{"id":25918,"date":"2017-08-02T03:46:38","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T07:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=25918"},"modified":"2020-07-29T11:07:58","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T15:07:58","slug":"small-gauge-trauma-2017-fantasia-international-film-festival-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/02\/small-gauge-trauma-2017-fantasia-international-film-festival-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Gauge Trauma 2017 [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Small Gauge Trauma is a programming block of shorts at the Fantasia Festival that sort of functions as a two hour anthology movie without a wraparound story. The shorts can be in any genre and are chosen by rough theme. In the 2017 edition\u2019s case the theme was \u201cFamily\u201d and while I know that this doesn\u2019t sound overtly ominous, trust me when I say that it should.<\/p>\n

Before I even start the review(s) I\u2019m going to issue a mild to medium spoiler warning. Short films are, well\u2026 you know\u2026 short. So I have to talk about something<\/em> and because the various runtimes are often under ten minutes I may mention stuff that happens towards the end. I promise I won\u2019t ruin any twists and I will try not to describe every aspect of the plot and story, but I have to work with what I got.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>SWEET TOOTH<\/strong>
\nINTERNATIONAL PREMIERE<\/strong>
\nNetherlands<\/strong>
\n2017<\/strong>
\n5 mins<\/strong>
\nLanguage:<\/strong> Dutch
\nDirected by:<\/strong> Nico Van den Brink
\nWritten by:<\/strong> Nico Van den Brink
\nCast:<\/strong> Ilke Paddenburg
\nCompany:<\/strong> Brink Film
\nThis is probably my favourite of the bunch, if only because it gets right down to business and does what I like best in a horror story. It sets up a spooky premise, builds up atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife, and then tries to scare the living piss out of you. Nothing fancy. Nothing clever. Just pure gut level terror.<\/p>\n

A woman is trying to talk to her friend on the phone, but is constantly being distracted by the sounds of the kids in the apartment upstairs running around and screaming. She\u2019s annoyed by how loud they are until she notices a news report of a murder suicide. A mother killed both her children and then herself in the apartment upstairs. The woman looks up in shock. The sounds of laughing and running and screaming do not stop. In fact, they keep getting closer and closer and closer\u2026<\/p>\n

HOW CAN I NOT LOVE THIS? This is what I was born to watch. This is a filmed nightmare. There\u2019s no logic. No plot. No well-defined characters. No real story beyond the simple setup I wrote. The whole short is basically comprised of dread, eerie sounds, lights that won\u2019t stay on, and a door that won\u2019t stay closed. That\u2019s all you need to be scared, and it works beautifully.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

iMEDIUM<\/strong>
\nSpain<\/strong>
\n2016<\/strong>
\n7 mins<\/strong>
\nLanguage:<\/strong> Spanish
\nWritten by:<\/strong> Vincet Blonde
\nCast:<\/strong> Jose Bermudez, Jesus Calvo
\nCompany:<\/strong> Geofilms Entertainment
\nOne of the more esoteric entries, and one that I admire but am not sure I like. The problem here is that the editing is seizure inducing. It\u2019s too much for me. The shots whiz by so ferociously that Michael Bay would probably think it was too much. I didn\u2019t count, but I doubt any shot lasts longer than a second. It\u2019s like being machine gunned with images and sounds. Yeah, it creates a very definitive sort of feel and mood, but ooof\u2026<\/p>\n

A mother calls an internet service called iMedium to talk to her dead daughter in order to find out who killed the child. Beyond that? Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tow! That\u2019s all I\u2019ll say.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m making it sound terrible aren\u2019t I? That\u2019s not fair at all. Here\u2019s what I liked: It\u2019s creative, it\u2019s got a coherent plot, it makes emotional and logical sense, and it\u2019s not confusing to watch despite the editing. Does all of this add to something good though? Wellll\u2026 It\u2019s not bad<\/em>. Nothing this kinetic can be bad. My wife loved it, and she\u2019s as big of a film buff as I am. So this may just be something that comes down to personal taste. So I give this a pass regardless of how I feel, and if you ever find it playing somewhere it\u2019s worth your time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

TASTE<\/strong>
\nCANADIAN PREMIERE<\/strong>
\nUSA<\/strong>
\n2017<\/strong>
\n13 mins<\/strong>
\nLanguage:<\/strong> English
\nDirected by:<\/strong> Adrian Selkowitz
\nWritten by:<\/strong> Lauren Kincheloe, Sam Littlefield
\nCast:<\/strong> Sadie Alexandru, Alexandra Fulton, Charles Halford, Jessica James, Lauren Kincheloe, Sam Littlefield, Jo-Ann Pantoja
\nCompany:<\/strong> Cowboy Bear Ninja
\nThis is the comedy segment of the bunch, and it is genuinely funny in a very very very dark way. Imagine if American Psycho was a comedy of manners set in Hollywood and you\u2019d sort of be in the ballpark of what\u2019s going on here. The comedy on display is rarely seen outside of indie films, which is why I\u2019m so happy when I do stumble across a film or a short that uses the style.<\/p>\n

You see, most comedies are either sophisticated or crude or silly or over the top, but very rarely are they demented. \u201cTaste\u201d is demented.<\/p>\n

A fame seeking couple is hosting a dinner party for another, much more successful, couple. How successful we don\u2019t know for sure, but the paparazzi follows them around, and in modern day Hollywood that\u2019s viewed as a sign of having made it big. Everything would be going splendidly if it wasn\u2019t for the fact that they find a naked woman collapsed in their driveway.<\/p>\n

Every character is deliciously awful and shallow. Every conversation unfolds as a wonderful cutting, cruel, passive aggressive, almost witty jab. I love this sort of stuff. I think a whole movie of this might get a little overwhelming, there\u2019s just so much of watching awful people being awful that I can stand, but a couple of minutes of decadent nastiness is always welcome.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CROP<\/strong>
\nINTERNATIONAL PREMIERE<\/strong>
\nUSA<\/strong>
\n2016<\/strong>
\n16 mins<\/strong>
\nLanguage:<\/strong> English
\nDirected by:<\/strong> Kyle Ginzburg
\nWritten by:<\/strong> Kyle Ginzburg
\nCast:<\/strong> Charles Sprinkle, Michelle Cameron, Elise Kibler, Kyle Minshew, Doris McGill<\/p>\n