Director Brian Cunningham’s haunted house documentary is simultaneously very engrossing and utterly surreal. Cunningham explores the haunted house industry and how one haunted house attraction isn’t just becoming the centerpiece for a town, but for a slew of aspiring actors and performers who rely on this job as a means of celebrating the holiday of Halloween, showcasing their talents, or just imploring the attraction as an outlet for their characters.
Category Archives: A+ Indie
HazMat (2013)
As a slasher fanatic I really can’t endorse “Hazmat” enough. As a Hispanic male, the almost completely Hispanic cast for “Hazmat” is also another reason why I endorse director Lou Simon’s slasher film. You often see so many slasher films about white kids running back and forth and fighting a slasher, it’s rare that we see a predominantly Hispanic cast facing off against a masked killer.
Skinhead Requiem (2013)
Director Jason Victor Everett’s short dramatic thriller “Skinhead Requiem” is a powerful and compelling short look at two men on the cusp of realization in their lives that they will take with them to their graves. Director Jason Victor Everett takes a startling transformation as the ultimate extremist skinhead, while the legendary Tom Noonan plays a priest speaking with him as he prepares to leave for his execution.
Cargo (2013)
Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling’s short zombie film is a masterpiece. It’s mature, beautifully told, and I was teary eyed by the final scenes. “Cargo” is set during a zombie apocalypse, and both directors only garner eight minutes to tell a story teeming with epic potential. It could be a feature film, but as a short glimpse at a world of the undead, it’s a slice of humanity set amidst monsters in a rapidly decaying land.
Vows (2013)
Part of the “Withered World” web short series, director Jon Davis offers his own harrowing tale of humanity and horror with “Vows.” A short that pictures two people trying to gain a year’s worth of marriage in only a day, director Davis sets down on a young couple anxious to seal their vows. Only because someday soon it won’t mean much.
Die Like an Egyptian (2013)
Director Matt Mamula’s “Die Like an Egyptian” is a bittersweet and gripping short documentary about our attempts to control our own death’s in a manner that allows us the illusion of control in the after life. For us, old age and mortality can be horrifying and harrowing a prospect, and director Mamula spotlights an older man who is racing against time to build himself a prominent memorial that will not only give him relevance after death, but perhaps help him garner a sense of control.
Dr. Easy (2013)
Shynola directs “Dr. Easy” in hopes of fueling a feature length film in the future, so “Dr. Easy” in its ten minute length is described as a prologue to the bigger narrative. On its own though, “Dr. Easy” is a wonderful and stark look at the future and out absolute dependence on technology and how it will do the work for human beings.