Kicking off this year’s Slamdance coverage, we’re looking at two different styles of comedy. In Lockjaw, we have more of a dry, character-driven humor, while Portal to Hell is a high concept horror-comedy that delivers snappy dialogue and memorable visuals.
Lockjaw (Sabrina Greco)
Six weeks ago, Rayna (Blu Hunt) made the biggest mistake of her life: She drove drunk and got into an accident that required her jaw to be wired shut. Now, she’s ready to get back out there and have a night on the town, to the exasperation of her sort-of boyfriend Mitch (Colin Burgess). She promises she won’t drink, committed to drinking water through an oral syringe and ready to party. They meet up with their friend Noah (Kevin Grossman) who convinces them to go see his buddy Robert (Nick Corirossi), a mentalist, perform. No part of it is comfortable for anyone involved, and when he sets his sights on Rayna, declaring he’ll reveal her secret, she bails. After the show, the trio get invited to join Robert and his wife Cleo (Ally Davis) at their home. Mitch is most reluctant, but Rayna is hell-bent on a good time, which only leads to a night of anger, resentment, and truths coming out.
From the outset, Lockjaw screams “indie” through wired-shut teeth. Writer-director Sabrina Greco’s naturalistic, handheld shots put us in the conversations, rather than us feeling like detached voyeurs. In a film about regret, resentment, and guilt, each cast member brings their own unique flavor. Hunt infuses Rayna with a stubbornness and (sometimes unintelligible) anger directed both in- and outward, to great effect. Her interactions with Burgess are some of the most authentic, and his performance contains an ever-simmering exasperation that is palpable in every scene. Grossman is charming as the good friend trying to give Rayna a fun night to make up for her accident, but also harbors motives of his own. Corirossi is magnetically monstrous as he incessantly peppers Rayna with insults while being annoyed and mildly amused with the drama around him, pairing well with Davis as she embodies the role of the performance artist pissed at this intrusion.
Though more character study than comedy, and at times a bit drawn out despite its short runtime, Lockjaw is bolstered by solid performances that feel authentic and relatable.
Portal to Hell (Woody Bess)
Dunn (Trey Holland) has a pretty shitty job. As a freelance medical debt collector, he endures people berating and cursing his name day in and day out. From the outside, it seems like a personal hell; That is, until one day when he enters the laundromat and discovers a literal, glowing, portal to Hell inside one of the machines. He teams up with Ed (Romina D’Ugo), the laundromat employee, to find the cause of the portal. Along the way, he meets Chip (voiced by Richard Kind), a demon who’s come for the soul of Dunn’s neighbor (Keith David), but will accept a substitute if Dunn and Ed feed souls into the portal.
You ever had a neighbor you like that much?
On its face, Portal to Hell is a premise that seems rife with plenty of opportunities for both horror and comedy. The script starts out strong, with witty, snappy dialogue, especially in Dunn’s conversations with Ed, who at first is as inconvenienced by this portal as she would be if a raccoon got in the laundromat. Everyone is delivering A-plus performances here, even in the smallest roles, and there’s a fun use of colors, especially in the portal scenes, that really solidifies the vibes. As the film progresses and we learn more about the characters, it becomes more of a story of morality, guilt, and redemption. However, in doing so it loses a bit of its balance as the comedy makes way for the emotional themes. Those themes are strong enough, though, that Portal to Hell is nonetheless a good time and a fun watch (with a solid last line). It’s this kind of unique and wacky vision that gets me excited for Slamdance every year.
Check out more of our Slamdance 2025 coverage here!
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.