REVIEWS
TRAPPED INSIDE
"Elyse Price as the main character Macy gives a terrific performance in what can only be described as a thankless and emotionally challenging role. There are many stories of Shelley Duvall during and after the filming of The Shining suffering from PTSD and other traumas. Due to Kubrick’s constant takes and her character spending the entire shoot having to live in fear crying and screaming 12 hours a day, for weeks on end. I am sure Morgan was never as tyrannical as Kubrick and that Trapped Inside didn’t take 12 months to film, but Price, similar to Duvall, has to spend the entire film on edge, crying and screaming in constant terror at events unfolding before her and I hope she gets the plaudits she deserves.
Trapped Inside is very good at being scary and excels at being unsettling. What Morgan has been able to do is commit an act of emotional terrorism on his audience, and in doing so, has ended up making one of the best short horror films of the year."
- Jolly Moel
SCREEN CRITIX
"It’s an unflinchingly raw performance Price provides here, reverberating with the absolute frenzied distress her character is experiencing, and doing so with a believability that equally impacts the viewer and makes one wonder how she managed to emote with such raw ferocity and be emotionally intact afterwards. There’s usually potential for overacting in depicting a state of alarm, but Price nails it to a “T” and instills the appropriate amount of tangible plausibility and then some."
ONEFILMFAN.COM
"Trapped Inside is being hailed by critics as “flat-out intense, sinister, and chill-inducing,” and after completing an impressive festival circuit, the film is now being unleashed online, just in time for Halloween."
-PRWEB
PICKINGS
"Southern transplant Jo Lee-Haywood (a terrific Elyse Price) runs a successful small-town Michigan bar called Pickings with her daughter Scarlet. But when mobsters want in on Jo's business, a brutal war ensues between the two factions, with the haunted, hard-boiled Jo and her pistol-packing posse — brother Boone (Joel Bernard) and sisters Doris and May— proving formidable foes.
The filmmaker is aided immeasurably by a superb tech and effects team and a vivid cast. Most especially, though, he's created a cool and crafty anti-heroine in the take-no-prisoners Jo, who would seem to have plenty of movie mileage left in her.
Sequel, anyone?"
-Gary Goldstein
LA TIMES
"Elyse Price as the main character Macy gives a terrific performance in what can only be described as a thankless and emotionally challenging role. There are many stories of Shelley Duvall during and after the filming of The Shining suffering from PTSD and other traumas. Due to Kubrick’s constant takes and her character spending the entire shoot having to live in fear crying and screaming 12 hours a day, for weeks on end. I am sure Morgan was never as tyrannical as Kubrick and that Trapped Inside didn’t take 12 months to film, but Price, similar to Duvall, has to spend the entire film on edge, crying and screaming in constant terror at events unfolding before her and I hope she gets the plaudits she deserves.
Trapped Inside is very good at being scary and excels at being unsettling. What Morgan has been able to do is commit an act of emotional terrorism on his audience, and in doing so, has ended up making one of the best short horror films of the year."
- Jolly Moel
SCREEN CRITIX
"It’s an unflinchingly raw performance Price provides here, reverberating with the absolute frenzied distress her character is experiencing, and doing so with a believability that equally impacts the viewer and makes one wonder how she managed to emote with such raw ferocity and be emotionally intact afterwards. There’s usually potential for overacting in depicting a state of alarm, but Price nails it to a “T” and instills the appropriate amount of tangible plausibility and then some."
ONEFILMFAN.COM
"Trapped Inside is being hailed by critics as “flat-out intense, sinister, and chill-inducing,” and after completing an impressive festival circuit, the film is now being unleashed online, just in time for Halloween."
-PRWEB
PICKINGS
"Southern transplant Jo Lee-Haywood (a terrific Elyse Price) runs a successful small-town Michigan bar called Pickings with her daughter Scarlet. But when mobsters want in on Jo's business, a brutal war ensues between the two factions, with the haunted, hard-boiled Jo and her pistol-packing posse — brother Boone (Joel Bernard) and sisters Doris and May— proving formidable foes.
The filmmaker is aided immeasurably by a superb tech and effects team and a vivid cast. Most especially, though, he's created a cool and crafty anti-heroine in the take-no-prisoners Jo, who would seem to have plenty of movie mileage left in her.
Sequel, anyone?"
-Gary Goldstein
LA TIMES
"Price plays the wounded, conflicted and constantly prepared maternal figure superbly."
-UK FILM REVIEW
"Elyse Price is an especially strong presence"
-David Fontana
FILM INQUIRY
-David Fontana
FILM INQUIRY
"Elyse Price steals the show. There are so many awesome female characters in Pickings that it’s almost too much to handle. Just kidding, it’s absolutely perfect. And especially Elyse Price in the lead role of Jo is the kind of character you cannot get enough of.
Yes, Jo (Elyse Price) is the character who won me over to the entire movie in the opening scene. When she kicks ass, you just want to sit back and take notes... We’re talking serious bad-ass and we get to see her be both a loving mother and a vengeful one."
-Karina Adelgaard
HEAVEN OF HORROR
"Elyse Price may not be a big name in the acting industry, as of now, but she absolutely should be if her performance in Pickings is any indication of her acting talent. Price plays the mysterious leading lady, Jo, who fights with mobsters and her tortured past, while trying to provide a normal life for her family. It may not be an entirely original premise, but nonetheless, Elyse Price makes up for it with a consistently entertaining and heartfelt performance that was an absolute joy to watch. Price is downright fantastic here, perfectly able to switch between caring mother and bar owner to cold and cynical warrior at a moment’s notice. She definitely goes for over-the-top in certain scenes, but she manages to display nuance and subtlety, in terms of her character’s past and attitude towards it. Price delivers on both the quiet and wild aspects of her character and delivers a performance that I may or may not revisit upon constructing my Best of 2018 list at the end of the year.
