This is an interesting quasi-horror movie that calls into question whether the goings-on are driven by something supernatural, or simply by madness caused by drug addiction (or withdrawal from addiction). As far as movies of that sort go, it's not nearly as accomplished as "Pop Skull," "Habit" or "Cookers," to name a few. (Nor is it as good a portrait of slippery-slope mental illness as another quasi-horror like "The Living and the Dead.")

It's an intriguing story that's well conceived and paced enough, but the direction and especially the performances are somewhat amateurish. (MODERATE SPOILER) Plus the whole "evil talking cigarette" thing is pretty ridiculous. This movie is worth a look for horror fans, but I wish it were better, just in terms of basic competency and craftsmanship.

"Nicotine Stains" is a horror film from Gennaro Desposito which follows a man's psychotic break after choosing to quit smoking. Charlie is a young college graduate stuck in a dead end factory job for Vellaro Tobacco. A life long smoker, he never turns down free samples from the company 'cigarette girl' Sugar, even if they do contain a newly developed, synthetic tobacco. Charlie's girlfriend Jen convinces him to quit smoking but little do they know the hold the new cigarettes have on Charlie. The film stars Matthew Fowler; Lacy Hornick; Chris Ehling; Sunny Williams; Kyle Duncan Graham; Renee Sher; Chelsea Collins and Don McCutcheon.

"Nicotine Stains" is much more than a standard horror, with blended elements of surrealism, minimalism and atmospheric grandeur, it is more like a modern grand guignol. The story, once you realize the nature of the lead character's psychosis, seems almost laughable but it expresses the depth of struggle he has with quitting smoking. As someone who did quite, I can attest to the mind producing some pretty far out thoughts about the people around you, and all the reasons not to quit: like "if you quit then you will just be giving in to social demands" or "if I didn't date you then I wouldn't be forced to quit." This movie carries that theme to the ninth level of hell. There are several film styles utilized in "Nicotine Stains" but it is at it's core a well directed modern horror film. More cult classic than you expect going into the film.

The most notable qualities about "Nicotine Stains" that worked for this film were, the sound track-classic 80's giallo sounds of creepiness, The use of various colors to express different heightened emotional moments in the film- very Argento-esque but the gore sets it off! It hold's up to more classic grindhouse horror films of splatter,guts and gruesome vivacity. The acting in the film has it's moments that seem mediocre but not to the point it makes it hard to connect with the characters. For the most part the acting is quality. The story, all though based in a very exaggerated beginning, is fresh and very modern-most of us have been that person trying to quit, or dealing with someone who is trying to quit. It always seems to consume everything about the relationships and environment. The only downside to the film dealt with the synthetic nicotine. It was only casually mentioned once, maybe twice and it would have been nice to see that element played up more in the story. It didn't really hurt the film that it wasn't I just think it would have been cool to see it driven in more. The horror in this film is more of visual gore than scary. All in all "Nicotine Stains" is a really cool Indie film and Desposito deserves props because he has a style that is already a modern cult classic.

This is Gennaro Desposito first full length feature. Nicotine Stains is described as being in the same vein as Maniac, Combat Shock and How To Get Ahead In Advertising by the director Gennaro Desposito. For me he succeeded for the most part. Another thing is that this film is a personal statement of the film maker's with experiences he had in the past which he talks about elsewhere.

Even though going by the trailer I knew I would like this it really surprised me at how much I ended up getting into this. I was glued to the screen the whole time and felt I had discovered a movie I felt I would want to re~watch again and again.

What we have here is a man who falls into a catalyst that triggers off an adverse effect in his mind. Actor Matt Fowler does a great job with this role. For me he had the eyes for this if that makes sense to my reader. He could articulate with them and it was effective.

Naturally this being a horror movie there are kills. These are done very well. Aggressively Charlie does his thing and it feels right. Along with this we get some nice juicy gore as well with chopped up body parts and some intestine action.

My only real negative here is that with one of the kills wish it was more graphic. It is perfectly executed in the it actually made me cringe but we don't get to see what I will term as the juicy bit. Just feel it is a shame that it was never shown. Not to spoil to much the same kind of kill is depicted in Irreversible and Drive to name two to great effect. But then maybe the crew felt they couldn't do justice to the effect so decided to keep it to people's imaginations which is fair enough.

Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this film and look forwards to any other full length features Gennaro Desposito does in the future.