Locals Only: Shorts by Brooklyn Filmmakers [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]

locals-only-wanderingStitched (2016)
A woman has a visit from her sister after their mother has passed away.  As her sister listens, she unloads and unleashes on her.  Written and directed by Heather Taylor, Stitched shows how the death of a loved one can affect someone about to snap.  This short (4minutes) short shows how to have a good impact by keeping things short and simple.  The sisters played by Jen L. Burry and Deborah Green both do well while giving a bit of extra emotions to their parts, which fits with the short for the most part.

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Hail to the King: 60 Years of Destruction (2015) [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]

hail-to-the-kingThis 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.

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Billy Club (2013)

billyclubDrew Rosas and Nick Sommer’s slasher movie is a mixture of “Slaughter High” and “Scream,” where the pressure of sports amounts to a triple murder one summer that scarred a group of friends forever. Said friends were all members of a team once, and now a killer dressed as an umpire is roaming the streets murdering various individuals. The pair of directors is able to keep the killer Billy an intriguing villain as the individual roams the darkness and spends a great amount of time craftily trapping his victims. His weapon is the icing on the cake as it’s a bat covered in rusty nails, and a small slot where a large knife can slide out. This allows for some interesting kills and follows through with the baseball gimmick.

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Supernatural Horrors Shorts Block Part 2 [Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 2016]

supernatural-horrors-shorts-block-part-2-madre-de-diosMadre 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.

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Head Trip: Alternative Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]

headtrip-shortyShorty (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.

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Nightmare Fuel: Scary Horror Shorts [Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016]

nightmare-fuel-the-homeTilly (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.

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ABC’s of Death 2.5 (2016)

mformagnetic“ABC’s of Death 2” left a lot to be desired, and seemed to really leave a lot of the more interesting segments on the wayside. The folks at Drafthouse Films have been kind enough to spotlight 26 runner ups, all of whom tackled the letter “M.” These shorts were not only popular with audiences and judges but get the chance to appeal to the same audience that the winners did, and it’s a great opportunity to see what we missed out on. I think the sequel really left out some excellent shorts, many of which deserve to see light on another anthology somewhere down the road. As with “ABC’s of Death,” the segments are very hit or miss, but this semi-sequel is a much more solid collection of shorts than the official sequel was.

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