Threat was written and directed by Matt Pizzolo, a 22 year old guy with remarkable skill. Shot on digital video with a tiny budget and a young crew of barely-legal actors and actresses, Threat is a handsome and well-executed film with a fantastically nasty soundtrack (courtesy Alec Empire) that moves quick and looks much slicker than it ought to. And for that, I salute the cat. On the other hand, the storyline and dialogue is all terminally adolescent, which pretty much limits it’s appeal to the pierced-lip crowd. The plot involves Jim (Puga), a seriously talky straight-edge hardcore kid and his friend Fred (Middleton), a black hip-hop enthusiast/comic book store owner. Through a random series of events, they end up at the same punk club when all hell breaks loose. Fists and knives start flying, followed by gunfire and an eventual full-scale race riot, forcing us all to take a sobering look at the continued racial tension in the inner cities. At least that’s the idea. The actual violence has a fetishistic kick to it, the relentless stabbing and kicking coming off like a neo-slasher flick, but the dialogue scenes sandwiching the action are often preachy and wincingly earnest. Pizzolo’s obviously shooting for a ‘devastating’ statement, ala Kids or Romper Stomper, but the exchanges between Puga and Middleton are too art school for their own good, softening whatever blows the race-riot lands. Ultimately, Threat will probably become a cult classic to the under-21 crowd, but for anyone over 30, it’s kid stuff. ____________________________________________________

- Sleazegrinder