DVD Release
Whilst reading through a recent issue of Fangoria magazine, which I am still reading after about 20 years, I came across a short article on this independent movie. The movie sounded fascinating and I was eager to catch it. So, it was to my great joy that I found it was showing On Demand. Sweet, I thought, I don’t have to risk blowing twenty bucks buying a copy just in case it turns out to be a steamer, plus I just don’t rent movies I either catch them on the big screen, on demand or I buy it. That’s just me though.
Set in Alaska, without a drop of snow to be seen, Godspeed is about Charlie Shephard (Joseph McKellher), a faith healer who is not the saint he would like people to believe he is. The bottle is his friend and he is not the most faithful man in the world. His beliefs are put to the test though when a tragic event befalls his family. He ups and leaves civilization and heads out into the wilds to live a life alone. Everything he believed in shattered leaving him with little to live for.
On one of his visits back to his hometown though he meets a young girl who wants him to come with her and help heal her sick father. So, maybe against his better judgment, he joins her and travels even further out into the wilderness where he will find that his journey is not what he would thought it would be.
First off Godspeed is a beautiful picture to look at, the scenery is stunning and only lends to the sense of isolation of the situation the characters find themselves in. It’s has a sense of haunting that will build up a feeling of dread as the events unfold on screen. Events that are in no hurry to come to a close as this is a slow-burning movie that cruelly builds the tension. This only adds to some of the scenes that are both uncomfortable to watch and on occasion quite violent. And whilst it is violent in places it is more the atmosphere of violence that makes the film work so well.
Godspeed certainly won’t appeal to all that view it, some may well be turned off by the slow pacing, but it is a movie that is well worth sticking with to the end. It is the kind of movie that sticks in the mind and makes you think about it. Definitely recommended to those that like a more challenging movie.
