'The sound was low... But Paul could hear it clearly...
A scream...
The kind of scream that could only be made by someone
facing their own death... It has haunted him ever
since'.
Images (c) One By One Film
TRACK 16 PLOT: Paul Matthews (Billy Franks) discovers
that after a late night recording session alone, a
girl can be faintly heard screaming on one of the
tapes tracks, track number 16. He goes outside right
away to find a girl lying dead in an alley, covered
in blood. He promptly calls the police and finds himself
as the lead suspect. What follows is a glorious ride
that leads Matthews into a web of betrayal, sex, murder
and mayhem.
TRACK 16 REVIEW: A few weeks ago a little known movie
entitled Track 16 was mailed to me by its writer,
director Mick McCleery. Mick emailed me a couple of
days before to see if I wanted to take a look at his
little indie movie that has just been released on
VHS in the US through One By One Film. So I said yeah,
sure......
The film as I said before is the brainchild of Mick
McCleery. Here he writes directs and even stars as
guitarist Mason. The film is an independent set against
the backdrop of the east coast US band scene and features
the music of British artist Billy Franks. Franks also
stars in the lead role of Paul Matthews. Now for those
who haven't heard of Franks before, which includes
myself, don't worry as you soon will. His music that
features throughout the movie is simply outstanding,
but, more on that later.
Now this is the sort of film that I would not, under
usual circumstances have sought out to watch, in fact
I don't usually get the opportunity to see a lot of
indie films, and the ones that I do manage to see,
tend to turn out be utter tripe. But I was surprised
by the quality of Track 16.
The movie is very well written and indeed scenes that
stand out include the stunning opening sequence, where
McCleery uses split screen to great effect, introducing
each character by showing their contribution, either
vocally or by playing an instrument, to the track
they are laying down. Another great scene is when
Matthews has been taken to a interrogation room at
the local police station and tries to recall his movements
of that night. Here McCleery uses the same actor (Franks)
in various areas of the room talking to himself, trying
to figure out when and what he was doing earlier on.
Going over and over the nights events in his mind.
Great.
The script is also spot on and develops the story
well throughout, from the excellent opening to the
action packed climax. Riddled throughout are a few
pop culture references including a great dialogue
sequence during the interrogation scene that mentions
how Frankie Goes To Hollywood recorded their famous
track 'Relax' back in the 80's. I don't want to spoil
it too much, but it ties in with the plot excellently.
As
with a lot of independent films, the acting, in places
is a little wooden, but the director draws good performances
from his leading cast. The ones that stand out are
from Billy Franks, the love interest Bobbi Ashton
and the cop on Matthews trail, Alan Pratt. McCleery
as Mason is also superb, particularly as he also directed.
Congratulations also has to go to Franks on another
contribution he gives to the film, the music. The
songs 'My Best Friend Stole My Girlfriend' and 'Angel
At Your Elbow' are excellent and you'll find yourself
still humming them days after watching the film. His
music draws from many influences and each track is
different to each other. Examples of artists that
his music reminds me of are U2 (and I know that even
Bono acknowledges his musical genius), the aforementioned
Frankie Goes To Hollywood and various other big 80's
bands mixed with a little country and western. But
the music has more to it than that, and Franks brings
his own unique touch to it also.
There are times when you come across a film that you
have heard nothing about before, but you happen to
see it purely by accident and be totally blown away
by it. Films that don't get much hype, but deserve
heaps of it. I'd like to include Track 16 in this
category. A wonderful achievement in independent filmmaking.
PROS: Great premise, outstanding music, good pace,
superb editing and many memorable scenes.
CONS: Wooden acting at various points, quite corny
in places.
3.5
out of 5
TRACK 16 DISC: The DVD includes a one hour 'Storyteller'
session with Bill Franks where he plays 14 of his
songs along with the stories behind them. The disc
also features outtakes and deleted scenes with director's
comments. 3/5
