By Valerie Milano
Phoenix, AZ (The Hollywood Times) 6/28/24 – Perspective hopping, horror comedy feature film “Death Perception” world premieres at Dances With Films: LA on Friday, June 28th in the festival’s Midnight Series. Directed by the Uncle Mikki Productions trio of Alec Wry, Kevin Mix, and Sam Slade, the film follows the point-of-view of six different characters on a night of gruesome murders, which comically flips the slasher genre on its head as the hilarious truth behind the horror is unveiled.
College filmmaker, Sean Davis (Kevin Mix), hosts a premiere party for his painfully amateur “short” film, but as the night progresses, things take a sinister turn as the partygoers find themselves stalked by a ruthless killer in a mask. Over the course of the evening, the mystery unravels through the eyes of Sean and his friends – Wes (Omari Williams), Mark (Cody Laper), Kris (Laura Wichman), Anna (Nicole Murray), Peter (Brian Velazquez), and inevitably, the killer themself. Each individual perspective offers a unique and distorted view of the events, highlighting the inconsistencies, miscommunications, and outright hilarious circumstances behind each character’s inner workings as time resets over and over as the characters desperately try to survive the night.
“Death perception is a movie about how we interpret the world around us. Our perception is so heavily influenced by our emotional state, and our own experience that two people can hear the exact same words but derive two completely different meanings,” comments co-director, Alec Wry. “We all live inside of our own heads.”
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Comedy and horror collide, playing on tropes from both, while using the absurdity of each to evolve each character’s experience in their perspective. A slasher fan’s favorite elements: blood, sex, and murder, all remain in the mix as well. “The film subverts age-old tropes to explore how two people could experience the same event and come to a completely different conclusion,” adds co-director, Kevin Mix.
Co-director Sam Slade describes the film as a comedic exploration of human communication, highlighting the absurdity of misunderstandings and misperceptions. “Communication is largely nonverbal and what that tells me is that most communication is left up to the interpretation of the person being communicated to.”
Audiences can see “Death Perception” at Dances with Films: LA during the Midnight Series on Friday, June 28th at 11:45pm. Be ready for a late night, a lot of laughs and a good time! For more information go to https://danceswithfilms.com/death-perception/.
About Uncle Mikki Productions:
Uncle Mikki Productions was founded in 2014 by Sam Slade, Alec Wry, and Kevin Mix. Their first short film, Bigfoot Confirmed, was made as a joke gift for Alec who had asked for “real footage of Bigfoot” for a Christmas white elephant party. Realizing that they had a shared sense of humor and desire to make movies, they started working together on films and have since made over 50 short films and 2 feature films together, with a third on the way. Uncle Mikki prides themselves on developing projects quickly, efficiently, and with very limited resources. They create a catalog of films that are often comedic, some might say silly, but are always grounded in the reality of their characters: working to find the perfect balance between comedic circumstances and real human emotions.
About Dances With Films
Since 1998 DANCES WITH FILMS has grown from presenting a handful of films to more than 200 each year…spanning from narrative features and shorts to include the top documentaries, music videos tv & web on the circuit today. In 2007 DWF brought new commitment to the indie world with the advent of the 2 Minute, 2 Step Short Film Challenge where we actually shoot 10 films during the festival and present them to enthusiastic audiences. In 2012 the festival moved to its current location – the famed Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. From there it has expanded to 11 days with ever-increasing sold-out theatres.
