Bits and Bobs

HA!  "Bobs"  See what I did there?

ANYWAY!

Hiya!

I really like how people are seeing the blog and recognizing the potential for it to get out new content and promote the little guy.  'Cause I like little guys.  They're bendy.

Wait... no... not what I was talking about.

So, yeah.  Occasionally, I get asked to review indie projects and I really do get a kick out of them.  It seems like the indie film maker kind of understands more of what horror is about, particularly in the short form.  And it's with that, that I present to you the short films "Like a Doll" and "Black Spot".

Like a Doll, by French director Joseph Catté, is a soliloquy, of sorts.  There's almost no history to it beyond what the narrator (also the "final girl") tells us.  It just starts with a razor and ends with blood.  It's elegant in it's simplicity and, goddammit, everything sounds better in perfect fucking French.  It has a definite "art house" vibe to it that I appreciate and it's one of those films that, without being familiar with the spoken-word piece that it's derived from, begs to be analyzed.  In this case it feels very "pro-feminist" and "ridding one's self of demons".  Because it's subtitled, I know a lot of folks won't watch it but I like a good foreign film so catching it is up to you.

The second in our gruesome-twosome of shorts, today, is "Black Spot" by director Luther Bhogal-Jones.  

No title screenshot of this one.  Boo, Luther...  Boo

 
There's little to no dialogue in this one which enhances the creepy.  It's a home invasion film in miniature with nods to the cannibal-clan  which makes it a nifty little number.  While there's no true claustrophobia, he does give us a wonderful sense of isolation with the setting being a lonely road.  Plus, Mr. Bhogal-Jones made it in 3-D which just adds to the mild sense of awesomeness.  I say mild because this one does need some work.  It's brightly lit which detracts, some, from the sense of dread (although, I certainly get the "horror in daylight" deal) and while there's some of the protagonists history interwoven into the story, I get the sense that the violence is just for the sake of violence.  There's no deeper purpose beyond implied cannibalism.  It's still a decent watch, though, and, of course, your mileage may vary.  

Unfortunately, Youtube is being a little bitch and I can't link a video from Vimeo over here so if you want to catch it, head on over to: www.vimeo.com/fasterproductions where you can watch both the 2D and 3D versions of the short.

So there you are, kids; a little somethin'-somethin' to wipe away the stink of boredom.

Enjoy!  I did.