Quiet Nights of Blood and Pain (2009, Andrew Copp)

This is a very dull indie-slasher flick from Andrew Copp, who did the tripped out, experimental horror film "The Mutilation Man". Thing is, "Quiet Nights of Blood and Pain" had a relatively interesting premise that was, unfortunately, bogged down by too many obvious budgetary constraints...

I chubby female veteran is home from Iraq and struggling through some post-traumatic stress that an old Vietnam vet is trying to help her through. All-the-while, she is being pursued by another Iraq vet - this one, suffering a much more severe kind of post-war trauma that's actually more along the lines of a full-on mental collapse. He's running around killing people whom he deems a threat to national security, such as some masked rapist punks under a bridge, a couple with an anti-Bush bumper sticker and a school janitor...

The biggest problem with the film is the acting. It's SO fucking bad that I found it impossible to take most scenes - namely those involving dialog - at all seriously. The best of the amateur actors, I'd say, was the bald killer. Also, the amount of gore is quite disappointing considering it's from the guy who did "The Mutilation Man". That film wasn't a major achievement in gore - not in quality, nor quantity - yet I just KNEW that he could've done MUCH better than what was seen in "Quiet Nights of Blood and Pain". However, like I said, the idea behind this was decent, though I just wish some more time had been taken with certain elements. Better acting. Better gore. A lot of the scenes could've been much stronger. Can't recommend it.