo appearances by indie horror maverick Lloyd Kaufman as “The Voice” that Craig is haunted and tormented by. The soundtrack features an impressive line-up with tracks from Manoush, Centhron, Halo in Reverse, Sister Cyanide, Papa Fiasco and more. The film also features performances by Christian Magdu, Jan Tjerrild, Merete Van Kamp, Zoe Hunter, Alice Haaber and a cameo by Manoush.

Tags | craig, indie horror, kim sonderholm