In the bonus track of the DVD of "The Black String," the director and co-writer Brian Hanson described his film as "a suburban Gothic tale" and "a fun and mysterious film." While there was a strong dosage of the Gothic element inherent in the horror genre, the "fun" and "mysterious" parts were severely lacking.
Another problem with the film was the overall unpleasantness of virtually all of the characters. While Frankie Muniz was an effective Everyman character in his interpretation of the protagonist Jonathan Marsh, the rest of the cast seemed sketchy and underdeveloped. This was especially the case with Dena, who had one dynamic scene early the film, then essentially dropped out of the action.
The main dramatic element of the film was the "man on the run" trope with Jonathan racing against the clock to defeat the forces of darkness that have invaded his body through witchcraft. After he meets the character of Ms. Melinda, he has a tiny handbook that provides him with an arsenal of tactics to fight back against the witchcraft through resisting passing over to "the other side." The expectation that the hero would mount a strong defense against the forces of evil. Instead, he spent all of his time fighting the forces of the rational world (doctors, parents, friends, and police) to prevent him in his quest to overcome his "infection."
There were far too many scenes that were utterly static with Jonathan running in place while forced to live with his parents; getting tied up in a bed in the pscyh ward of a hospital; or remaining in a "circle" in an abandoned shack. The stasis of this film was paralyzing to the viewer.
In the extras segment of the DVD, we learn that the film began as a college thesis project, then received the green-light as a low-budget feature. But the final product still felt like a flawed film school learning experience. And the main problem was the script that never brought out the filmmaker's goals of the mystery and the fun.
Another problem with the film was the overall unpleasantness of virtually all of the characters. While Frankie Muniz was an effective Everyman character in his interpretation of the protagonist Jonathan Marsh, the rest of the cast seemed sketchy and underdeveloped. This was especially the case with Dena, who had one dynamic scene early the film, then essentially dropped out of the action.
The main dramatic element of the film was the "man on the run" trope with Jonathan racing against the clock to defeat the forces of darkness that have invaded his body through witchcraft. After he meets the character of Ms. Melinda, he has a tiny handbook that provides him with an arsenal of tactics to fight back against the witchcraft through resisting passing over to "the other side." The expectation that the hero would mount a strong defense against the forces of evil. Instead, he spent all of his time fighting the forces of the rational world (doctors, parents, friends, and police) to prevent him in his quest to overcome his "infection."
There were far too many scenes that were utterly static with Jonathan running in place while forced to live with his parents; getting tied up in a bed in the pscyh ward of a hospital; or remaining in a "circle" in an abandoned shack. The stasis of this film was paralyzing to the viewer.
In the extras segment of the DVD, we learn that the film began as a college thesis project, then received the green-light as a low-budget feature. But the final product still felt like a flawed film school learning experience. And the main problem was the script that never brought out the filmmaker's goals of the mystery and the fun.