Written and directed by Anthony Frith, co-written by Sandy Cameron, a struggling director documents his journey making a “mockbuster” in six days, descending into the chaotic world of low-budget filmmaking. Featuring: Brendan Petrizzo, David Michael Latt, Michelle Bauer, Bix Krieger, Paul Bales, David Rimawi, David Margetts, Sev Philippou, Aaron Schuppan and Michael Paré.
Firstly, the idea for Mockbuster itself is fairly brilliant, it creates a sort of contingency plan, in that Anthony Frith can show his skills behind the camera in different ways, as well as potentially making a film that’s a success, by shooting the making of one that likely will not be. It’s a pretty great plan because unsurprisingly, watching the voluntary insanity that is trying to make a feature film in six days with unavoidable delays, approvals and clashes, is inherently entertaining. Especially because Frith makes for a great lead, he’s a grounded guy with a good personality and he does really well to portray his passion versus the intense stress of the situation.
That stress is an interesting addition because it does translate into the atmosphere of Mockbuster, added to the ticking clock of their looming deadline, creates a great tension. You get sympathetic anxiety for Frith watching him scramble to figure things out and wonder if he’s made a horrible mistake. Both the anxiety and his enthusiasm are infectious. Although seeing all of that behind the scenes chaos might make people appreciate B-movies more, for how much hard work goes into them. Even if they might look imperfect, that doesn’t mean behind them wasn’t a dedicated team doing everything they could to make a good piece of entertainment.
It also flows well, mixing in bits of Frith’s personal life, and meeting with other known faces to discuss the indie filmmaking process. There’s a lot of charm to its tone, it has a very friendly personality. Part of that is definitely the appreciation for trashy films, as well as the honesty which comes from The Asylum team with their endearing self-awareness of exactly what types of films they make and why.
Mockbuster is charming and humble, it’s a fun exploration of the filmmaking process and the enthusiasm versus the responsibility. It highlights how stressful and hectic it can be, and how quickly things can fall apart, and does so in a way that’s entertaining and has a nice tension to it. Anthony Frith does well in front of, and behind the camera, creating a strong pacing, visual and providing a relatable lead for the documentary. It’s a great watch for indie and B-movie fans.
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