There’s nothing more exciting for a horror fanatic to watch a film from an undiscovered talent who has a new and original vision for the horror genre. What Ellison and Cripps do is prefer to explore the recesses of the mind and how violence can psychologically alter what we view in our world, and how we view it. Thus, “The Insane” covers some interesting ground in only twelve minutes, and presents a gruesome view of the underworld of crime, while John Vincent goes on the hunt for the maniacs who took his life away.
Tag Archives: Short Film
Alabaster (2007)
One of the aspects of Brandon McCormick’s “Alabaster” that I enjoyed was his unflinching willingness to completely hit the ground running in a world of surreal characters. Like many other existential dramas, “Alabaster” is a film comprised of many elements, all of which are leading somewhere. I won’t give anything away for you, but immediately, I could sense that “Alabaster” and its variety of odd characters and symbols was inevitably going to come together to say something. And quite honestly, I was riveted.
Storyteller Films: A Writer Named Phil Hall (2007)
One of the interesting aspects of this special is that Phil Hall never seems full of himself and his accomplishments. This is a man who is on screen for almost a half hour, and his one intent is to teach and guide instead of boast of his endless accomplishments. Which is not to say his accomplishments are worthy of ignoring but for a special that would open the door for vanity, Hall is more intent on guiding.
The Medium (2007)
What Wydeven possesses in “The Medium” is a keen eye for visuals that compliment the story he’s attempting to tell within the space of only twenty-two minutes. “The Medium” is a rather interesting tale that starts off with much less of an impact than we’d ever suspect, and Wydeven takes what could have been a boring film, and adds an eye for detail, even with the apparently limited scenery. What the real appeal is of “The Medium,” is the detail.
Director Larry Longstreth is full of "Bullcrank"
I always say, if you want to know what filmmaking is like, ask an actual fucking filmmaker. Any filmmaker will do. But probably the best tool is a filmmaker recounting what their experience has been like. Whether through the hilarious “Dirty Condoms, Anxiety Attacks, Road Trips, and Reality Shows: Filmmaking 101.” or basically stalking a random filmmaker, you can learn a lot from the indie filmmakers. Larry Longstreth is one in a group of sheer madmen that lurk over at Bullcrank.com. Bullcrank is the comedy group that creates critically acclaimed and rather popular short comedies that range from animated homages to the video game age, to a musical about zombies.
Longstreth and co. have been featured on many websites including Ifilm, their films have ranked high in popularity in both sites, and currently Longstreth recently entered in “The Lot” contest. We here at Cinema Crazed, love the group at Bullcrank after watching “Zombies in my Neighborhood” over a year ago, but we’re only one of many folks that follow the exploits of the Bullcrank crew and their productions. Their website has something for every comedy lover, and you’ll find at least one thing that you’ll be laughing about for days.
Longstreth along with his equally talented brother Aaron, both pop culture and comic book junkies, have managed to build much clout in the independent circuit, and so far they’re making immense progress building a cult following. We decided after a few years of jabbering with the hilarious, odd, and frank head Bullcranker Larry Longstreth, that we’d sit down and get him to spill his beans about his productions, and life. We know that after sampling a few of the short films, and reading this interview, a few new Bullcrankers will be born.
Mime (2005)
I guess you could say that this is based on a true story, but then it’s so absurd I truly had a hard time believing. So, I’ll take Balinski’s word for it, in the end. Based on a true story, a young man who poses as a mime goes walking in the park one night, and proceeds to mime killing a passerby. He’s then chased, beaten and put on trial for murder. I can imagine the original proceedings (if there were any) didn’t really go this way, but “Mime” seems as more a lampooning of the proceedings with a clown as one of the jurors, and our lawyers insisting that the victim not speak since he’s technically dead.
Foxxy Madonna vs the Black Death (2007)
Why did I even long for a Grind House revival, when it was happening right under my nose? You may be surprised to hear this, but I can be a bit slow witted at times. Right now, there are about a hundred young directors creating movies, all of whom are just clamoring to re-invent the Grind House and exploitation genre, and they just don’t get enough of the credit that they deserve for accomplishing what Hollywood has tried so desperately to do. The proof in the pudding is this utterly fantastic production short from Cinephreak Pictures that aces every feeling and novelty you get from a Grind House film, with a touch of Blaxploitation for good measure.