Netherbeast is a good example of why some ideas have to be made as independent films. First, its story isn't interesting enough to appeal to general audiences. Second, the quality of the movie is pretty bad for a few reasons.
I hoped it would be better considering the cast had a couple of people I'd actually heard of in it and it was billed as a comedy. Although it tries to be slapstick-y a couple of times nothing seems to work. The jokes just aren't funny and most of the dialog is flat or very forced. Robert Wagner plays the president and adds nothing special to the role that an unknown actor could have. In Dave Foley's scenes, he seems like he has nothing to do. The non-marquee actors are awkwardly unnatural. Steve Burns does the best of anyone in the cast with what he was given, but is still not enough to make this entertaining.
The movie's concept, which is told from inside a group of exiled 'mutants', is not done in any way that is new. The main plot, which I guess is closest to a who-done-it, is pretty weak too, is short on clues and has an ending that is really telegraphed. Netherbeast does a lot of explaining to make up for a lack of real story-telling, mainly relying on the tired voice-over treatment to do it. It doesn't do a good job of making the viewer care about what is being said or why they should care.
With the writing, acting and production quality of the film itself, the whole thing seems more amateurish, like a student film, more than an indy picture. I'd recommend skipping it.
I hoped it would be better considering the cast had a couple of people I'd actually heard of in it and it was billed as a comedy. Although it tries to be slapstick-y a couple of times nothing seems to work. The jokes just aren't funny and most of the dialog is flat or very forced. Robert Wagner plays the president and adds nothing special to the role that an unknown actor could have. In Dave Foley's scenes, he seems like he has nothing to do. The non-marquee actors are awkwardly unnatural. Steve Burns does the best of anyone in the cast with what he was given, but is still not enough to make this entertaining.
The movie's concept, which is told from inside a group of exiled 'mutants', is not done in any way that is new. The main plot, which I guess is closest to a who-done-it, is pretty weak too, is short on clues and has an ending that is really telegraphed. Netherbeast does a lot of explaining to make up for a lack of real story-telling, mainly relying on the tired voice-over treatment to do it. It doesn't do a good job of making the viewer care about what is being said or why they should care.
With the writing, acting and production quality of the film itself, the whole thing seems more amateurish, like a student film, more than an indy picture. I'd recommend skipping it.