Back of Box: A horror, romantic comedy, short film that twists your normal love
story's back until it breaks.
Plot: The gripping tale of a psychopath's love for his "final girl" played out in the form of a
music video. Brilliant! At first I wasn't sure what to expect, but as things got going I was hooked. It's
dark and tragic, yet strangely fun and uplifting. I've been waiting for something like this my whole life.
Acting: Only one character speaks in the whole short and she just repeats the same line a
couple of times...and that's it. The majority of the story is told though action and expression. However, that
doesn't stop the cast from kicking some serious ass. Kate Melia does a great job as the "final girl," it was fun to
see her morbid fascination turn into a sort of unrequited love. Dave Reda as the "monster," portrayed the want of a
stalker to a tee and manages to be tender as well as brutal. The rest of the cast (or should I say body count)
played their parts extremely well, even if most of them only played dead.
Gore/Suspense: Body Count (8) Mmm,
a slit throat, severed arm, heart gouge, and a couple of served heads. The body count is probably generous on my part,
but I figured those last two severed heads had to be attached to bodies at some point. As far as suspense goes, it's
pretty non-existent, but I think the short is meant
to be more ironic than scary. It's a comical tale of true obsession and that's what really sets it apart.
Directing/Tech: Dave Reda captures a lot of wonderful moments in this one. My favorite being
when the "final girl" and "monster" are sitting on opposite sides of the door. All of it is clean and extremely well
planned. The lighting was natural and I always love expert use of blues. Other than the few lines at the
beginning the sound is basically just soundtrack. Ludo contributes an amazing song to the short and it tells
the story like none I've ever seen. Aside from all that the only other thing I want to mention is the editing. Not
many films use the fade to red instead of to black and I'm glad to see that this short is one of them.
Other: I have to mention the mask. It's awesome! The perfect double fusion of
Jason style masks. A futuristic chrome meets an old school potato sack with a scarecrow twist. If that doesn't
make sense and you want it to, watch it. I also have to mention the addition of Frederick (a Freddy inspired character)
because he's the man.
Final Word: One thing my brother and I often agree on is horror, in general,
and our thoughts on this one are synonymous. Neither of us have ever seen anything like this and we're glad that somebody
finally brought this idea to life. It's a must see, hands down.
