Killbillies, also known as Idyll and Idila, follows a group who goes out to the mountains for a photoshoot and gets interrupted by the local hillbillies hell-bent on killing them. Writer/director Tomaz Gorkic takes the hillbillies in the woods tropes and transposes them to Slovenia. The story basis is one the public has seen a bunch of times before: city people trespass on hillbilly family land and suffer the consequences. The story is one that has been seen before, however its development and added details such as the alcohol the hillbillies produce and the fact that the group in danger is of varied adult ages gives the film an edge.
Author Archives: Emilie Black
Hail to the King: 60 Years of Destruction (2015) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
This American documentary shows what the Japanese think of the King of Kaijus, the big G, Godzilla. This documentary was shot using crowd funding to garner its budget. Director and uber Godzilla fan Kyle Yount went to Tokyo in July 2014 to film this fan love letter to his favorite monster.
Supernatural Horrors Shorts Block Part 2 [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]
Madre de Dios (Canada) (2015)
During a cult-like ceremony, two Brujos use a scared and hurt woman as a vessel to birth the Anti-Christ. Written by Luke Bramley, Shane McKenzie, and Gigi Saul Guerrero, based on a story by the latter, and directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero, Madre de Dios is a quick glance into a deranged couple’s cult and how far they will go to bring forth the one they praise. The cast of three composed of Luis Javier and Gabriela Zimmerman as the couple and Tristan Risk as their victim, their Santa Muerte, give interesting performances.
Head Trip: Alternative Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Shorty (USA) (2016)
A being that is definitely not human wants to be one but needs to kill humans to feed on them in a manner that is different than the usual in horror movies. As she longs to belong, she meets a man who may be more than sustenance. Writer/director Anna Zlokovic creates a lead character whose origins are unclear but who the audience can care about. The film explores visions/dreams the lead has as well as her life as she tries to survive, something relatable whether she is human or not. This is shot in a manner where some of the scenes have overlaid images on top of basic scenes happening which gives the film a rather striking look.
Nightmare Fuel: Scary Horror Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Tilly (USA) (2016)
A child is scared of the monster in her bedroom and her father is trying to convince her there is nothing to be afraid of. He is very, very wrong. In director Robert Kotecki’s short film, things are not as they seem. He takes a simple premise and twists it a couple of times. The main twist, what makes it what it is and makes the story effective is actually unexpected and it creates an interesting story. The second twist woks as well, however the ending kind of breaks the film for this reviewer.
Broken (2016) [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Evie is trying to make her life better by taking a job taking care of a tetraplegic, John, who can be a disagreeable handful. As she cares for him and attempts to bond with him somewhat, her past comes popping back up. Written by Shaun Robert Smith and co-writer Craig Conway and directed by Shaun Robert Smith, Broken is as much about John’s battle to regain some happiness after becoming tetraplegic and not giving up on life as it is about Evie trying to help him become more independent as she attempts to redo her life and forget her past. Evie is the definite lead, but John’s story is about as important.
Child Eater (2016) [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]
Based on the 2012 short of the same name, Child Eater follows a babysitter as she watches the new kid in town in an old house that has a bad history. As she tries to sooth the boy she’s watching, he seems to be good to go to bed. He then decides to go exploring the nearby woods which contain a terrifying legend. Writer/director Erlingur Thoroddsen whose short this feature is based on takes his story of the boogeyman and expands it to a wider story. The creepy figure he creates is at first a looming figure, something that may or may not be real. However, clues abound to its existence and who or what it used to be before it started doing its evil deeds.