Movie Review: Black Dahlia Movie

In recent years we've seen a spike in films about the death of Elizabeth Short, aka "The Black Dahlia". From Brian DePalma's glossy The Black Dahlia to Ulli Lommel's no-budget Black Dahlia, interest in the 60 year-old murder continues to wax. The newest entry in the Dahlia niche is Ramzi Abed's Black Dahlia Movie.

Kristen Kerr portrays Lisa Small, an actress recently cast in a movie about the Dahlia. As the plot advances, the border between the past and the present, the real and the imagined begins to blur. Just as Elizabeth Short was murdered all those years ago, so now a new killer is on the loose hunting fresh Dahlia's.

While the narrative of Black Dahlia Movie does tend to get a little muddy and confusing, the film still works largely because of the rigorous visual technique applied by Abed and his crew. It almost veers towards collage at times and it is in those moments of pure cinema that the film succeeds best.

The production design reflects the film's low-budget, but the actors are solid and Abed is a sure hand behind the camera. Black Dahlia Movie will never reach a wide audience, but a cult following is certainly possible.

Black Dahlia Movie will be screening this fall in Los Angeles. More information is available at the film's official website and MySpace page. LAist encourages local filmmakers to submit their films for review.