It's been dubbed Fargo meets Dumb and Dumber.
A horror movie disguised as a buddy comedy.
A dark comedy with a very serious bite.
The film is called Mon Ami, about a botched kidnapping by two friends who work at Hal's Hardware.
"They basically are poised to succeed the owner as he is stepping down, and at the last moment he decides to hand off the reins of his company to his two idiot sons, one of which I play," said the Comox Valley-raised John Fitzgerald.
"The two protagonists decide that they'd kidnap the boss' daughter, also our sister...Pretty much anything and everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Bodies start to pile up."
The music of Mozart and Beethoven plays throughout the film.
"Which they actually like," said Fitzgerald, who describes the characters as dilettantes. "They want to come off as being more than what they are but really they're just schmoes that are way in over their heads ... It's pretty hilarious."
Mon Ami premiered in the summer at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. It has also screened at the Atlanta Horror Festival and the Raindance Film Festival in London, England.
Last weekend, the film screened simultaneously at the Mile High Horror Film Festival in Denver, Colo. and at the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival in Seattle, Wash. It also screens this month in Vancouver, followed by further screenings at American festivals.
Fitzgerald is a 2002 graduate of Vanier Secondary who worked at a local radio station before attending Capilano University in North Vancouver. He studied theatre then "on a whim" tried film.
For several years he has been working in the film industry in Vancouver. His numerous projects include a voice-over online comic for the Will Smith movie I am Legend.
Mon Ami is the second feature by True Hype Productions, run by friends Fitzgerald met at film school.
"Everything went into the actual making of the movie," he said, noting the film's budget was about $15,000. "No one got paid. We all just believed in the project and volunteered our time.
"We're super stoked on this," Fitzgerald added. "We've yet to get a bad review...We're hoping someone comes along and gives us distribution. If we play our cards right that should happen."
For more information and to see the trailer, visit monamimovie.com.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com