"Stonebrook" on DVD

College Hijinks That Can Kill

Stonebrook is a low budget film that stars Brad Rowe as a college freshman who falls into the wrong crowd and very nearly pays for it with his life.

Erik Landson gets a scholarship to classy Stonebrook, but when he gets there discovers it has been revoked. Hungry for the cash to pay his tuition, he enlists the aid of his roommate Cornelius (Seth Green, "Scott Evil" from the Austin Powers flicks, in a very different role), who turns out to have a flair for the con game.

They team up for a couple of money making schemes, a gig that leads them to working for the local organized crime boss.

This is too good to be true, because as they get involved in the gang, they figure out a way to make an even bigger haul by conning the cons at the same time.

It turns out that they've bitten off far more than they can chew, and their adventurous lark becomes a life and death struggle that ends up with one of them dead, dead dead.

Or does it?

There's a lot more going on in Stonebrook than poor Erik knows, and the audience is drawn into the story along with him. He's a decent kid and you feel for him and, though you're not thrilled that he's walking the wrong side of the law, you don't wish him harm.

Rowe and Green are both very good in their roles, especially the oily flim flam man Green, and they're supported by the lovely Zoe McLellan ad Erik's "poor little rich girl" girlfriend and adult actors William Mesnik and Stanley Kamel (as the crime boss who turns out to be only a big fish in a small pond).

The DVD is presented in widescreen, and the picture quality is very good. The digital audio, is also very good, though it's only "stereo surround" as opposed to the Dolby Digital 5.1 in which most modern movies are now released. It isn't a big deal, though; this is a low budget film that relies on script and acting rather than technical glitz.

For extras, you get, well, nothing.

Stonebrook, from MGM Home Video
89 minutes, Widescreen (1.85:1), Dolby Digital Stereo Surround
Starring Seth Green, Brad Rowe, Zoe McLellan, William Mesnik and Stanley Kamel
Produced by Matthew P. Garcia
Written by Steven Robert Morris, Directed by Byron W. Thompson

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