Horror Short: Foodie (2012)

Directed by Christopher G. Moore
Written by Christopher G. Moore and Eryk Pruitt
Staring Nick Karner, David Berberian, and Alena Koch
Director of Photography Ismail Abdelkhalek

When Mueller gets invited to Kitchen X, an elite dinner party that only invites select members, his excitement is only matched to his avidity to food. As promised the dinner brings a unique experience unlike anything Mueller is prepared for, literally. Foodie is a quirky, albeit uneasy film about a food lover's nightmare. The thirty minute short could easily be an episode from Tales From the Crypt, or any horror anthology show for that matter, as it shares the same macabre sense of humor. It's almost like someones odd unbecoming nightmare as horrible things occur yet everyone is cheery, which makes it all the more unnerving. The gore is tended and used fittingly throughout the short, most effectively at the end.

Writers Eryk Pruitt and Christopher G. Moore use a couple of classic horror scenarios and build an original plot around them. Moore depicts the tone of the film without effort, intuit to the appropriate balance between the black humor and the horror. As well as divulging into the bizarre world of food lovers, capturing the language and mannerisms to fine detail. I really enjoyed the opening credits as it sets you up perfectly for what your about to see. The music was equally on key with the film as the original score and selected tracks are used to set you off. The set design though is a bit pallid in comparison to the oddity of the film and the cinematography as equally lacking. Not to attest that they're poor by any means but rather didn't have the level of creativity the other aspects of the film had. I'd easily recommend Foodie as a horror comedy watch, the premise should keep you interested and the end results isn't dissatisfying. You can purchase Foodie on DVD at the film's site, foodie-themovie.com.

If your interested in me viewing your short film please contact me at my email bleedingdead22@yahoo.com. But no more Twitter requests please, I tend to lose them after time.

Horror Short: Vincent (1982)

Directed by Tim Burton
Narrated by Vincent Price
Director of Photography Victor Abdalov

Vincent Malloy isn't like other kids, he stays inside, reads Edgar Alan Poe, and slips into macabre fantasies where he envisions himself as Vincent Price. The only thing stopping Vincent from getting lost in his daydream is his mother, who dislikes her son's strange behavior. Vincent is very much Dr. Seuss meets Tim Burton in a poetic and epic short film. There's so much homage to Vincent Price's career in young Vincent's play story of Price as a mad scientist who creates a demon dog, losses his wife, and slips into a bit of insanity that only Price could master in such films. And the subplot of Vincent being different than other kids is reference to Burton's childhood as he grew up reading Edgar Alan Poe and watching cartoons.

Lately Burton has been receiving the hate for his recent films, as Alice in Wonderland was awful (in my opinion) and Dark Shadows equally lacked the charm of his early works. Everything is still Burton-esque (i.e. crooked trees, weird plot) but doesn't have the black warped heart of his prominent films. Vincent has revived my faith in the director though as something this fantastic has to be hidden within him somewhere still. If I was to compose a list of my favorite Burton films The Nightmare Before Christmas would of course be first as it is his best work, but Vincent is a close second. As with Edward Scissorhands it only glimpses into the possibilities of collaboration between Price and Burton. As it is though Vincent is a marvelous, beautiful and twisted piece that is Burton's signature. A definite watch for fans of Burton's older work.

Vincent is available to watch on The Nightmare Before Christmas DVD and also in a less that decent quality upload on youtube. Again if you have a short film you'd like me to view you may contact me on Twitter or at my email bleedingdead22@yahoo.com.

Chillerama (2011)

Chillerama is set at a local drive-in's last night standing and the owner is showcasing four rare films; "Wadzilla", "I Was A Teenage Werebear", "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein", and "Deathfication" (the last which we thankfully don't get to view as it was bordering The Human Centipede territory)."Wadzilla" is the 1950s attack of the killer bug/monster film, only this time it's Mile's killer sperm mutated to an ungodly size that's terrorizing the city. "I Was A Teenage Werebear", a throwback to a mess of films including but not limited too Rebel Without a Cause, Grease, The Lost Boys, The Wolfman, and Cursed which takes focus as Ricky struggles with his homosexuality and his transformation into a werebear, all with song of course. "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" the 1970's exploitation flick where Hilter and Eva Braun use Anne Frankenstein's diary to create a monster. And the real fourth film "Zom-B-Movie" where the cinephile patrons of the drive-in become victim to an infection of horny zombies, in reference to the 1980's zombie films.

It's happened, Chillerama has made me officially realize there is such a thing as too self aware. The film that is a entire homage to the era of the bad but loveable drive-in double features films felt far to contrived at times, intentionally creating bad sets instead of naturally letting them happen. In addition, the humor tended to be strained in a sense where they were almost telling you to laugh at portions. Not all the stagey stuff was inefficacious though as the killer sperm was laughable bad as was the car accident in Werebear. I often wondered though if when I did laugh was it from the intentional throwback spur or was it rather from the sheer ridiculousness of it all? I don't condense it to a horror film at all as they don't try for any real scares so much as just parodying the sub genre, this is pure horror comedy.

