aka Cloned: The Recreator Chronicles

D: Gregory Orr / 90m

Cast: Stella Maeve, Alexander Nifong, Jamal Mallory-McCree, John de Lancie, Laura Moss

A trio of teens, Tracy (Maeve), Craig (Nifong) and Derek (Mallory-McCree), arrive at lake-bound Brewster Island for a camping trip.  They spy a house above the treelike and when Tracy decides she’d rather the bathroom than go in the woods, she unwittingly sets in motion events that will put all their lives in danger.  That night there is a terrible storm, complete with lightning, and the trio decide to throw all aims of camping out of the tent and take refuge in the house.  The next morning the owners (de Lancie, Moss) return from the mainland.  When they realise someone has been in their house, they react in a totally unexpected way: they coerce the trio into helping them bury the real owners – who they resemble exactly.

At this stage of the movie the plot introduces the duplicates of Tracy, Craig and Derek, and becomes a battle of wills between the two trios.  The duplicates – or clones – are stronger, more intelligent and above all, unscrupulous; they plan to kill the original trio as soon as possible.  Initially unaware of this, Tracy, Craig and Derek are still mistrustful of the whole situation, but seem more content to argue amongst themselves about what to do.  In the end, Derek leaves the island to get help.  While he’s gone, Tracy’s clone begins to develop feelings for Craig, while Craig’s clone attempts to seduce Tracy.  And all the while, Tracy and Craig try to work out why all this is happening…

Recreator begins well, with a couple of eerie, atmospheric sequences involving the house’s owners, but then fails to make its trio of original protagonists even remotely likeable.  Derek is arrogant, Tracy is self-absorbed, and Craig is wetter than water.  When their clones show up it’s almost a relief, as they truly are “better” than the real thing.  However, this is probably to allow for the dramatic aspects of the story to be heightened.  We know the clones are inherently bad, and we know that there will be a showdown at the end, and we know that there will be a large degree of proselytising from the clones about the world needing them more than the originals, and we also know that Tracy and Craig will discover the reason why all this is happening… but… will it be worth sticking around to find out?

The answer is yes and no.  Writer/director Orr has hit on a great idea for a movie, but in putting it all together, he’s taken a scattershot approach to his material.  The relationships appear culled from an indie movie, the sci-fi elements from any number of Fifties’ mad scientist outings, and the overall feel is like watching any of the first four Friday the 13th movies but without the gratuitous gore or semi-nudity.  The dialogue varies too, from faux-existential to banal to (possibly) semi-improvised.  Orr’s direction too is often off-balance, as if the mix of styles is problematical for him: some scenes are played as sinister when they should be more straightforwardly dramatic, while others have a latent humour that passes by either unacknowledged or under-utilised.

On the plus side, Maeve, Nifong and Mallory-McCree do well with roles that require them to play two sides of the same personality, and the necessary split-screen work is well done, particularly in a lake-set scene involving both Tracys.  The raison d’être for everything is laid out well, and while the latter day mechanics of it are a bit suspect – they involve a cesspit of all things – the lake bound setting keeps the action believably contained.  The music by Jeff Carruthers and Rick Conrad is effective, and David Tumblety’s photography, while not striking, does create a distinctive mood that fits with the storyline.  Even with the caveats mentioned above, Recreator is mostly engaging and even thought-provoking on occasion.

The movie ends with the legend To be continued.  If Orr gets a better grip on his ideas and material, then a sequel will be something to look forward to.

Rating: 6/10 – problems with the script knock this movie down a point; however, all problems aside, there’s enough here to warrant more than a cursory glance.

Originally posted on thedullwoodexperiment website.