“Midnight Movies” Shorts Block
I wasn’t completely won over by Samantha Kolesnick and writer Sean Richard Buddle’s short horror comedy, I’ll admit. It’s probably because the premise has been done to death, and I mean I’ve seen this premise done so many times on film that there’s really nowhere to go with this idea.
New neighbor Rita interrupts her next door neighbors asking for ingredients for her thanksgiving dinner. They happen to also be preparing their Thanksgiving feast that they’ve branded “Friendsgiving.” Despite her hesitation, they invite their new lonely neighbor to the dinner. When she arrives, she’s horrified to see that the deliriously nice friends gathered for their dinner have more than wholesome intentions for their new friend. Again, you can see where this is all going and I also figured out the whole hook to the short film immediately.
That said, the direction is very good, and the performances are top notch. I especially enjoyed Kaylor Otwell, the hostess who delights in bringing over some new friends to celebrate the occasion with her inner circle of pals, and chew the fat. There’s also some very strong gore that will please the gore hounds in the audience. That said, the plot was much too old hat to really savor. Nevertheless, I hope we see more from Kolesnick very soon.
The Final Girls Berlin Film Festival runs every year from January 31st to February 3rd.