Wicked


Photo Courtesy of the Sundance Film Festival

Wicked may look like a genre film, but in truth it is an exhilarating hybrid that continuously surprises and amuses. If it could be classified, it would be called a suburban horror story or family thriller. As director Michael Steinberg explains, "I used the story of Electra as a sounding board and dressed it up as a pop art murder mystery."

First and foremost, Wicked is fun to watch. Steinberg instills humor at every turn, and the cast is up to the challenge. All the performances teeter on the fence between melodrama and neorealism. The lighting is noirish and steeped in shadows, only they glow in primary colors instead of black and white. Steinberg not only captures a style; he captures a mood. He constantly keeps you guessing what evils lurk under this sterile facade. With the state of family values as they are, there may be a darker side (if possible) to his twisted tale. Could this story actually happen in the world today?

- John Cooper

Directed by: Michael Steinberg
Written by: Eric Weiss
Starring: Patrick Muldoon, Vanessa Zima, Julia Stiles, William R. Moses, Michael Parks, Chelsea Field
Produced by: Frank Beddor
Original Music by: Eric Martinez