Real Time - Siege at Lucas Street Market

Title: Real Time - Siege at Lucas Street Market (2001)
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Brinke Stevens, Michael Cornelison, Larry Coven
Director: Max Allan Collins
Duration: 71 mins

Consisting of raw security camera, police, amateur, and news footage Real Time tells the story of two small-time criminals, Frank and Bud, who hold up a convenience store. After accidentally killing a police officer who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, a would-be simple robbery turns into a full-blown hostage situation. The hostages include a mother and daughter, a businessman, a troubled teen girl, the store clerk, and a pregnant woman who seems to know more than she’s letting on. What follows is a “real time” account of the negotiations between the crooks and the police as well as the drama within the store.

Real Time is a bit of an oddity. It is a movie not only made for the DVD market, but made specifically to take advantage of the DVD as an interactive medium. Have you ever wondered what that ANGLE button on your remote control is for? I’ve certainly never had to use it. The manual might not admit it, but it was made for this very movie. From start to finish Real Time is completely multi-angle. Meaning that at any point in the movie you can press this button and see the current scene from a totally different point of view. Whether it be from the security cam to news coverage, from the police video to an amateur recording from the adjacent building, Iowan filmmaker and author Max Allan Collins gives you the power to direct this movie yourself. Every viewing could be different from the last. This feature is usually used for sporting events or concert performances, but now Collins’ innovation brings this feature into the entirety of his third full-length film.

Nowadays, the “found footage” method of filmmaking is running amok, especially after the popularity of the most recent blockbuster Paranormal Activity. Real Time came out when the subgenre of sorts was still relatively young. Despite the increasing popularity of this technique and the inventiveness of Collins, a storytelling jack-of-all-trades, Real Time never really had a long-lasting life outside of the specific fanbases of Troma, actress Stevens, or Collins himself. This is a shame because besides being one hell of a DVD release, it is also a very watchable film. While this may not have the edge-of-your-seat thrills of The Blair Witch Project or [REC], Real Time will still keep you in your seat ‘til the very end, sucking you in just like any breaking news broadcast of this kind. Also what we see a lot in more recent “found footage” movies is that the filmmakers go out of their way to make sure the viewer absolutely knows this is (faux) raw footage by using exaggerated handheld camera movements or gratuitous video malfunctions. Collins spares our intelligence of these insults and concentrates on the actual story; a very appreciated decision.

In my opinion, Siege at Lucas Street Market could easily be adapted into a stage play, if it hasn’t already. As the title implies, the narrative is kept entirely “real time,” a continuously running story. All the takes are very long, as in a play, and one even wonders if this could’ve been shot in a single run through. The convenience store itself is a very great example of set design. If it weren’t mentioned in the DVD’s supplemental features, I would’ve thought this was shot-on-location at a real mini-mart. The acting may range from amateurish to local theatre fair, but featured is a unique ensemble of interesting characters with great chemistry. These, as I’ve always said, are the ingredients for a good movie. And the addition of legendary scream queen Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre, Teenage Exorcist, Nightmare Sisters) doesn’t hurt either, eh? Lastly, throughout the first half of the film there is constant radio play of mock oldies/rock/pop songs that subtly correlate with the action onscreen (though you might not be able to pick this up right away). It’s this attention to detail that sets Real Time apart from a lot of these shot-on-video/direct-to-video films, regardless of any drawbacks inherent with such a low budget.

Though the running time may be a bit on the short side, Real Time is fast paced, fully engaging, refreshingly innovative, and addictively voyeuristic. Even though this may not fool you into thinking that this crisis actually happened, and the acting that holds this movie together may not be the best, Siege is a fun watch and was a personal favorite of mine in high school. The real treat, though, is having this on Troma DVD. That way you can wholly appreciate the effort put into this little thriller without it eating up a lot of your time.