Scout Taylor-Compton’s Bring the Law

Det. Desmond Mitchell’s new Chatsworth-area territory is so lawless, it makes him miss Oakland. Frankly, crimelord Glen Gargos considers it his territory. Most of the cops tend to agree, perhaps including a member or members of Mitchell’s new team. However, Mitchell is too hardheaded and has too little to lose, so he refuses to play ball in Scout Taylor-Compton’s Bring the Law, which releases this Friday in theaters and on-demand.

Gargos’s Red Flag gang runs the drugs and human trafficking in the area. They have also branched out into the protection racket, but they aren’t as good at it—judging from the bodega bodies they left behind. Mitchell’s team cautions against “rocking the boat,” but he prefers to enforce the law. (Even weirder, his new office happens to be in the Los Angeles MDC Federal Prison, at least judging from the exterior shots.)

It is pretty clear someone is on the take, especially when a hit squad reaches a potential witness right after Mitchell. Unfortunately, one of gunmen happens to be Laura Sanchez’s junkie brother. Mitchell is not exactly close with her, but the diner waitress is one of the few people in the neighborhood who will talk to him. So far, his best source of intel is Olaf, the homeless curmudgeon, who doesn’t expect Mitchell to live much longer.

Bring the Law is unusually gritty and cynical, even by the standards of Mickey Rourke VOD movies. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but the decidedly cheap look is a real drawback. In her directorial debut, Taylor-Compton (best-known for starring in Rob Zombie’s Halloween movies) seems to be going for throwback grunge, which isn’t a terrible strategy. Yet, despite Rourke’s creepy preening as Gargos, the themes and subject matter are too conventional to appeal as exploitation nostalgia. It is just a conspicuously low budget cop movie.

Camp Cold Brook: A Reality Show Gets Real (Again)

Maybe Network’s Howard Beale won’t be the only TV celebrity to lose their lives due to low ratings. The host of Haunt Squad, a fictional ghost-chasing reality show, is facing cancellation, but he convinces his boss to give them one last chance with a 90-minute summer special. They find someplace super-creepy that has not been trampled by every other paranormal investigation show. Of course, genre fans know what to expect when the crew arrives at the titular summer camp in Andy Palmer’s Camp Cold Brook, which is available on VOD and releases tomorrow on DVD.

Three seasons is a decent run these days, but Jack Wilson, the host (not the jazz pianist), has a family and a mortgage in arears. Through personal charm, he convinces the network head to give them one last chance, claiming they have a line on something big. Of course, he has no idea what that will be, but his shy production assistant Emma suggests Camp Cold Brook, near Wilson’s old childhood home in rural Oklahoma.

The camp has been shuttered since the atrocities and its remote location means it hasn’t been picked over by other paranormal shows. According to lore, a suspected witch caused twenty-eight kids at the Christian camp to go crazy and kill themselves, but she needed thirty to reincarnate her late daughter. Dead kids are always good for ratings, so off they go. It is only supposed to be an initial scouting trip, but weird, uncanny happenings soon complicate their plans.

You probably think you know how this goes—and you will be largely right. Yet, CCB proves how energetic execution and a game cast can still sell a familiar premise. It is hard to figure why the legendary Joe Dante signed up as executive producer and “presenter” based on Alex Carl’s screenplay, but the final product is surprisingly entertaining. The big twist has credibility issues, but the business involving creepy runes inscribed in each camp building is memorable and effective.