It's Not Always About Blood and Guts

Reviews by Nick Peron

I love short films. In fact, I find that more often when it comes to independent films, I prefer the short films over most feature length features. While a lot of independent filmmakers have brilliant ideas, it often lacks enough material to garner a full features length, and would probably do better as a short film. How often have you slogged through a movie that was about 20 minutes too long? Now, remove any of those movies that are part of the Troma library and you will come to the same conclusion as I did, that's still a hell of a lot of movies that are way too long.

Whatever the reason, be it that they have a problem putting things on the cutting room floor or just down right inexperience, I've sat through great concepts that were about as tightly edited as my last girlfriends vagina.

Short films are great because they take a concept and capsulate it in a format that forces the focus to remain tight. You're not telling an epic, you're telling a quick tale. If you want an idea of some really great short films are like, pick up Troma's Best of Tromadance DVD's and see for yourself. Short and sweet. That is not without it's challenges. With a shorter time frame you have to work that much harder to grab the audiences attention and keep it. A feature has a run time that the audience usually feels that they have to invest time to get a pay off, and that's something the feature makers bank on.

While attending the April 2010 edition of Cinema Wasteland, I had the opportunity to meet Brad Case and Shane Michaels, two Ohio filmmakers that are the driving force of Blood & Guts Productions. They passed along to me two short films created by Brad Case: Living Dead and Pipe Wrench. Don't let the name of the production company fool you, this is not just brainless blood and guts, there are some interesting tales herein:

Pipe Wrench:

Mike (Ryan Lenehan) and his wife Jill (Melissa Herrst) are experiencing truck problems while on a long evening drive, they are forced to pull over at the only service station in the area. This proves to be a mistake. As they soon find out (to their horror) that it's owned by a man named Tripp (William C. Fox) who literally believes that God talks to him, and has chosen him to carry out a bloody campaign against the sin. Stopping simply to get their car fix, they become his latest victims.

The premise to the film is short and sweet, and in it's simplicity that makes it an entertaining watch. The characters of Mike and Jill are for the most part anonymous to the audience in as much the same way as they are to Tripp. All Tripp needs to know is that they are, at least to his mind, sinners. The audience just needs to know that they are just another hapless pair of victims of this maniacs murderous rampages. Much in the same way all we're given is that Tripp is a complete nut who thinks that God is literally talking to him.

This does not need to be an overly complicated plot, and I applaud Brad Case for not interjecting a simple concept with overly complicated characterization. The major fault that I see in a lot of short films is in the fact that filmmakers try to give a unique twist to an old premise and botch it by just making things too complex, or outlandish. Two things happen: Either you make an incomprehensible mess of your movie with unnecessary details, or your audience is lost. Big failures like this would be like a seven minute driving scene where the characters essentially rhyme off exposition so that we "get to know them", or you insert something that will lead the audience wondering "why the hell does he have spoons in his pockets?" Brad's film does neither of these things, in fact you don't find out why the characters are out on the road until much later in the film after the climax (not spoiling it, watch this film damn it!)

The other thing I like about this film is that the killer is simplistic in his characterization. The horror genre has always been one populated with speechless and masked killers, or just random murderers that offer a complete biography of their motivations, yet time and time again, filmmakers will go out out make their killer this complex Jungian dissertation. Often enough their motivations are so ham-fisted, especially in the event that they are a social commentary that the viewer is often bludgeoned by the filmmakers opinion. Again, in avoiding this by keeping things simple, Brad Case once more excels. Instead of presenting: THIS MAN IS A CRAZY KILLER BECAUSE HE'S RELIGIOUS. It's more this man is a killer who thinks God is talking to him. Whatever Brad's opinion on Religion or God isn't shoved into the audiences throat -- this is a short film, not an op-ed piece, and that sort of commentary would bog down the fast pace of the film.

This isn't a movie with a deep impact, or an in depth meaning: It's simply a story that would should be regarded as one would regard it if it were an event that happened in real life: That it is a senseless and horrifying act. How many murders happen in the world today happen with out any deep meaning or impact? Just the random fate of the wrong innocent person being in the wrong place, with the wrong psychopath? For every calculated murder by a serial killer, or soldiers blown away on the battle field for political/religious reasons, there are always those wild cards. They don't really kill for any sort of reason except for sheer lunacy. Something in them breaks. They have a reason, but it's the subject of whatever imbalance or mental illness they suffer from. The character of Tripp's killings should be not be marginalizes as a religious crusade. He's sick in the head, and it just so happens he rationalizes the voice in his head as "God". Circumstantial. It's a justification for him to kill, but not an explanation as to why he kills.

A great short film, the only issue I'd say that I have with it is the fact that there are a few video glitches, but that's a technical issue that can easily be overlooked.

Living Dead:

Living Dead is not a film for the light hearted.

It follows the story of Amy (Julia Johnston) is in an abusive relationship with her husband Paul (Greg Fuller). After staying the night with her friend Jay (Cody Strack), she comes home and is brutally beaten by Paul. This is the final straw, and something finally snaps in the mind of Amy who issues out swift and bloody vengeance toward her rough handed husband.

For those who find the subject of spousal abuse hard to stomach, you might want to avoid this one because it is brutal and leaves nothing to the imagination. It presents the painful reality of this horrendous social vice without (pardon the pun) pulling any punches. You see full on as Amy is beaten and brutalized by her husband Paul.

Brad puts forward another great short film, because he doesn't centrally focus around the abuse itself, but the impact that it has on the life of Amy. I think he genuinely captures what a woman might go through when dealing with the psychological trauma of being brutally beaten to a man that she loves. The violence is there, you see it, but it's not the driving point of the film. Where it is most powerful is in the lingering bathroom scenes wherein we see Amy inspect the damage done to her body and try to cope with the reality of her situation.

There is also some good contrast between the scenes that are taken in Jay's home versus the scenes that take place in Amy and Paul's home. The scenes in Jay's home are usually wider shots, and in open spaces, while the ones in Amy's home are tight, up close, and personal -- almost confining. This is even more so whenever Greg Fuller's character is on camera -- he plays a great domineering husband to the point where it's almost uncomfortable to watch.

My hat is also off to the special effects artist Randy Graham who was able to create convincing and very realistic looking cuts and bruises on Amy's body.

Again this film excels based on the fact that the plot is not overly complicated with a lengthy plot, or complex characterization.

It does suffer from a few video and audio glitches here and there, and there is a scene where Amy is watching TV on Jay's couch that carries on a little long -- but it's still a very well put together film.

That said, these are two great short films, I would recommend anyone who is a fan of shorts, and don't mind watching brutal violence.