Crumb Catcher (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Aug 04, 2025
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Chris SkotchdopoleRelease Date(s)
2023 (July 15, 2025)Studio(s)
Glass Eye Pix/Gigantic Pictures/Music Box Films (Arrow Video)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: B-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
Don’t let the title fool you. Crumb Catcher is an interesting little film—a blend of satire, dark humor, and horror. The feature film debut of director Chris Skotchdopole, it reflects a wild confidence in his choices, perfect casting of his antagonist, and his ability to add considerable production value to a low-budget production.
Newlyweds Shane (Rigo Garay) and Leah (Ella Rae Peck) make their way out to the remote, elegant home of Leah’s publisher boss for their honeymoon. Shane is a writer with a book about to be released, and Leah knows a lot is at stake. She appears more ambitious than Shane, who doesn’t seem to grasp the importance of authoring a best-seller. Though newly married, the couple is trying to resolve personal issues.
Their romantic stay is interrupted by two unexpected visitors—John (John Speredakos), the waiter at their wedding, and Rose (Lorraine Farris), the bartender. They have come to deliver a wedding cake that wasn’t ready in time along with a profuse apology. Their real purpose is far more sinister.
John is pushy, though polite, and draws upon Shane and Ella’s good nature to insinuate himself into their evening. He hardly stops talking, has a semi crazed look, and doesn’t pick up on the couple’s gentle hints to leave. John and Rose aren’t typical home invaders, but their extended presence foreshadows unpleasantness.
John insists on making a presentation of his new invention—the Crumb Catcher, a device that he declares will revolutionize fine dining. With the smoothness of a late-night TV pitch man, John extols the virtues of his invention, demonstrates it, and waits for enthusiastic reactions from Shane and Ella. Both are underwhelmed. Things turn darker when John asks the couple to bankroll the launch of the nutty gizmo and pushy politeness turns into something more dangerous.
Crumb Catcher looks as if it’s going to duplicate tropes of many home-invader pictures but takes a sharp turn just when you might think you have the plot figured out. In fact, there are several unexpected turns, which add to the fun.
The dialogue is often hilarious even as Speredakos delivers his lines with an undertone of menace. Is this guy just eccentric, overly enthusiastic, intimidating, or worse? John is the kind of role an actor can have fun with, and Speredakos brings the character to larger than life. It looks like he’s trying to sell Shane and Ella a time-saving appliance while extorting them at the same time. He continually finds ways to keep the conversation going and stay in the house.
Garay, by contrast, often looks lost, as if he didn’t understand the direction. He has one scene late in the film in which Shane expresses anger after John and Rose have overstayed their visit but for the most part, he looks like a cowed puppy. Peck is much more effective. Her Ella is down to earth and practical. She’s the stronger and more mature of the couple and often makes the decisions, not all of them the right ones. Together, Garay and Peck convey the gradually unraveling nerves of the couple as a pleasant getaway turns into a surreal encounter with a couple of oddballs.
As Rose, Farris has the least to do among the foursome. She does have one emotional scene that alters the direction of the narrative, and she’s very good. It’s a shame she couldn’t have been used more effectively. Though Speredakos easily dominates the proceedings, both he and Farris come off as alternately ridiculous and threatening, establishing the offbeat tone of the film.
Writers Skotchdopole, Larry Fessenden, and Garay create simmering conflicts that translate to suspense. The viewer is kept on edge as the weird tale unfolds.
Director Skotchdopole incorporates some neat cinematic touches, such as a scene with automobiles that you’d expect to see in a film with a much larger budget. The main attraction of the film is the performance by John Speredakos and the extensive dialogue that allows him to veer from charmingly obtuse to scary in a single sentence. As the deranged entrepreneur obsessed with his own nonsensical invention, he makes the most of the role, giving the film a creepy vibe that he and Skotchdopole sustain throughout.
Characters unfortunately make foolish choices after being established as intelligent individuals, which mars an otherwise intriguing film. The action sometimes drags, and a good ten minutes could have been cut to pick up the pace without hurting the narrative flow. Most scenes are so underlit that it’s often hard to see what’s happening. This isn’t due exclusively to mood lighting, and it becomes tedious to try to make out details. One of the biggest flaws is the total absence of chemistry between Garay and Peck. That they’re deeply in love is hard to accept when they generate little heat together on screen.
