Horror-101

RIIHFF Reviews - Short Films (Part 2)

The ninth annual Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival took place recently, and H101 was on hand to cover all the great independent films being screened. What follows is the second of two parts chronicling the short films that were showed (read the first here), which will also be followed by a report on the feature films, so stay tuned:

Pickman’s Model (2007)
directed by Gary Fierro

Pickman’s Model is an nineteen-minute adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft short story about a strange painter from Boston.  The story is interesting and hold the viewers attention, but the ending is anti-climactic.

The Call of Cthulhu (2006)
directed by Andrew Leman

The Call of Cthulhu is another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, this one successfully done in the style of an old-fashioned, silent film.  Like many of the classics to which it pays homage, the forty-seven minute film has great sets, beautiful cinematography, nice atmosphere, and a wonderful score.  It also takes a comical approach with its cheesy effects and weathered-looking print.  It’s a fantastic take on the classic monster story.

Fright Sight (2008)
directed by Bill Timoney

Fright Site is a promotional short for NetStudio, an online screenwriting contest.  It stars Bryan Cranston, almost unrecognizable from his role on Malcolm in the Middle.  He shows fear well, but it ends on a comedic note.  You can see the four minute short for yourself here.

Death in Charge (2008)
directed by Devi Snively

Lady death is mistaken for a babysitter in Death in Charge, a fifteen minute short.  The cute Grim Reaper just goes with the flow and is more like than the innocent child than the brat she’s watching as she learns about the wonders of macaroni and cheese and sea monkeys.

Next Floor (2008)
directed by Denis Villeneuve

Next Floor is a twelve-minute Canadian short about a group of pampered folks sitting at a table enjoying a luxurious buffet.  It seems like a meal fit for a king until the floor gives out from under them, dropping the table and its guests to the floor below.  The staff follows them with all the fixings.  Although not horror, its an interesting and mysterious little short; I just don’t see why they don’t eat on the ground floor to begin with.

Snip (2008)
directed by Julien Zenier

Snip was the goriest movie of the weekend.  It begins with a man flipping through the channels on his television.  Although the dialogue is in Spanish, the duality between sex and violence is apparent.  With nothing catching his interest, the mysterious man gets an idea.  He sets up a video camera, strips naked, and carves off large chunks of his flesh with a knife.  He continues to do so for the remainder of the ten minute duration.  The effects aren’t perfect but are still visceral.

Cheerbleeders (2008)
directed by Peter Podgursky

As the title would suggest, Cheerbleeders is a fun little short, clocking in at eleven minutes.  It’s about Penny (Laurel Vail), the most unpopular girl in her high school, and her friend Devon (Wyatt Fenner), a follow outcast punk.  When a douchebag jock dumps the contents of an ancient artifact on Devon, he goes from zero to hero of the high school hierarchy.  Guys want to be him and girls want to be with him.  Devon relishes the attention, but Penny notices that something is wrong when the cheerleaders go from swooning over him to murderous demons, and it’s up to her to save the day.

AM 1200 (2007)
directed by David Prior

After a financial scam goes wrong, investment analyst Sam Larson’s (Eric Lange) day goes from bad to worse when he hears a distressed call over the radio in AM 1200.  A man frantically calls out for help about a medical emergency.  Larson reluctantly goes to the station and, after his car breaks down, is left with no other option but to go in the isolated station.  This short runs at an awkward forty minutes.  I’d love to see more meat added in to make it into a feature, because as a short it was impressive and tense.  It has high production values, good cinematography, suspense, strong performances, and even Ray Wise (Jeepers Creepers 2, Swamp Thing).

Kirksdale (2008)
directed by Ryan Spindell

Kirksdale is a twenty-two minute short about a mental hospital in the 60s where the patients take over.  Darryl Pearl (Josh Mikel), a young deputy, and Molly Walker (Jessica Mansfield), a misunderstood — but not crazy — girl, discover what’s going on and must escape the inmates who outnumber them.  It’s bloody, it’s interesting, and it’s good.

Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre (2009)
directed by Robert Cosnahan

With a title like Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre, I was expecting to have a lot of fun with this seventeen minute short, and it delivered.  It’s about a college girl being initiated into an ivy league secret society called Snake and Skull.  They travel deep into the woods and things get out of control when they encounter a hillbilly family.  Turns out the city folk are crazier than the rednecks.  The result is as funny as it is bloody.

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