For me, it's always an interesting thing when a filmmaker takes a plot or an idea that is much larger than his or her financial permittance, but still manages to take that idea and conform it to something that they can actually work with. It's a process that has given us a great number of really amazing movies, even if we've also had a fair share of bad ones. Although Lo isn't quite the magnitude of something like John Carpenter's The Thing, it certainly carries with it lessons learned from that film. Director Travis Betz takes a story set inside of one room and plays off of a number of characters and leaves his audience under the illusion that during the course of the movie we've been on a trip all the way through the bowels of hell. Lo is a mix of genres, but I suppose the best way to describe it would be a romantic comedy with leanings towards the horror genre. We have monsters, creatures, demons and a literal glimpse of hell but at the end of the day; the heart of this movie rests upon a tale of love and devotion. So, what else can you call it?

The story within Lo is told completely out of order and through flashback, but the basic premise is that our lead character Justin is your average guy consumed with his job. Kind of plain with a life completely devoid of anything fascinating, that is until he runs into April. April is an odd girl with her own sensibilities. She eats like she's been raised in the wild, but she and Justin hit it off fairly quick. However, April is eventually kidnapped by a demon of all things! When Justin digs through April's personal possessions he finds a book full of demonic passages, including one for summoning a demon who will be forced to do the bidding of the human responsible for calling him forth. So Justin does just that and summons for Lo, a demon creature from the depths of hell who has a bit of a tiny sarcastic attitude. Lo, wanting to know more about this relationship the humans shared - asks for more information on April and so Justin begins to tell their story. However, Lo is a demon and thus full of all sorts of trickery. Will he drive Justin mad during their meeting or will the two lovers finally be together once again?

Lo turns out to be a surprising mix of genre elements. Although it's not particularly easy film to digest, I'll say that it was incredibly well made and always engaging. It begins like many straight forward horror films have in the past, with the incantation of our demon character - but as soon as our demon Lo actually shows up; so does the comedy. It's a little off-putting at first, that this character who genuinely looks so menacing is here spouting off one liners over and over again; but the audience can grow to warm to him after a little bit of time. Even if his growling routine gets a little bit old. The creature FX however, on Lo as well as the rest of the creatures who show up during the film, are absolutely astonishing. Some truly amazing stuff to see in an independent film. Especially such a bizarre one so focused on delivering a story about true lover rather than simple gore and thrills. On top of the amazing makeup work, it's also just a really brilliant looking film! The set decoration in the flashback sequences, that are made to look like amateur theater stages (including human faces that reside in the curtains, since this is hell after all!), they all just look so very good. It's an engaging watch to be sure for this very same reason. As mentioned in that plot synopsis, the story is basically told through flashback - but the much more interesting facet is that the film all takes place in one single room. Within the character of Justin's apartment, where all light is shut off aside from the one spotlight on our characters in the center of the room, our flashbacks take place as little miniature stage plays where we see our characters sitting under different lighting and a full theater stage production surrounding them only a few feet away.

There are some genuinely awesome ideas at work here and they are pulled off very well, primarily due to the decent performances of the cast. The demon characters, as you might expect, take things a bit over the top but aside from them the human characters are all strong enough to carry the movie. The comedy throughout the movie is a strange mix of styles. There's some witticism to be found as well as some low brow. I think the primary comedic inflection comes from the fact that you're looking at these spectacular demon creatures, who indeed look as menacing as they should, but they're throwing around expletives and generally acting very human. It's a strange concept but it does find its footing as the film begins to tread on. However, be warned, this is the kind of movie that I think certainly has its audience but some are just going to be thrown off by it's very strange nature. In all reality, this movie could very well be an interesting stage play. As someone who generally loves that style of filmmaking, which is bare bones storytelling at its very finest, I think I found it easier to slip into the story than some others might have.

In conclusion, Lo has its ups and downs, but overall it's a funny and engaging little story. A little story that just so happens to encompass a man traveling into the underworld to retrieve his missing girlfriend. I have to say I liked it and I think it certainly should develop its own audience. Travis Betz, who has been making a name for himself in the independent film circle, will no doubt strike a chord with his previous fan base. To read more about the film as well as watch its trailer, please visit: http://thedemonlo.com