Nailbiter is a 2013 horror film directed by Patrick Rea. The movie was first released onto DVD in Japan on January 25, 2013 and received its American debut on April 5, 2013 at the Phoenix Film Festival. It stars Erin McGrane as a mother who defends herself and her children against a dangerous foe. Rea intends to film a sequel to the film, which is tentatively titledNailbiter: The Storm Children and will feature Meg Saricks reprising her role as Jennifer.
Plot
Janet and her children are on the way to the airport to pick up their father when they are forced to take shelter from a tornado that is ravaging the area. They manage to find a storm shelter outside of a seemingly abandoned house, only for the group to become trapped by a fallen tree that prevents them from leaving the storm shelter. Things are made worse when they discover that they're not alone in the house or storm shelter and the group is attacked by a monstrous creature.
Rea first announced plans for Nailbiter in 2008 but did not begin production until 2009, as he had to first raise funding for the film. Filming began in 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri, but shooting stopped 2/3 of the way into the film as Rea ran out of funding. The cast and crew resumed filming in December 2010 and shot an additional airport scene in May 2011, after which point they moved fully into post production. While working on the film's script, Rea chose to make much of the cast female as he "felt like that would be more endearing as well as more compelling." Before officially beginning filming, Rea had his four main actors "go out and act like a family for awhile" in order to build a connection between the actors. Other than financial difficulties, the only significant issue with the filming for Nailbiter experienced was the weather, as the "days wanted to look stormy were sunny and the days wanted to look sunny looked stormy".
Reception
Critical reception for Nailbiter has been mixed to positive. A reviewer for Star Pulse commented that "As far as sheer creep factor, "Nailbiter" delivers handsomely" but criticized the DVD's lack of a "making of" documentary. The Oklahoma Gazette praised the film's setting, as they felt that this was "intriguing" and also commented favorably on the choice of making Erin McGrane's character an alcoholic. Ain't It Cool News also cited McGrane's character's alcoholism as a highlight, as they saw this as one of several small touches that they enjoyed. Dread Central remarked that the film was "not a perfect flick", as they felt that McGrane took too long to settle into her character but overall saw the movie as "ingenious, creepy and a delightful modern take on an old-school sense of storytelling".