Crumb Catcher was captured digitally by director of photography Adam Carboni with an aspect ratio of 2.00:1. The picture suffers from underexposure in most scenes. Director Skotchdopole may have been aiming for a moody atmosphere, but he and Carboni went too far in darkening scenes. You long for characters to switch on some lights. The color palette doesn’t help. It mostly depends on darker hues, such as browns, grays, and deep greens. When Rose appears in a sparkly red dress, it really pops. There’s an intimacy in scenes of John, Shane and Ella, with the camera tight in close-ups. The car scenes open up the limited locations with some exciting action that peps up the pace but seems at odds with the general tone of the film.
The soundtrack is English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. Dialogue dominates, as the conversations drive the plot. Director Skotchdopole avoids cliched techniques such as jump scares, excessive make-up, and graphic violence. It’s really all about the offbeat, often twisted words that spill so easily out of John’s mouth. Sound effects are limited to car engines, ambient household noises, and the muffled voices of revelers at the wedding reception. The score creates tension with creepy chords that emerge from simple, household objects.
Bonus materials on the Region A Blu-ray release from Arrow Video include the following:
- Audio Commentary by Chris Skotchdopole
- Catching Crumbs: The Making of Crumb Catcher (37:48)
- Camp Out (12:55)
- The Egg and the Hatchet (20:58)
- Original Festival Trailer (1:58)
Commentary – Writer/director Chris Skotchdopole speaks about the opening sound design. The first scene at the wedding was shot after the rest of filming was completed. Pick-up shots from the wedding sequence were filmed at the director’s brother’s wedding. The early scenes reveal details of the characters. Skotchdopole wanted to show how small Shane’s and Ella’s lives are. The director was showing off cinematic techniques while organizing them to serve the narrative. A particular exterior scene was shot over three days at the same time of day so the right light would be captured. During the writing process, the attempt was always to get closer to the characters. Music originated from ordinary household sounds, such as a bottle. Skotchdopole discusses the characters in detail. Shane, from a modest background, is surrounded by a luxurious house with valuable paintings. There are two sides to Shane—part street kid, part reserved gentleman. John is “like a shark circling around” the couple. His monologue keeps going and gets crazier. John is a “force.” Silence was often chosen when a look adequately conveyed a feeling. Shane “jumps on the merry-go-round” with John.
Catching Crumbs: The Making of Crumb Catcher – Cast and crew members discuss their involvement in the origins, preparation, and making of the film. The cast had the luxury of months of rehearsal time, a rarity in independent filmmaking. Many problems with the script were deleted and rewrites done. The actors had to develop a level of trust with director Chris Skotchdopole. Lorraine Farris (Rose) was a replacement for another actor. The cinematographer talks about scouting a house in Rhineback, New York. Storyboards were created with that house and surrounding area in mind, but obtaining the house for filming didn’t pan out and the storyboards had to be retrofitted to the house ultimately used in the film. The paintings in the film are by artist John Hersey. The detail-oriented director did many takes. Days of heavy rain and a power outage hampered filming. Craft services, which pulled the cast and crew together, is given an appreciative shout-out. Three nights were spent filming the scenes with cars. A camera crane rig mounted on a car is shown. Close-ups were filmed in a stationary car with lighting suggesting that the vehicle was moving.
Camp Out – In this 2010 short film by Chris Skotchdopole, a young boy pitches a tent in his front yard. His divorced mother wants him to come inside. He hides in a closet and calls his father, then goes to a neighbor and asks to come in. The neighbor and her boyfriend take him to a thrift store where they browse. The boy slips a pair of sunglasses into the woman’s purse and the storekeeper accuses her of shoplifting.
The Egg and the Hatchet – Sophia (Taylor Zaudtke) decorates her car in holiday lights. The reaction of her boyfriend (Jeremy Gardner) upsets her and she locks him out of the car. As he tries to apologize, she leaves the car and drops the keys down a sewer grating. She claims she’s pregnant. They wind up in a deserted bowling alley, with the boyfriend talking on a microphone. This short was directed by Chris Skotchdopole and released in 2016.
Booklet – The 36-page booklet contains a cast and crew list; the essay Apologizing for the Tablecloth by Richard Newby; the introduction From the Desk of Larry Fessenden; color photos from the film; and color brochure layouts for the Crumb Catcher.
Sometimes a character is more interesting than the story he’s in. That’s the case with the character of John. Played with semi-comical weirdness by John Speredakos, he drives the action and keeps the viewer involved. It’s hard to turn away when John overwhelms Shane and Ella with unfiltered conversations that grow increasingly disturbing. Aside from some uncharacteristic choices made by the characters, pacing that could have been brisker, and mood lighting that sometimes leaves the picture in the dark, director Skotchdopole does an impressive job for his first feature. Crumb Catcher touches on many genres but is a true original.
- Dennis Seuling