The Plot:
When his father and mother die in a house fire, middle-aged loner Craig seems nonplused. The injury to his younger sister and her resulting coma have caused him nothing but unease, however. Dosing on Lithium and seeing a shrink, he is still pretty frazzled six months later. It could be because of some deep seeded psychological problems. Or it may be the fact that the police believe he had something to do with the blaze. All day long, Craig is surrounded by contempt. The women at the health spa where he works think of him as a pervert and his horrid loneliness drives him to do things that do seem seedy and unnatural. One day, brought to the breaking point, Craig kills a prostitute. The combination of guilt and satisfaction move him deeper into a dark, horrifying place. It's not long before the voice of God delivers Craig's ultimate mission - murder everyone who ever hurt you...and a few strangers too, just to keep things interesting.

The DVD:
Though it definitely overstays its welcome at the end and gives up when it should go even further, Craig remains a compelling psychological thriller. It represents a pure labor of love for actor turned director Kim Sønderholm and will instantly remind fright fans of similarly styled classics like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Any representation of a human gone unhinged will definitely wander into FBI profiler territory and Craig is no exception. We learn of the reasons why our haunted antihero turns to violence, and they're ripped right out of a Bureau's introductory handbook. Luckily, Sønderholm doesn't spend a lot of time on the basics. We get the sketches of Craig's increasing problems, and then watch as they manifest themselves in crueler and crueler ways. Those looking for excessive gore or gratuitous violence need to step aside and rent something like Nekromantic. Sønderholm is more interested in tone and atmosphere than gallons of grue. There is limited bloodshed here, all in service of the filmmaker's decision to focus on the character's descent into madness, not the physical manifestation of same.

Truth be told, it's not hard to see why Craig is so unhinged. His family history is horrid, his daily life a battle between Lithium and a Danish populace who loves to pick on him. Loneliness is also a key theme here, and Sønderholm spends a great deal of time establishing Craig's increasing disconnect with the real world. We get shots of online chats (they almost never go well), visits to sexless strip clubs, lots of pints of Tuborg Gold, and sleepless nights where our borderline psychotic starts to hear the voice of God (played by Troma's own Lloyd Kaufman) telling him to take on society. By this point, we can literally feel Craig's anger. We want vindication for all the snide comments, cruel looks, and personality flaws we witness. But once the killing starts, Sønderholm does something highly unusual. He doesn't wallow in the sadism or brutality. He gets the deaths over with quickly and efficiently, making them just as empty as Craig's other life. We soon realize that no amount of murder will satisfy this man. The only glimmer of hope arrives with blind date Angela, and she turns on our hero soon enough.

Indeed, when Trine Stårup appears as the understanding gal with the kind demeanor and the smoking body, we think things will change for Craig. Sønderholm lightens the mood, giving us a chance to see the character outside of his broody insular misery. But such happiness is not meant to last, and with the mostly ineffectual Danish police on his case (they have evidence against Craig early on, but simply sit back in surveillance mode), it's only a matter of time before he is pushed over the edge. During this finale, Sønderholm makes the mistake of not going far enough. Craig's last stand seems too obvious, too locked into the standard sexual brutality that comes with such a character. This is a movie that mandated a much more aggressive and shocking finish, a real statement about what life has truly done to this man. Instead, we get a car chase that seems to go on forever, and a conclusion cobbled together out of better big budget thrillers. At 101 minutes, Craig is too long by ten. Snip out that excess and you have a striking, if ultimately imperfect, effort.

The Video:
Presented by BrinkDVD in an intriguing if incomplete digital package, Craig has its issues on the home video format. The non-anamorphic letterboxed image is often too dark and too grainy. This is clearly the result of technical limitations on Sønderholm's part. Most of the movie is wholly watchable, however, the visual flaws adding a level of unreality to the proceedings. Sønderholm is also an excellent director, understanding the basics of backstory and narrative and how to balance between the two. Overall, Craig is a decent bit of no budget filmmaking.

The Audio:
The sound situation is a bit more problematic. While most of the cast speaks excellent English, there are occasional issues with ambient noise and uneven recording elements. The Dolby Digital Stereo enhances a musical score clearly lifted from a bunch of Nine Inch Nails impersonators, and Sønderholm does indulge in a few too many shocker sound effects. Still, for what he had to work with, the results are technically proficient.

The Extras:
BrinkDVD doesn't go overboard on the added content front. Instead, we get a nice interview with Sønderholm, the filmmaker discussing the inspiration and unusual shooting schedule for his debut. There are also outtakes and a very compelling trailer. All in all, a decent if not definitive set of bonus features.

Final Thoughts:
For the first 45 minutes or so, Craig is a compelling and complex piece of work. It takes numerous stylistic risks (the dead talk back!) and indulges in one too many scenes of oncoming psychosis to be completely convincing. But Kim Sønderholm shows himself to be a wonderful filmmaker and assured cinematic artist, and his movie deserves a Recommended rating just so those still locked in the macabre mainstream may give it a halfway decent chance. As part of the overall notion that anyone can make a film, Sønderholm may be a bit of a ringer. After all, his IMDb credits show someone who has been part of the Danish film biz since 1999. Still, Craig is his first feature film as writer/director, and with such assured results, it will be interesting to see the course he takes from now on. Here's hoping someone picks up his future efforts. Thanks to the inspiration from Troma, Sønderholm has arrived as an intriguing independent voice.

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