I watched and reviewed a neat vampire film produced by Eric Pascarelli and I noticed that he had another full-length film with some of the same stars, namely Leanne Johnson, James Tackett and Holly Anspaugh. This film was about dangerous cults (I know, redundant), so I decided to give it a look.
Penny (Leanne Johnson) was having a tough time. She was stuck in a thankless job, her creativity hamstrung by her dumb-ass, nepotic boss (James Tackett) and her personal relationship with Cody (Jorge Juarez) was failing because she didn’t want kids, and he did. The reason was heartbreaking and legit. Her mother had abandoned the family when she was 10, joining a cult and disappearing.
Things get worse. Her boyfriend breaks up with her, her father disappears (she suspects he is abducted by the cult), and she loses her job after a dust-up with her shitty Boss. The balance of the film involves Penny trying to infiltrate the cult, and her best friend Jane (Holly Anspaugh) trying to talk her out of it.
Chasing Rabbits is another well-made film with a tiny budget. This shows, with the small cast and the mostly dialogue-driven nature of the movie, but it is another good effort as well. The film was made in 2021, in the middle of the Covid pandemic, and this fact was incorporated into the film seamlessly. Cults leaders, like Biblical prophets, often make vague predictions about catastrophic events. Anti-vaxxers and Capital stormers were also casually mentioned. This was a nice touch.
The acting in this movie was very adequate to very good and I want to give special accolades to Drew Russell, who played Zebulon. He was the cult leader, a position inherited from his father (Steve Bernstein), who founded the cult. He played the part perfectly, but are things as they seem? The movie is dramatic without being predictable and cheesy, and quite believable.
Chasing Rabbits is available for streaming free on Tubi, with ads and is definitely worth a watch.
7.0/10.0 With the Goatesians rating of worth a cult watch film
Special Ruthless plug:
To read about one of the largest cults on the planet, check out my 4-part series that I wrote last Fall. The links are below
The ABC’s of the Old Testament: Part One
The ABC’s of the Old Testament: Part 2
The ABC’s of the New Testament: Part One
The ABC’s of the New Testament: Part 2
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