Short Film Review: A LITTLE OFF THE TOP (2012)

Short films work if there is a punch at the ending that makes everything that came before it worth the wait.  I cannot say that this has never been more true than in director Adam O’Brien’s film A Little Off The Top (2012).  This is the story of a hair stylist by the name of Sylvio (played by the charismatic David Nerman) who has an old client by the name of Ingrid Clifford (Ingrid Falaise) in his chair one evening.  Ingrid is now a star of which Sylvio helped mold and style her on her way to the top only Ingrid has never credited Sylvio for his contributions.  Now that he has her in his chair he will put the wrong things right whether she likes it or not. 

For the most part the film seems to be held together by the unnerving Sylvio who plays up his sin of envy very well.  Nerman is magnetic in the role and since he carries the whole film a less capable actor could have made this a disastrous affair.  Thankfully, Nerman brings the right edge of jealousy to his Sylvio so that he never comes off as a caricature.  The screenplay by Mathieu Demers and Christian Rivest is precise with the right amount of dread and doom.  O’Brien does the film justice by staying on Sylvio for most of the film and leaving Ingrid to the periphery as we see everything as he sees it.  When Sylvio presents his true intentions upon Ingrid it is a shock leaving the final punch for those that stayed with the film till the bitter end.  Like every good short film A Little Off The Top ends with a jolt that you want soon forget.  

O’Brien goes a long way to show that you don’t need much to craft a good horror film but that little has to go a long way and in this film it truly does.

To watch A Little Off the Top you can view on FearNet here - http://www.fearnet.com/shorts/little-top or visit the website BloodbathTV at http://bloodbathtv.com

Short Film Review: AT THE FORMAL (2010)

A teenager’s formal has never been as deadly as depicted in writer/director Andrew Kavanaugh’s film At the Formal (2010).  Despite having a simply story structure the technical feats of the film are anything but.  The film opens with a young boy being held in the air by fellow classmates as he is reluctantly lead to the house of where the formal is being staged.  This isn’t a school but a regular home which looks even more out of place from the very subtle things that you wouldn’t normally see at a formal which is alcohol for the kids, people pissing in the bushes, grown men grabbing onto teenage girls and goats that have their way in the yard.  Everything appears normal but underneath really isn’t until the young boy is finally brought to the alter of the house at which point an older man strips and brandishes a large ceremonial knife before the boy.  Nothing is as it seems in this film. 

The film is at its best when it is shaping and showing the viewer the world that the young boy finds himself in.  The first four and a half minutes is done in one continuous take with very methodical and repetitive music motif that keeps the viewer on edge waiting to know what will come next.   Passing from one character to the next, the camera peaks into the lives of each of the guests of the formal.  It isn’t until the camera finds its way back to the original young boy that the camera cuts.  It is also at this point where the music also takes a turn for the dreadful and the true horror of this formal is finally revealed.

The trick of this film is getting to the punchline at the end which could have been very mundane but Kavanaugh’s instincts to do the first half of the film as one continuous take pays off creating a truly unique short film that relies on its visuals rather than dialogue (which there is none in this film).

You can watch At the Formal on FearNet here - http://www.fearnet.com/shorts/formal

Short Film Review: RECEPTION (2011)

Writer Jasper Marlow and director Dane McCusker have crafted an interesting and cautionary tale in their short film Reception (2011).  An expectant mother Evelyn (Jessica Tovey) is working the night shift at a hostel when she is asked to investigate strange noises coming from one of the tenant’s room.  Despite being apprehensive about becoming a new mother what she discovers in the room of the tenant from which the strange noises originate will force her to come to grips with her own reluctance.

At less than 8 minutes, Reception gives viewers an alternative look at motherhood from someone who may not have wanted to become a mother but had it thrust upon her.  The magic in the film is that this is all done through art direction and cinematography.  The very first scene has Evelyn deciding whether or not to take a drink of wine.  Once she enters the room of the tenant she is thrust into a world of teddy bears and children’s toys that assault her directly and chastise her for all the bad decisions that she’s probably made since learning she was pregnant.  It’s a hard truth that she must confront when she learns the true horrors that await her inside the room.

Director of photography Michael Steel does a great job bringing out the horror that awaits Evelyn simply through the choices of saturated colors which are even more enhanced by the music of Sam McCusker.  This is a creepy and unsettling film that doesn’t rely on a lot of blood and gore and has something more to say than many of the other run-of-mill short horror films.

You can watch the full film online at FearNet - http://www.fearnet.com/shorts/reception