First time feature director, Viet Nguyen’s film, CRUSH THE SKULL premiered to a sold-out audience on Thursday, June 11. The screening was part the Los Angeles Film Festival 2015, presented by Film Independent. “Crush” was selected as part of LAFF’s Nightfall Program, dedicated to films that are scary, dark, bizarre and generally supposed to be seen after dark. As a world premiere, Crush The Skull is nominated for the Nightfall Award. Crush The Skull has also been fortunate enough to make it onto a couple of short lists including LAist.com’s 12 Films to ‘Watch at the LA Film Festival’, and SSN Insider’s ‘7 Films to See’ of the LA Film Festival.
Anticipation for the film has been greater than expected with a second screening being added on Wednesday, June 17. For tickets and more information visit www.lafilmfest.com
(From LA Film Fest)
CRUSH THE SKULL
English
(2014 , 84 min. )
Directed by: Viet Nguyen
Screenwriter: Viet Nguyen, Christopher Dinh
Executive Producers: Joan Huang, Jeffrey Gou
Producers: Jimmy Tsai, Aya Tanimura, Viet Nguyen, Christopher Dinh
Co-Producer: Tadayoshi Chae
Associate Producer: Helen Kim
Cinematographer: John Reyes-Nguyen, Tuan Quoc Le
Editor: Viet Nguyen
Music: David Frank Long
Cast: Christopher Dinh, Katie Savoy, Chris Riedell, Tim Chiou, Lauren Reeder, Walter Michael Bost
Ollie and Blair earn a dishonest living by robbing upper class homes. They decide to pull one last job but it takes a turn for the worse when they find themselves trapped inside the house. As they explore, they discover that this seemingly innocuous home is actually a sadistic torture den: a mind-screwing maze with an unseen killer separating them from one another and stalking them from the shadows.
First time feature director Viet Nguyen builds on the hybrid tone he mastered with his award-winning shorts, creating an entirely new genre: master thieves versus serial killer. Clever, gruesome and hilarious, Crush the Skull is fast-paced fun that winks at the audience but never insults its intelligence.
-Drea Clark