Kaaterskill Falls

A film festival award-winner, Josh Apter's Kaaterskill Falls stars Hilary Howard and Mitchell Riggs as Ren and Mitchell, a vacationing couple en route to a cabin, where "making a baby" tops the agenda. They are joined by Lyle (Anthony Leslie), a hitchhiker Ren feels compelled to pick up (give him a ride, okay, but invite him to share your cabin?--not likely, or advisable). The story unfolds predictably, as escalating tensions develop between computer consultant Mitch, with his ever-present cell phone, and back-to-nature Lyle, with his nasty-looking knife. A tense and ominous undercurrent and a Cassavetes-like intimacy are the best things this filmed-on-a-shoestring re-imagining of Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water has going for it, but as in The Blair Witch Project, the cast here was encouraged to improvise their dialogue, which leads to much meandering and awkward pauses. Still, this is a reasonably effective detour from similarly-themed mainstream commercial films. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by filmmakers Josh Apter and Peter Olsen, and costars Hilary Howard, Anthony Leslie, and Mitchell Riggs; three deleted scenes (20 min.), including a blooper reel; a gallery of production stills; weblinks; and a trailer. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a run-of-the-mill thriller.] (K. Lee Benson)