“Growing Pains” Shorts Block
Sadly, while I had high hopes for “Silhouettes,” I didn’t particularly love it. I think director Sarah Brill has a lot of potential as a filmmaker and I loved the tension leading in to the climax. That said, everything else is kind of routine and dull, while the film itself is in dire need of tighter editing.
“A Real Scream” Shorts Block
Eileen O’Meara’s “Panic Attack” is a very short but sweet look at the chaos that is the panic attack and how horrific it can be. Animated and painted by Eileen O’Meara herself, “Panic Attack” is centered on a young woman waiting at a stop light while driving. When she ponders if she shut off her coffee machine, suddenly her imagination begins to take on a life of its own and a mole hill is transformed in to a gigantic mountain before our very eyes.
“A Real Scream” Shorts Block
I found Kimmy Gatewood’s “Control” to be pretty fucking excellent, and it’s probably one of my favorite short films of the “Final Girls Berlin Film Festival” so far. The premise is genius and her short brought me back and forth from grinning to tisking in sheer sadness; let’s just say I related to her creation more than I thought. While the premise has every chance to be exploitative and played for cheap laughter, there’s an inherent sadness underneath every moment, and it’s more poignant, in the end.
“A Real Scream” Shorts Block
At nine minutes Kate Beacom’s “All Men Must Die!” is a complete swing and miss. I get what she’s going for, here, but all sense of the horror element is lost in favor of this odd indie flourish, and a climax that makes no actual point. While director Beacom does enter in to a turn of events that universal to the intended audience, “All Men Must Die” takes forever to get to the literal splash in the climax, and I was left thinking “That’s it?” Continue reading
“A Real Scream” Shorts Block
Laura Moss’s “Allen Anders…” is a beautifully bizarre bit of experimental horror that I kind of loved when all was said and done. Mimicking an actual worn out VHS tape, we’re subjected to a 1987 stand up routine of a young comedian named Allen Anders performing at the Comedy Castle. Anders looks worn, exhausted and covered in sweat while an agreeable audience looks on. While Allen is never exactly hysterical it never really matters as the audience responds to just about everything he says with nods and laughs. When he’s done with his skit, he’s called up on stage once again to repeat the very same routine.
“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.
“Midnight Movies” Shorts Block
Director Jill Gevargizian’s short “Call Girl” watches like a short interlude you’d probably see in a digital horror anthology similar to “V/H/S/.” And I mean that as a compliment. As a short but sweet little horror tale writer Eric Havens’ script has all the classic tropes of the genre. There’s the vile enemy, the victim, the set up, the twist, and the juicy comeuppance.