...the sheer creativity and passion behind this project is undeniable, from its gorgeous cinematography and lighting to its energetic acting (along with an accolade-worthy performance from Elyse Price) to its character driven story."
-Wesley Lara
HIDDEN REMOTE
"Pickings really soars on the strength of Elyse Price's compelling and laser sharp performance... What's remarkable [is] that she draws us in to her world and keeps us hanging on even when we're not 100% sure where she fits into the equation.
Is she good? Is she bad? Is she both? Price doesn't so much judge her character as simply live in her world and the film is much better for it.
...There's an emotional resonance that may be a tad surprising here, not just with the maternally rooted performance of Price but in those who are loyal to her and those who would try to destroy her. "
-Richard Propes
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
Is she good? Is she bad? Is she both? Price doesn't so much judge her character as simply live in her world and the film is much better for it.
...There's an emotional resonance that may be a tad surprising here, not just with the maternally rooted performance of Price but in those who are loyal to her and those who would try to destroy her. "
-Richard Propes
THE INDEPENDENT CRITIC
"Presented...at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on February 22nd, Pop Style TV attended the red carpet world premiere of Pickings, a riveting crime film/ thriller... Featuring a talented cast, Elyse Price plays Jo Lee-Haywood, a former mobster who turned a new leaf upon discovering love and starting a family. Her dangerous past leads to the death of her husband, but, years later, it seems like Jo and her kids might be able to escape the wrath of her former mobster life, after all...
Pickings is captivating, intense, complicated and violent. It is everything expected from a great mobster movie, however, it is so much more than that. In a genre that is predominantly saturated with strong and complicated male characters, roles for women tend to be more vapid and transparent, usually reserved for the clueless wife. Maybe she knew, maybe she didn’t, but that is usually the most complicated aspect to most female characters in mobster movies.
Pickings showcased something different, something entirely unexpected. Women can be mothers and loving and fragile and scared, but they can also be bad and dangerous and cunning and fearless. Sometimes they can be all of the above, and that is what was so compelling about Elyse Price’s character. In an industry where time has literally been declared to be up for gender roles and inequality between men and women in Hollywood, there couldn’t be a better time for a movie like this. The script has been flipped. The malevolent thugs, who expected to shakedown a bar owned by another harmless woman, are in for a surprise. Because what is the worst a woman can do?"
-Jamie Valentino
POP STYLE TV
Pickings is captivating, intense, complicated and violent. It is everything expected from a great mobster movie, however, it is so much more than that. In a genre that is predominantly saturated with strong and complicated male characters, roles for women tend to be more vapid and transparent, usually reserved for the clueless wife. Maybe she knew, maybe she didn’t, but that is usually the most complicated aspect to most female characters in mobster movies.
Pickings showcased something different, something entirely unexpected. Women can be mothers and loving and fragile and scared, but they can also be bad and dangerous and cunning and fearless. Sometimes they can be all of the above, and that is what was so compelling about Elyse Price’s character. In an industry where time has literally been declared to be up for gender roles and inequality between men and women in Hollywood, there couldn’t be a better time for a movie like this. The script has been flipped. The malevolent thugs, who expected to shakedown a bar owned by another harmless woman, are in for a surprise. Because what is the worst a woman can do?"
-Jamie Valentino
POP STYLE TV
"It's pure lethal fun – an incredible ride from the beginning monologue delivered in a quintessentially world-weary tone by Price's Jo Lee-Haywood as she drags slowly on a cigarette while enveloped in a blanket of heavy shadow – all the way through to the rapid fire ending when we are privy to more of the southern femme fatale's past and perhaps where she is going.
It's sexy as hell – a feast for the eyes for everyone, not just diehard fans of noir as an aesthetic."
-Wess Haubrich
THE 405
"The cast themselves, led by Elyse Price, are all marvelous in a way that will have you groaning and smiling at the same time. It's exciting and, dare I say... even sexy. One of the better indie titles I've seen in the last year. Easily."
22 INDIE STREET
22 INDIE STREET
"Price's Jo is impressively tough and convincingly wounded... a woman who's been hurt one time too many and is not taking any more, ever, from anyone…especially not when her children are involved."
-Maitland McDonagh
FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
"The movie starts with a shot of a bruised, battered and bleeding man tied to a chair. He is then confronted by a woman wearing spurs. The woman, who talks as if she is all business and no-nonsense, is Jo Lee-Haywood (played by Elyse Price). After a little back-and-forth, Jo kills the man in cold blood, by shooting him in the head a point-blank range.
You see, Jo wasn’t born a killer, she was made that way due to the hand that life dealt her. Through flashbacks, we see her husband being killed and herself being put into a coma thanks to some underworld types. Once she awoke, she found that she had also lost a young daughter. So she and her remaining children have moved, bought a new home and a bar called ‘Pickings’. Life seems to be on the mend when a gangster singles out her business as one her wants to own, which leads to him sending round his heavies to scare her into signing over the deeds. Little do they know though, that Jo is not easily scared and is willing to fight fire-with-fire."
-Carel Burgess
SCREENCRITIX
Click here to read an incredible article about Elyse in the Bayside Times by the fabulous Tammy Scileppi.
"The chemistry between the two performers is excellent. Bernard is a formidable leading man, dousing the screen with volatile hunger and energy, whilst Price offers a more stable yet equally as ravenous portrayal as the leading lady. As the movie was born as a filmmaking challenge (to rewrite a famous film scene using a folklore character and new dialogue) the two performers enjoy the spoils of a fantastic script, powering through with ferocity line after line. "
Chris Olson
UK Film Review