This year’s Blood in the Snow short film showcase features everything from hellish office meetings to messy relationships to homages of 1980s slasher films. Here are my thoughts on 6 of the 7 shorts that are playing as part of this year’s showcase. Also, keep an eye out later in the weekend for my thoughts on the pre-feature short films. Damned Selfie
A woman has a meeting with her intake officer in an office environment where everything has a price. I’m trying to play coy what this short is truly about, even though it is only 6 minutes long and gets to the point pretty quickly. Overall, this is an enjoyable little comedic short, with a punchline involving selfies and a certain aspect of photography that many people take for granted.
8 | LIKED IT Malleus Maleficarum
A group of individuals prepare to burn somewhat at the stake, even though one is not particularly keen of the idea. One of the most interesting aspects of Malleus Maleficarum is that it tells its story without a single line of dialogue, relying mostly on the sound effects and music. Despite the lack of dialogue, the plot is pretty easy to follow, even though there were some moments that had me scratching my head a bit. Overall, Malleus Maleficarum was a well made (and pretty dark) modern witch hunt.
8 | LIKED IT The Makeover
Three minutes long, involves a couple, has lots of blood and duct tape. That’s pretty much all you need to know about The Makeover.
8 | LIKED IT Woods
A man coping with his missing wife is sent a companion android by his firm. Meanwhile, strange screaming noises comes from the nearby woods. A question that comes to mind when watching Woods is why it needs to have science fiction elements. The short probably would have turned out just the same if the android was a human being, save for some events that happen after the android scans the wife’s hair. That nitpicking aside, Woods is still an OK enough watch.
7 | FAIR Massacre at Femur Creek
In this homage to 1980s slasher films, a trio of campers are tormented by a masked killer. Where do I start on this one? Massacre at Femur Creek definitely gets the 1980s slasher aesthetic right, but the actual tone of the film is somewhat off. Despite much gory violence, the film is almost more of a spoof of films of the era, with attempts at humour that didn’t really work for me. The three central characters are pretty unlikeable and I spent much of the running time waiting for the killer to show up and slice them into pieces. Massacre at Femur Creek definitely gets an A for effort, but I somewhat wish that it treated itself a bit more seriously.
6 | WATCHABLE Greater Than
A creator of forged passports falls for one of his clients, which sends him into a seedy criminal underworld. At it’s core, Greater Than is a short about the lengths one would go for love, which includes a few grisly moments, involving the removal of limbs. Altogether, it was an OK little film.
7 | FAIR Also screening as part of the Short Film Showcase is Insane, which won Best Emerging Talent at Fantasia 2014. Screenings:
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Friday, November 28, 9:30 PM – Carlton Cinema
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Saturday, November 29, 7:15 PM – Carlton Cinema