Jug Face pours out creepiness

OK, so let me tell you why I decided to watch this movie in the first place.

STORY TIME!

This movie was on Netflix for quite some time, and I looked at it over and over again trying to decide if I wanted to give it a chance or if it was something that would really appeal to me. I decided to hold off until I had some time to look into it more and the story-line and really see what I would be getting myself into. Unfortunately, I waited just a little too long and it was taken off of Netflix and I honestly forgot about it.

But then something absolutely fantastic happened.

During our CMA Edu event with Scott Scovill I got the opportunity to talk with his personal assistant, Katie Groshong, who is an actress/producer who runs the small production company GypsyRoot with writer/director/cinematographer Jeff Wedding. We were talking about horror films and she was writing a list of movies her company had made and that she had acted in and guess what movie was on that list…

That’s right!

Jug Face!

(I hope that was the conclusion you got since that’s the film this entry is about.)

Katie was one of the actresses in this film, and that was enough to get me to check it out. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, it was taken off of Netflix and I was forced to rent it on AmazonPrime. I guess this is a prime example of “You snooze you lose”, don’t you think?

I suppose I should tell you about the movie in this film instead of just talking about how I have met one of the actresses, and sounding like I am bragging.

So, Jug Face is a fantastic example of Southern Gothic horror. The basic plot of this movie is creepy enough without any of the actual conflict. The movie follows a Southern backwoods community that has some sort of magical pit (there may or may not be some sort of creature living in it, if there is we never see it) as their god. Ada, played by Lauren Ashley Carter, is a young girl who we quickly find out has a sexual relationship with her brother.

Ada is arranged to be “joined” with the son of another family, but she finds out that she is pregnant with her brother’s child.

Gross, I know.

Meanwhile we have the story of the jug faces slowly being revealed to us. Dawai, played by Sean Bridgers, is a member of the community who is spoken to by the pit. He creates the jug faces which reveal of a face of a member of the community who is to be sacrificed to the pit. One day Ada goes to visit him, and before going in she retrieves the latest jug face from the kiln which, to her horror, is her own face staring back at her.

What would you do?

Well, she hides it.

And then all hell breaks loose.

This movie couples the creepy feel of cult life with the actual imminent danger of a very real threat within the pit. Director/writer Chad Kinkle does a beautiful job of making the audience feel conflicted about whether or not Ada is doing the right thing. Since she has angered the pit, it begins to take the lives of other members of the community while she has visions of the gruesome deaths. We are stuck in a place of complete understanding and irritation at her selfishness.

I haven’t seen a lot of Southern Gothic horror films but this definitely has me hooked and I can’t wait to watch more.

On a side-note I would like to share something with you having to do with Katie Groshong, the actress/producer I mentioned earlier.

In July I will be interning with her production company while they film their newest horror film. I am ridiculously excited about this amazing opportunity to no longer just be a viewer of a horror film, but to be able to be a part of the process of making it come to life.

Have you seen any good Southern Gothic films? What is your opinion about the genre if you have? How do you feel about the cult type creepy that is used?

Jug Face Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jug_Face

Jug Face IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2620736/

Jug Face Trailer: