Director F. Sudol is someone who is a one man creative force. After directing, animating, and voicing three popular animated horror films, F. Sudol abandoned his former style in favor of computer animation. Even though Sudol completely quit the former animated style for telling his stories, “Gnome in the Haunted Castle” still very much feels like an F. Sudol production. The music feels much like the type we’ve come to expect from his past films, there is the presence of zombies, and Mr. Sudol voices the characters himself. This time though, “Gnome in the Haunted Castle” acts as a gateway horror film for the young audiences who appreciate ambition and effort.
Tag Archives: Indie Film
Rocco (2011)
I’m assuming “Rocco” is open to interpretation for audiences everywhere as it’s a particularly twisted and demented short film about an imaginary friend and a man that may or may not be psychotic. Much of the film is incredibly muddled and not very explanatory, so I’m essentially left to figure out for myself what, if anything, the plot is alluding toward. After a series of deaths involving his old friends from his home town, a man is greeted with a box at his door. Of course logic tells us that he should open it to see what’s in it, and he does.
0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0 [Diligo Victum] (2010)
Director Dick Jane is really succeeding in distinguishing himself from other indie filmmakers, and slowly he’s turning in to a filmmaker I’m looking for most times. While he’s not always a home run cinematically, he does opt for daring. And it comes through. With “Kiddy Kiddy Bang Bang” that was a film guaranteed to turn heads and even incense some people. His first short film “0, 1, 2, 3, 1, 0” is a short Bergman-esque meditation on a woman struggling with suicide.
My Sucky Teen Romance (2012)
Director Emily Hagins gained instant fame in 2006 when she recruited all of her friends and family to direct her first feature horror film. The production and Hagins’ enthusiasm for the genre garnered the attention of film critic Harry Knowles (who cameos as a vampire expert) who took Hagins under his wing helping to fuel her film career. In 2009, Hagins then became the topic of the excellent documentary “Zombie Girl: The Movie,” a light hearted and entertaining look at Hagins relentless efforts to complete her feature length zombie film “Pathogen.” The documentary took festivals by storm and remains one of the more heart felt depictions of filmmaking ever produced. Now that we’ve played catch up, “My Sucky Teen Romance” is director Emily Hagins one step forward in to a much more legitimate career as a film director.
Wrong Number (2012)
Like many of director Patrick Rea’s horror shorts and feature films, “Wrong Number” is a genre gem that takes us by the hand and guides in to a world that looks normal on the surface, but really is nothing but a mad and demented reality that Rea orchestrates with a sardonic sense of humor. “Wrong Number” features a young woman who has accidentally dialed the home phone of an elderly woman who is at home knitting and going about her business.
Night of the Punks (2011)
Yet another short film seeking funding for a feature, “Night of the Punks” is a call back to the days of splatter punk horror films like “Night of the Demons” and “Return of the Living Dead” where a hapless bunch of rockers find themselves victims of something truly horrific. “Night of the Punks” has a really unstoppable energy and charm to it that can really translate wonderfully in to a feature length film. With a solid story and more characters, the nineteen minute short now Streaming Online could become one hell of a great throwback to a sub-sub genre of horror that is long gone.
Kiddy Kiddy Bang Bang (2012)
Dick Jane’s short film is obviously just a prologue to further adventures of its two heroines. It’s either going to be the first in a series of short films, or “Kiddy Kiddy Bang Bang” is a pitch for a feature film in the making. If Dick Jane gets it off the ground, I can imagine Troma being more than willing to scoop this up and make this in to a cult classic. As a short film it’s exploitative, ridiculous, far-fetched, and the entire story just makes no damn sense. I also snickered at the dedication to sexual abuse victims in the final scene.