Originally Posted by howlingfan
So since I’m one of the producers of “Betsy,” I was able to watch an online screener, and…buckle up for bad news. Like, really bad.
You will not like the TF. It is almost exclusively skin ripping and pretty much zero process, which is not what I was promised. I was told there would be bladder work and facial changes. This didn’t happen. I was told we would see her claws grow. Again, it didn’t happen. I was told we would see her back and muscles expand under her clothes. Didn’t happen. I was told her legs would get longer and rip out of her pants. I was told extra dialogue would be recorded of her getting high off her changes at the end and that she would triumphantly kick down a door after the TF. You can probably guess what I’m about to say: It doesn’t happen. Inexplicably, there weren’t even any real sound effects to go along with the TF, unless you count her screaming, which I don’t. There was literally more process in the NSFW teaser trailer. (At least we saw her claws and fangs grow in that one, and there were sound effects.) Even Missa had better special effects. So the question remains: What the hell happened? My best guess is something the writer-director told me before: that Kelci had to leave unexpectedly early during the shoot, but he conveniently left out the detail that the TF was unfinished or basically not even done at all.
Here is what happens: Betsy wakes up from a bad dream with hair already on her face and the backs of her hands and her claws already on her fingertips. (Again, we were supposed to see them grow.) Then she gets out of bed and falls on the floor screaming. She crawls out of the room and across the hallway. There are close-ups of her legs and back, but again, no clothes ripping or effects work whatsoever (not even sound effects). Meanwhile, the film keeps cutting to other scenes, which breaks up the TF. When we get back to Betsy, she rears up and tears off her shirt, exposing her chest. This is literally the only good part of the TF and, perhaps not coincidentally, the part I was most responsible for, since I pushed the writer-director to add it and gave him a ton of money for it. Then there’s a close-up of her ripping her face off, and we don’t even see the full wolf makeup until the next scene when she’s stalking in the woods.
As upset as I’m sure many (if not all) people will be on this board about this news, no one should be more upset than I am, since I doubt anyone spent anywhere near as much as I did on this project. At least we have “Bonehill Road” to look forward to later this year. (And before anyone says it will be as bad as “Betsy,” the two photos released from the TF already look a thousand times better than what was done in “Betsy,” and the writer-director of that movie confirmed that the actress’ body was cast for changing parts during the TF, something that was done for the original actress of “Betsy” but unfortunately not for Kelci. Again, if I knew “Bonehill Road” existed, I wouldn’t have given “Betsy” an arm and a leg (though I would’ve still bought the DVD).
Here is the very slightly good news about “Betsy”:
1) There is a very quick TF shot of Marylee, so I was wrong when I said there wouldn’t be a TF of her, but it’s mostly just her screaming in a car while we see her fingers elongate. Ironically, that’s literally more process than we get for the title character, for some reason.
2) If you care more about the actual movie than the TF (and I’m guessing that’s a small minority on this board), it’s actually pretty decent with some funny and romantic moments, though the story is somewhat predictable. Okay, a LOT predictable. It’s one of those movies where you’re waiting over an hour for the characters in the movie to come up to speed on what we already know from the trailer: that Betsy is a werewolf. Also, when they suspect a wolf attack (like regular wolf, not werewolf), everyone is completely shocked, like it was an attack by a two-headed clown demon from Saturn or something. “A wolf? In Ohio?! It’s not possible!! GTFO!!!” Other than that, it’s a fairly enjoyable indie movie.
3) Based on the ending, it seems the writer-director wants to do a sequel. This may actually be bad or at least not-so-good news, based on the quality (or lack thereof) of the TF, but remember, he wants to go back to the original version of the movie, with the original actress and full nudity during the TF. After seeing the finished product of this version of the movie, it is my opinion he should’ve made that original version and just waited for the actress to come back, especially since they already cast her face in plaster for the TF.
That is all. I guess I’m done commenting on this thread now. Let the flame comments commence.
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