Director: Sam Scott
Writers: Sam Scott
Stars: Justine Nelson, Gwenlyn Cumyn, Jonathan Craig
Synopsis: A struggling indie band steals a cursed melody that opens a portal between dimensions. Then they begin to find success…at a cost.
Sam Scott’s debut film, Turn It Up!, opens with ominous narration hinting at the central conceit of the film’s logline. It effectively amounts to a blend of scientific jargon and expository intrigue, but what’s perhaps most important to pull from the cold open lies in its final sentiment. While referring to a potentially reality-altering sound, the voice notes how in all likelihood, it would sound pretty cool. It’s certainly a logical argument to be made. And isn’t that what it’s all about anyways? We all hope to find art that will move us in some way. Perhaps we can even stumble upon a film or piece of music that will change us profoundly. And yet, at its most basic level, is the hunger for discovering something new not just the blind hope that we get to experience something really cool and exciting? There’s nothing greater than feeling completely reinvigorated by the experience of finishing a film or a song. Turn It Up! calls its shot quite early in this regard. Such a tongue-in-cheek statement, coupled with the opening credits, only furthers that notion.
One might imagine the high energy antics of the opening credits is a simple way to establish the stylings of the remainder of the film. There’s a ton of style to be found in the sequence. A rocking soundtrack complements the intentionally chopped up editing style. Life on the road as an indie rock band can obviously be a struggle, but that freedom is something many yearn for because it allows the opportunity of a wild edge to permeate every waking moment. There’s even really fun animations heightening the entire reality of the film. The film doubles down on its promise to deliver high energy and a rollicking good time. Unfortunately, the question of whether or not actually makes good on that promise is the main issue plaguing so much of this film.
Turn It Up! follows a struggling indie rock band as their most recent tour, a calamitous endeavor, is just wrapping up. They’re playing to crowds that are barely there, not moving any merch whatsoever, and the lead singer, AC (Justine Nelson), is dealing with tinnitus and finds herself spacing out on stage more and more frequently. That’s all to say that, the high energy of Scott’s opening sequence is immediately deflated upon being properly introduced to the band. One could easily see the intentionality behind such a choice. This is partially a film about losing your edge with time. With that, there comes a realization that the spark we once held so tightly might be impossible to recapture in a meaningful way. And so, the rockstar life these bandmates have all dreamed of is crumbling before they ever really got to soak up the best of times as an artist. It’s a sturdy foundation off of which to build a film. But unfortunately, the silly tone this film clearly wants to embrace clashes with the more dour, yet honest, reflection about what it means to recognize a moment has effectively passed by.
In addition to that clash of tone, there’s also not much forward momentum to latch onto in general. The Faustian bargain angle that makes up the central conflict of Turn It Up! isn’t even introduced until halfway through the film. The band is approached by an ominous Miss Vee (Liv Collins) with the potential of having her manage their affairs moving forward. It’s only after the creation of an instant earworm guitar riff that the band starts generating any sort of buzz. But the band can’t fully seem to recall how they came about discovering the riff in the first place. It’s not surprising considering some of the band members were tripping on mushrooms at the time. Whereas this is written into the scene as both joke and form of plausible deniability for the actual narrative, it comes across as largely frustrating. If drug-fueled rock & roll is the focus of this film’s supposedly fun edge, shouldn’t more psychedelic elements be baked into the film? Doing so wouldn’t just be a stylistic choice; it would actively encourage the speculation necessary for the initial conflict of the film’s first half.
These fundamental choices plague so much of Turn It Up! to the point that its sillier elements become more grating than anything. For a horror film, it’s never particularly creepy. As a mystery to unravel, what little intrigue is present quickly tapers off or is revealed through scenes of blunt exposition. Even as a purely gnarly genre film, Turn It Up! rarely delivers on the promise of potential splatter and its hard rock aesthetic. Two distinct moments showcasing how powerful the deadly riff can be genuinely rock, but a majority of the body horror is captured via muddled close-ups and rapid cutting to the point any effects become largely illegible. Throwing all these tones and genre stylings into a blender isn’t the issue. There’s bursts of humor that are quite charming; an extended Twin Peaks sequence rocks in particular. A motif in the score evokes ‘50s B-movie sci-fi in a way that speaks to what this film could have been riffing on even further! The central issue is that none of the featured styles are leaned into fully enough. In the end, the film can barely seem to sustain itself despite the meager runtime. Miss Vee tells the band at one point to keep their set short and loud. Scott’s film fulfills the promise of the former, yet never commits to the abrasive and loud potential this film could have had.