Looking at each individual segment this is what I thought; "Wadzilla" I accredit for the technical merit in capturing the look and fell of the attack of the fifty foot bug films such as They or even Godzilla, but overall had a lack of interest, spare for a few humorous moments. "I Was A Teenage Werebear" likely failed the most, it didn't have a distinct decade, though I assume it was aimed for the 1960's and as a musical was a bit lack-luster. "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" was assuredly my favorite as I love exploitation films and have been denied Zombie's Werewolf Woman of the SS for sometime now. This segment had me laughing from the broken Germbbrish (German-Gibberish) to the end fight between Hitler and his creation. If I was to watch Chillerama again it'd be for this segment alone. "Zom-B-Movie" had the most character development as the cinephile patrons were present between the films and was good for the most part. I laughed at the overtly sexual zombies but it got excessive towards the end, as I can only watch so many zombies humping each other within a ten minute span.

Though we get a clear sense of him in the script, a shy man who's having problems with women, Adam Riftkin didn't put a lot into the character of Miles in "Wadzilla" Not to suggest he was bad he was just there for the most part, which could be attributed to his also writing/directing the segment. Werebear stars adult film star Sean Paul Lockhart, who doesn't have a bad signing voice but is camp acting the entire twenty minutes. It also has Gabby West of Scream Queens Season Two fame (or rather lack thereof, sorry) and Lin Shaye, who was also in "Wadzilla". Shaye is quickly renouncing her general absence from the genre for the past thirty years or so and embracing her status as a horror icon, which I love. Joel David Moore and Kristina Klebe standout as Hitler and Braun in Frankenstein, Moore's Hitler is by far one of the funniest take offs of the Fuehrer and though it borders the level of taste he's able to firmly keep it place. And I must not forget to give a nod to Kane Hodder as Meshugannah (the monster), who's a delightful presence in his role. The cinephile patrons are acted out fairly well by the mostly younger cast; as I said you get a lot more time with them so they develop more smoothly. Richard Riehle undoubtedly shines though as the owner of the drive-in, wielding a collection of guns behind his Orson Wells poster.

My issue with Chillerama is it wasn't what I wanted it to be, which there for it is mostly my fault and for that I cannot hold it against the film. I was aspiring for an Austin Powers like satire, not a Scary Movie spoof fest. It's hard because I know the directors do have a love for these sorts of films, as do I, but they just didn't capture their spirit as much as I had hoped.  With Chillerama each segment stands on their own and has to be judged on their own. If better tampered with (especially Werebear) the segments could be full length films. As a whole I love the idea but the execution wasn't good and therefor I ultimately didn't like it. I'm the most disappointed with this verdict as I really wanted to like this, if not love it, but it did not happen. But if you've read any other reviews you'll know that the film has been receiving those from all sides. Therefore I can't really tell you whether or not it's good, you have to watch for yourself and decide. Likely a two out of five from me, sorry.

Lo (2009)

Lo is a fairly humorous fairly enjoyable love story, with demons. Justin just lost his girlfriend, April, to a terrible accident, getting taken to hell by a demon that is, but as to demonstrate the limits of his love he summons Lo, a crippled smart mouth demon whose job it is to help Justin out. But as Justin spends more time in the close silhouette of hell he'll find out a few things out about April that'll tempt him to question his decision.

I'm not altogether sure how to start this, Lo is one of those films where it's hard to gather your thoughts. I presume I shall start with how I viewed the film. To say the least I liked it. It's not really an eventful movie, the entirety of the plot being based off conversations Justin has with the demons and flashbacks of him and April's love. There is one action scene but it's kind of corny, in fact there was an excessive amount of parts that are corny, but I'd argue that they were intended for comical effect. The film isn't all that much horror either, though the demon's look great and can be effectively scary if desired, its just that there's nothing all too horrifying about it. Also to note, it happens to be 1/16 musical, so if you keeping count we have a horror romantic musical comedy going on here, all tied into one small low budget film. But that's part of the charm of Lo.

Ward Roberts as Justin comes off a bit over the top in some comedic scenes but the final romantic moment, perhaps the only one in the film truth be told, is pulled off well between him and his opposite Sarah Lassez. And Jeremiah Birkett as the smart mouthed title character is adroit in his role. As other viewers have mentioned the film looks like a play, with an empty stage like effect. All you ever see is Justin, Lo, and the very stage-esq flashback scenes. Actually I can easily see this being a play and it may be more adequate as that, than as a film.

Like I said I enjoyed Lo, it's a droll little film that manages to hold your interest. Its clearly not for everyone, as its misconception of being a horror film will probably anger some, leaving it little chance to let it come into its own. I'd say watch the trailer, read a few more reviews, and decide for yourself whether or not to watch it.