Category: Short Film

[Month of Horror] Blackbird, In Vaulted Halls Entombed, Chainsaw Maid

On By Cullen M. M. WatersIn A Month of Horror, Monster Movies, Short Film2 Comments

Blackbird

In Vaulted Halls Entombed

It’s probably telling that I watched both of these and honestly considered not mentioning either of them

Blackbird is about an amnesiac who rescues a woman who’s running from the masked man who held her prisoner. Which probably tells you all you need to know about the “shocking twist” at the end of the film.

In Vaulted Halls Entombed, meanwhile, follows a group of soldiers entering the wrong cave. It was a part of the Love, Death, and Robots cable series, and thus was very well animated. It, also, was very, very dull. That I read the story it was based on probably didn’t help matters. Though let’s also consider I’ve watched Deep Red multiple times and still felt a thrill with that.

So, anyways, both films are well produced, well acted, and, honestly? The stories on the surface aren’t that bad.

It’s just both of them came off as lifeless as hell.

In Vaulted Halls Entombed is the worse in this regard. I watched people torn a part and I. Just. Didn’t Care. It was boring. Not something I associate with the series it’s a part of. Well, more or less.

Both I’d say were good flicks (1.5) that I’m very meh about.

Blackbird:
2.5 out of 4

In Vaulted:
2.5 out of 4

Chainsaw Maid

Now in comparison, take this short, which I watched between the previous two (I had such high hopes for In Vaulted Halls Entombed) It’s a badly animated clay flick about a maid defending the people she works for from the Undead. It has absolutely no dialogue, its plot is an excuse for a series of clay gore effects, and it steals music from Twin Peaks. It is as goofy as hell with no scares whatsoever.

This one I love to death.

Really.

It’s the bomb.

Before the reboot, this was my most linked video by far. Seriously, it wasn’t even close.

In fact, let’s get that merry-go-round started right now:

I adore this movie.

Does it say something about my taste? Probably. It’s still today’s winner by far.

Calling it great is probably pushing it, but I’m doing it anyway. Chainsaw Maid is great (2.0). I love this little flick (2.0). I does my heart good to see it.

4 out of 4

[Month of Horror] Shinsen/I See You

On By Cullen M. M. WatersIn A Month of Horror, Short FilmLeave a comment

More shorts. This time the animated variety.

SHINSEN

A young warrior steals food from the wrong shrine.

Coming in at just under three and a half minutes, there’s very little time for anything like character building or plot. Sometimes that’s enough.

In this case, it isn’t. It’s not a bad little short. It’s just too short to be effective with the story it’s trying to tell.

That said, it’s very well animated. So it might not quite deserve the meh (1.0) I’m giving it. Nor does it deserve a good, I think. In any case, I’m kinda meh (1.0) about the whole thing.

2 out of 4

I SEE YOU

A house cleaner finds cleaning a haunted house a difficult task

While a bit light hearted, this little feature does stir up the occasional bits of dread. It has enough time to build up its two characters and was decently animated (sort of stop motion).

Now to be honest I did see the ending coming a little ways before the half way mark. But it’s a nice, charming short that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Of the four shorts I’ve watched for this series, this is the one I’m most likely to rewatch just for the hell of it.

It’s a good short (1.5) that I liked a lot (1.5)

3 out of 4

[Month of Horror] Rood/Eldritch Code

On By Cullen M. M. WatersIn A Month of Horror, Short FilmLeave a comment

I don’t have a lot of luck with Short Horror films. They tend to be basic, built around a single moment or scare. When they’re good, they’re very good. When they’re not… they tend to be a waste of time.

But an under an hour waste of time. So it’s hard to complain.

ROOD

Rood tells the story about a man trying to summon a writer through a door. That’s… it. It was an award winning flick, and it’s not badly made. Acting’s fine, it might be a wee bit over directed.

Where we get into problems is with the story. Outside of a book of Lovecraft stories shown in passing, we have no real idea what’s going on. The man has a camera set up, so he wants to record something, but what he hopes to achieve we don’t know. It all wraps up with a jump scare that really doesn’t work.

This isn’t the first time I’ve come across an award winning Horror flick that failed to move me. Wonder what I’m missing.

I’m going to say a low good (1.5) because outside the story its not terrible or anything. Personally, though, I kind of just didn’t care (1.0).

2.5 out of 4

ELDRITCH CODE

An IT guy tries to stop a virus from infecting his company’s computers. A virus named Cthulhu, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Eldritch Code works far better than Rood. It has more characters, a plot that makes a degree of sense, and while not earthshakingly directed really not bad.

It wears its roots on its sleeves, and while I don’t think it meshes with what Lovecraft wrote, it feels more like a Lovecraft story than Rood did. It’s ending also is less than satisfying, but not, I think, enough to ruin things.

Another low good (1.5), but I liked it a little more (1.5). It’s a part of an anthology series on You Tube called Dust and it made me curious enough to subscribe to see what else they come up with.

So job well done.

3 out of 4