A Secret Handshake (Video 2007)

Jacob is an ordinary man living an ordinary life with his beautiful wife, until the day he wakes up in an eerie hotel room to find himself being brutally tortured by a mysterious woman. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Harsha Gijre

Writers:

Sukhi Pabla (story), Christopher Hazelett (characters),

Stars:

Danielle Bitton, Subash Chand, Devon Marcel Clark III

Cast

Credited cast:
Danielle Bitton	...	Jacob's Lawyer / Exotic Nurse
Subash Chand	...	Dr. Suri
Devon Marcel Clark III	...	Young Jacob
Kennedy Danko	...	Young Carmen
Philip Hersh	...	Jacob's Boss
Paul Howard	...	Long John
Tammy Klein	...	Carmen's Mother
Jessica Landon	...	Carmen
Carrie Lazar	...	Victoria
Benjamin Mani	...	The Bell Boy
Carl McDowell	...	Prison Inmate
Robert Olding	...	Jacob
Tony Piantedosi	...	Prison Guard
Amy Ripley	...	Tiffany
Pandora Sanguine	...	Lucy

Storyline

Jacob is an ordinary man living an ordinary life with his beautiful wife, until the day he wakes up in an eerie hotel room to find himself being brutally tortured by a mysterious woman. He succumbs to the unbearable pain and loses consciousness; only to awake safely back in his own home the next morning to discover that he has been missing for days. At first, Jacob believes his experience was just a vivid nightmare, until it happens again, and then again. As each episode becomes more realistic, he loses his grasp on what is real and what seems to be a sick game. Who are his friends? Who are his enemies? What is the truth? In the end the truth will be a lie, and the evil consuming him will stem not from his actions, but from his secret.

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Taglines:

Can You Keep A Secret?

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

P2 Films, Pabla-Hazelett Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color Color (HDCAM)

Did You Know?

Trivia

'A Secret Handshake' screenplay was first written by producers Sukhi Pabla and Christopher Hazelett and was titled 'An Autumn In Paradise'. After years of trying to find funding and to lock in a big name for the lead roles, they had no luck. So they got together and had writer/director Harsha Gijre rewrite the screenplay to fit a smaller budget of less than half a million dollars. And was born 'A Secret Handshake'.

User Reviews

Grainy footage and Convoluted Plot line

OK, I decided to give this one a go just in case it turned out to be a decent film; though I'm not sure how such misleading comments happen to find their ways to the frontpage of many movies I an curious about, most seem written by someone involved with the film. Anyway, onto the film.

Footage was downright grainy, though the sound quality wasn't too bad, there for a while I thought I was watching something from the 70's. The acting wasn't too bad, though I have to venture to guess the lead role was probably the writer of the script (his acting was the worst). The script was quite disjointed, and many times you'll find yourself asking "Just what the Hell is going on." Even by the end of the movie there are a lot of holes. Some writers try to get away with doing this by saying that it's up to the viewer to fill in the holes with their own ideas; I say that's just a load of crap.

You can get an idea of what the movie is about simply by reading the plot summary; you won't get too much more out of the movie itself, though it did have some strange points. What would I compare this film to? How about a mix between Primer and The Attic Expeditions (awesome flick, much better than this one. Check it out!!!), some movie it isn't like are: Crash, Identity, Unknown, etc.; it wants to be like these but falls short. I will give it a few thumbs up because it kept me fairly interested and it did pick up toward the end, though nothing is really explained.

Bottom Line: Not bad, but could have been done much better for the same cost. How about bringing some of the plot threads together so the audience isn't totally confused, you lose them that way.