I’m honestly still not sure what to even make of this short zombie film even hours after seeing it. It’s ridiculous, ultimately pointless, and just loud, but… it’s also creepy, brilliantly directed, and the zombie effects are some of the best I’ve seen in a while. “Paris by Night of the Living Dead” is a pretty straight forward zombie short film that doesn’t pretend it’s anything other than an excuse to show zombies being massacred, mutilated and blown up in about as much excessive ways as humanly possible. It’s just fast paced and insanely absurd, but I couldn’t stop watching it.
Tag Archives: Short Film
The Raven (2010)
What with Hollywood running out of ideas and turning literally anything in to a movie including novelty toys we’ve long forgotten about (ahem–Magic 8 Ball), the studios are doing what we’ve been telling them to do for years now: they’re seeking out independent filmmakers for ideas. So now what with the surge of independent filmmakers retreating to Youtube to post their ambitious projects for free viewing, studios are snatching up these properties in hopes of coming up with the next big blockbuster. I mean… it turned out pretty well for “Paranormal Activity” and “District 9,” didn’t it?
Paint Shaker (2008)
It’s getting to where whenever director Patrick Rea or anyone from Senoreality releases a new short from their company, we’re ecstatic to see what they have in store for us, because there’s always a guaranteed surprise in store whether we enjoy the film or not. Patrick Rea’s “Paint Shaker” is not a horror film as it is an examination on life and a dark comedy based around monotony propelling in to all out chaos thanks to a misunderstanding and a manipulative co-worker. “Paint Shaker” is very much in the vein of films where there’s always seething rage and aggression boiling underneath our characters where they’re doomed to burst at any second and such is never made more apparent than in “Paint Shaker.”
Emily in the A.M. (2010)
Director Daniel Brown conducts his short drama much in the vein of Scorsese’s underrated gem “After Hours” in which he uses the exploits of a midnight stroll through the city experiencing various exploits with wackos and locals as a form of our character exploring something about themselves. Alison Strycharz gives a very somber and heartfelt performance as the lovelorn Emily, a young girl whose own undoing may be her inability to take a hint and as such becomes a pariah in her own relationship. Confronting her boyfriend one night after an attempt to spend time with him, Emily moves out on her own in to a new city and finds herself incapable of moving on with her life. There, she does anything to pass the time and wallowing in her own memories with him that may all just be lies she told herself to sleep easily at night.
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth (2010)
At the end of this, I don’t know if I’ll be writing a review for a fan film, a review for a promotional reel for a director shopping around to sell this new vision or just a glorified game promo for an up and coming new game of the “Mortal Kombat” universe, but as someone who played this game religiously, I had to offer up my thoughts. I can only imagine someone sat down in front of a monitor, was watching “The Dark Knight” and said: “We have to take this approach.” And what we inevitably have is a grim and grotesque take on the Mortal Kombat universe.
I Love Sarah Jane (2007)
With the rising popularity of Mia Wasikowska taking the reigns of Alice in Tim Burton’s 2010 revival of “Alice in Wonderland,” and her show stopping performance in the HBO series “In Treatment,” I took a second look at Spencer Susser’s science fiction horror short “I Love Sarah Jane,” a very good epilogue to a larger story I originally reviewed in 2008 for the Sundance internet short showcase. “I Love Sarah Jane” is a teen romance set in the post-apocalyptic world overrun by the walking dead.
Pixels (2010)
I don’t know, there’s something great about apocalypse movies. Maybe it’s the stripping down of society, the chaos, or maybe just the destruction but I love apocalypse movies. Even more I love movies that show the end of the world with as much creativity as possible. Take “Pixels” a short film that works as a fan service for gamers and for people who will at first scoff at the notion of 8 bit characters taking over the world and suddenly gaze in surprise at the creepy notion of it all. Patrick Jean’s film is much more of an ode to the classic gamer and a visual experiment than a movie with a narrative.