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IMDbPro

The City

  • 20092009
  • 1h 12m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
55
YOUR RATING
The City (2009)
ComedyDramaHorror
Scott Valdez is a struggling writer who finds his inspiration in the form of a psychopathic killer named T.K.Scott Valdez is a struggling writer who finds his inspiration in the form of a psychopathic killer named T.K.Scott Valdez is a struggling writer who finds his inspiration in the form of a psychopathic killer named T.K.
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
55
YOUR RATING
    • James Vogel
    • James Vogel(head writer)
    • Ezra Stead
    • Greg Hernandez
  • Stars
    • Matt Franta
    • Heather Amos
    • Warren Anderson
    • James Vogel
    • James Vogel(head writer)
    • Ezra Stead
    • Greg Hernandez
  • Stars
    • Matt Franta
    • Heather Amos
    • Warren Anderson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

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    Top cast

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    Matt Franta
    • Paul Coddington
    Heather Amos
    • Escort Girl
    Warren Anderson
    • Victim
    Sasha Andreev
    Sasha Andreev
    • Mike
    Landyn Banx
    Landyn Banx
    • Victim
    Matthew Feeney
    Matthew Feeney
    • Instructor
    Sarah French
    Sarah French
    • Victim
    • (as Scarlet Salem)
    Jamee Hegelberger
    • Prostitute
    Greg Hernandez
    • T.K.
    Jamie Janek
    • Scott's Wife
    • (as Jamie Dix)
    Nicole Kruex
    • Prostitute
    Scout Nathe
    • Scott Jr.
    Mike Rylander
    • Homeless Guy
    Alice Shindelar
    • Victim
    Rachael Slatter
    • Victim
    Ezra Stead
    • Scott Valdez
    Laura Stevens
    • Victim
    Mandi Tollefson
    • Mike's Girlfriend
    • (as Amanda K. Smith)
      • James Vogel
      • James Vogel(head writer)
      • Ezra Stead
      • Greg Hernandez
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      During filming, Minneapolis Police officers were summoned no fewer than four times: 1. Neighbors thought the actresses playing prostitutes in the opening scene were actual ladies of the night and police were summoned. A new location was found the following week and actress Jamee Hegelberger was cut from the scene due to scheduling. 2. The scene where T.K. (Greg Hernandez) and Scotty (Ezra Stead) assault two women in an alley. After realizing it was a film shoot, one of the officers joked that if the filmmakers ever make a reenactment, he wanted to be played by Brad Pitt. 3. Original poster shoot at Minneapolis Community Technical College. As director James Vogel and actor and prop-master Paul von Stoetzel entered the building, security detained Vogel. They were carrying props for the photo shoot: firearms including two shotguns strapped to von Stoetzel's back! Ezra Stead was subsequently terminated from his job working in the Film Department and Vogel was 86'd from premises and expelled from school. Paul von Stoetzel suffered no consequences. 4. Following a party to raise funds for post-production of The City (2008), an altercation between one of the actors and one of the filmmakers ensued involving punching, scratching and a lit cigarette. The assault was reported and a restraining order was secured. Charges were dropped and the two eventually resolved their differences.

    User reviews3

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    THE CITY: DIRECTOR'S CUT is a fantastic debut effort!!
    THE CITY: DIRECTOR'S CUT (2009) is a true indie horror flick. It's written, directed, produced, and edited by James Vogel (who also did the art direction, the set decoration, was the production manager, in charge of the costume and wardrobe department, and served as the location manager and script supervisor). I also bet he would bring in sandwiches to the cast and crew thereby making him the caterer too!! This is Vogel's directorial debut and I must say that I'm impressed. He gives us a well directed film with above average-looking production values. There are some script problems (more on this in a second), but this is a solid film from someone I'll be keeping my eye on for future projects.

    The story centers on Scott (Ezra Stead, who also serves as co-writer and does some stunts), a student in film school who is writing his thesis in scriptwriting. He presents his script to his professor who tells him its crap and that he needs more life experience in order to make the script more believable. So Scott hooks up with T.K. (Greg Hernandez; also a co-writer and stuntman in the film), a sociopath who is more than happy to give Scott all the experience he wants in kidnapping, torturing, and killing innocent people. Scott's professor ends up loving the rewritten script and tells him he'll easily be able to sell it. Scott and T.K. end up becoming partners and continue their murderous spree in order to provide Scott with inspiration.

    The film, which runs 68 minutes, follows these two around on their crime and murder spree. Besides having above average production values, you'll immediately notice the solid acting here. Greg Hernandez provides the best performance as the sociopath T.K. After a while you forget you're watching a movie; Hernandez is very natural. Stead does at times suffer from a little overacting but overall puts in a solid performance.

    My biggest problems with THE CITY, as mentioned above, are with the script. I didn't buy Scott's sudden turn from a shy, introverted writer to suddenly becoming a sociopath who stabs, beats the poop out of, shoots, and then drinks the blood of his victim. It was too large of a character leap. And even at 68 minutes this does drag at points. I attribute this to there being really only the one storyline (there's no subplots or even secondary characters here). What also hurts the film a little is the too-early character development of Scott. Scott undergoes a major character change early on in the film whereas I would have liked to have seen the transformation occur more slowly over the course of the film. All these "negatives" with the film are marginal to the effect of the overall film. Vogel has given us a well directed and well edited first feature.

    Make sure you get the newly released DIRECTOR'S CUT and be sure to listen to the commentary tracks ... there's some really great insight and funny observations about the film. I can't wait to see what his next project is!!

    Director: James Vogel (& writer) Plot: 3 out of 5 stars Gore: 3 out of 10 skulls Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains Reviewed by Scott Shoyer for AnythingHorror.com
    helpful•1
    0
    • anythinghorrorscott
    • Jun 10, 2011

    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 5, 2009 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
    • Production companies
      • James Vogel Presents
      • Merle Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 12 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

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