Somewhere underneath all of this there is a potentially great story to be told that involves a twist that could be very surprising and compelling if Juan Carlos Gomez is ever given the chance to tell it with a better budget. In the mean time we have "Love, Death and Blueberry Pancakes" an ambitious short film that fails in achieving its potential. Part of a film series called "Welcome to Dreadville" that centers around horrific events that happen in the town of "Dreadville," Gomez's horror crime thriller "Love, Death..." has a variety of narratives, all of which are sadly disjointed. The local mob boss just assembled a ring of gang members to notify them that there is an assassin on the loose who is killing each of them. Why? Gomez never explains. This obviously isn't the smartest man in the world because he basically assembles the entire group who is on the hit list and then sends them home without an armed assistance in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Why? Gomez never explains. So the very mob boss warning the men to be on the look out goes to leave on his own and is killed. Why didn't he heed his own advice? Why didn't he have an armed guard with him? Gomez never explains. We then meet young Anne, a disgruntled teen who is involved with a local gang member named Chino. Her dad is anxious to keep his daughter in line and warns her against getting involved with him. She defies his orders and appears at Chino's house. Why is Chino only being guarded by one man? Gomez never explains.

Why did he hold her hostage if the hitman's identity is revealed later on? Why is the hitman forcing her to watch the deaths? Why is Anne being gagged, exactly? If we learn the hitman is Anne's father why didn't he follow her to Chino's and kill Chino? Was he using her as bait? Who sent him? What is his purpose exactly? Is he a vigilante, a cop, or a mob hitman? How did he do all of that without Anne noticing? And most importantly why did he ask for Chino's location and send an attractive young woman to kill him when he could have just used her to do the killings all along? That and a variety of other plot holes plague this otherwise promising production, but sadly along with the broken story, there is also the horrific acting that every single cast member doles out for the audience, most of whom do not make this experience any more endurable. Mostly there's the acting from Elizabeth Antonucci who chews the scenery and doesn't quite put up an argument for rooting for her protagonist. Gomez looks to be trying his best with this story and film, but it doesn't pay off in the end.

While the concept does have potential to work well with better writing and a tighter production, "Love, Death & Blueberry Pancakes" is a broken short with bad acting, gaping plot holes, and an otherwise unsatisfying finale.

• For more information on "Welcome to Dreadville," visit the official website.