![]() As for the horror quotient, Star Leaf is more in line with the adventure-thriller fare. It’s just two forms of coping, and both have their positives and their negatives. And again, despite what you might think, Cranor throws in some interesting social commentary by juxtaposing James’ way of dealing with the effects of being on the battlefield with his meds Tim’s infatuation with weed. There’s also a believable look at the effects of PTSD, which like other topics regarding mental illness, too often gets the “Hollywood” treatment one way or the other. ![]() Cranor doesn’t whack you over the head with the weed premise, derailing the entire film and making it into a crutch. With such a goofy premise, thankfully Star Leaf has the right amount of seriousness about it, but also doesn’t veer into over-the-top territory. However, after failing to follow a strict set of rules, Tim ends up having the group targeted by a variety of dangerous characters. However, Tim has other plans and steers the trip towards meeting up with Seth “Guardrail” Slaughter (Russell Hodgkinson) in order to find a grove of marijuana that is purportedly out of this world. The two have gotten together with Tim’s girlfriend Martha (Shelby Truax) for a weekend of surfing. While Tim has since left the service to pursue a more laid-back lifestyle, James remains in the field, but struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. High school friends Tim Weaver (Tyler Trerise) and James Hunter (Julian Gavilanes) served together in Afghanistan as Marine snipers. ![]() Combining pot use and a legitimate reason for it’s use doesn’t sound like much of a horror movie, but then again that would be selling the film short, wouldn’t it? Of course, there have been exceptions to the rules, and now there’s another one in the form of Richard Cranor’s Star Leaf. You also don’t get a frank look at mental illness without someone wearing someone else’s skin, or raving about their dead mother. Generally speaking, the moment you get someone smoking pot in a horror movie, they end up dead. ![]()
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