 Red Cow Entertainment // Visit A-Bo's official MySpace page!A-Bo the Humonkey is a comedy about a half man, half ape (starring Frankie) who is brought out of obscurity and moved to Boston to be integrated with society. However, not everyone agrees that A-Bo deserves human rights... I'm still fairly new to the creative talents of Mr. Frankie Frain, having just watched (and reviewed!) his first film, "I Need to Lose Ten Pounds," just a couple weeks back. Well, as much as I enjoyed that first film, I was not prepared for the sheer excellence of his next feature film, the unusually named "A-Bo the Humonkey." Having just sat through 80 glorious minutes of that, I am floored - Frankie is a force to be reckoned with and I now count him as one of my favorite independent filmmakers working today! The story is actually quite ingenius, as it takes a truly bizarre plot device - that of a half-man, half-monkey humanoid named "A-Bo" - but otherwise plays it very straight-laced (albeit with all the lovely ham-acting you would expect from a low-budget affair.) A sweeping tale, with a huge number of locations and large cast, this is not your average self-made film. Frankie Frain is clearly a very talented director and is able to bring forth some pretty impressive performances from his cast. A stand-out aspect of this film for me was the use of very professional camera angles and shots which take this film far beyond the standard "set it up on a tripod and press the red button" you usually get with indie productions, elevating it to a much higher quality production than you might otherwise expect. As a would-be indie filmmaker myself, seeing what Frain has created with "A-Bo" not only entertains me, but it also inspires me - there's no limit to what a lot of talent, drive and creativity can accomplish when focused in on such a pure b-movie plot! Well job sir! Video Presented in a 16x9 widescreen transfer, the film looks solid throughout, with sharp detail and zero defects throughout. Even with its low-budget, shot-on DV production, the picture quality is excellent, looking like it belongs up on a big movie screen (and not just on my own TV!) Audio Dolby stereo soundtrack is expertly mixed and delivers the sonic goodness in a clean, clear fashion. Extras Closing Thoughts Very entertaining, well-made b-film with lots of heart AND laughs + impressive collection of extras (including production vlogs!) = HIGHLY RECOMMENDED INDIE FUN! Trailer |
