Highly Overrated But Still Good

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

When I first watched this movie, I had no idea that there were actually a series of disappearances up in Alaska that locals believed were the work of a serial killer but were unsolved. I am a huge Malcom McDowell fan since "If" and I watched it purely for that reason. I also work in a court system, and I know all too well that some cases never get solved. So, I found the plot satisfying albeit with a disturbing ending, the acting well done and the camera work masterful. The suspense comes not so much from guessing who the killer is as that is pretty much revealed early in the film, but from the cat and mouse game played by the killer with the authorities.However, in light of the release of The Fourth Kind and the press about it, NOW I find myself wondering if this were an earlier attempt based loosely on the same cases that The Fourth Kind is based on...At any rate, all in all, a good use of my time watching this film.

this is a hard movie to watch.mainly because it is so slow.if you are expecting action,you won't find it here.what you will find is a character study of sorts.the characters propel movie more than anything else.it's a murder mystery/drama that takes place in Alaska in the dead of winter,when it is cold and dark for 24 hours a day.Malcolm McDowell plays the barber,but he is more than a barber.he puts in a good performance here,and the supporting actors are also good.aside from that,there isn't a lot worth watching the movie for.instead of having an ending of any sort,it just ends.i was just hoping that if nothing else,some loose ends would be tied up.i might have rated the movie bit higher in that case.as it is,i give The Barber a 4/10.as an aside,this movie is similar in spirit to Fargo(though i thought Fargo was a better movie),so if you liked that movie,you might want to check out this movie,or vice versa.

The Barber sounded interesting enough...it sounded straight from the pages of a Stephen King novel except it takes the setting and location of a far north Alaskan village where everyone knows everyone. Dark, harsh, betrayal abounds but some minor and yet major things drag down this indie film which many seem to praise. It isn't your run of the mill Horror film which is definitely a good thing any time you can break that mold and still be entertaining. The Sound editing is atrocious...it's like watching a bad Japanese Godzilla film, the sound is that out of sync which normally is acceptable in a low budget picture but it's so bad it becomes almost unbearable. The story and direction is the high point of the film both kudos to director/co-writer Michael Bafaro. Unfortunately the real story in this can't be told in the restriction of the hour and a half the film is given. You can't fully get the feel for each character especially The Barber himself. The setting is not quite used to the advantage of the story although they attempt it but constantly verbally reminding us of the darkness they have six months of the year. There desperately needs to be more back story and more of a connection between these characters who live so closely together in such dire circumstances...the way Stephen King always brings about in his small town horrors. Instead the movie is bogged down with blatant profanity, and unimaginative communication between the characters.Malcolm McDowell takes the lead as the secretly psychotic Dexter Miles. He's adequate but in the hands of a much better actor the role could have flourished. We never get a real feel for his deep psychosis or a background or reason for his sheer insanity. Despite meager attempts by a voice over to understand him we don't get inside his mind. His performance is like the film...low budget. He's a low budget actor who doesn't really impress but is just adequate. Jeremy Ratchford on the other hand gives the really impressive performance of the whole film as Chief Vance Corgan. He's dark, and moody, and emotionally disturbed by things in his past. He's chalked up as being over the hill, a few loose bricks, not really smart but in fact he shows the slightest glimpse of being a brilliant cop, and the only one who really sees things no one else does. Ratchford deserves great credit as being the stand out performance in the film. Garwin Sanford drags the cast down as the foolish and vapid FBI agent Crawley. His performance is a joke and he treats it as such. He's not believable as an agent and is at least twice as inadequate as Chief Corgan in his crime detection. John B. Destry is also worth mentioned as he does a pretty decent job as one of the victim's husband. A little deranged and he plays crazy better than McDowell who gets top billing. I have to say none of the rest of the cast is really worth mentioned. No one else does a stand out job and a lot of the town folk behave more like it's a joke than a real film. The cast is just not serious enough for this film.In the hands of a more powerful film maker, a much more brilliant cast, and a deeper story this could have been a real treat to behold although it was nominated for several independent awards. Perhaps I am being too harsh on it but I really loved the premise and the story and direction and I wanted more so badly that it's too bad there wasn't. For entertainment purposes it was fun to watch, a decent thriller with little to no actual violence or gore. Unless you're a real die hard Horror fan or love low budget flicks there really isn't any reason to see this one. On the other hand it won't kill you, it's not bad at all...just an average little film. 7/10

Everyone looks for the perfect film and thinks if they do not find it there is nothing worth while. That is why I really enjoy...if not love this film! I need not say anything about Malcolm since his acting and career speaks for itself, but also consider that the films he chooses are not necessarily main stream, but possess some merit(considering his 147 IMDb acting entries).This film made me think of an Insomnia (foreign or domestic) meets David Lynch (Twin Peaks of course), or the other way around depending on which influenced you first. I can't but wonder if all those things criticized about this film were intentional. The quirky nature of each character, for example, due to effects of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder - http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm), provide the canvas for the film to unfold onto.This is the one of few reviews I have written, even though I personally own over 1500 films (not that it really means anything or that I have seen them all)! I just felt that someone needed to speak up for the misunderstood. If you spent the time to actually read my comments I thank you for your time, whether you enjoy this film or not. If you have not seen the film, I would like to say it would be worth your while, but this is the kind of film you have to experience for yourself and see how it suits you.