Max Rainwater is a mysterious guy. In 2013, Ben described the role as playing Boo Radley of To Kill A Mockingbird. That was for the first time he played the character in Bad Kids Go To Hell which was a gory horror film. Ben's Max was the comedic relief in some ways with his moving things around and his dim responses to anyone who spoke to him. Yet, even in that movie there were hints that there was more to him than met the eye. Why was a janitor allowed in the Headmaster's office handling files? Why was he in the library and what's with the roaches he seemed to command?

Ben Browder was offered the chance to direct for the first time and took the reigns of the sequel, Bad Kids of Crestview Academy. He also reprised his role of Max Rainwater. This movie is much broader in scope. It's an adventure comedy with horror and still lots of blood and death, but weirdly funny. And Max was now a major mystery. Siouxsie, another Native American, was provided with a peak at the real Max Rainwater when she spied him at his desk fooling with his techno-roaches. He looks up, fully aware of her presence, and drops his dim facade to reveal a much more malevolent and highly intelligent person.

As shown in the screenshot, that played out at the end of the movie when Max, armed with a high-powered rifle, takes out the police thus allowing Souxie to escape.

Ben does a truly subtle job playing this mentally slow janitor but hinting at deeper levels within. In lesser hands, the character could have been a problem for people who react badly to depictions of dumbness in comedies. Instead, Max is both funny and scary with his ability to control or create and control nano-roaches and it seems a lot more of what goes on at Crestview Academy.

I'm hoping that he gets to direct the third movie in the trilogy and reprise Max. It all depends on how well the second movie did in sales and whether the producers were happy with his performances as director and actor. Got my fingers crossed because he was really fascinating.