Horror Short: Firebase (2017)

Great things come in pairs, be they good-looking twins or Waxwork Films.  In this case, it is another short from Neil Blomkamp.

This is another 'teaser' Short, so be warned.

In Vietnam during the titular War, some weird stuff is happening (to say the least)!

The CIA comes in to brief the sole survivor of the incident.  Will they believe him?

He tells a tale of strange technology, many deaths and some freaky fire!

Who is this freaky villain and what drives him to kill our Soldiers over there?

To find out, watch the Short.

A freaky tease of what may never come.  More so than Zygote, this is just a tease.  This is around 20 minutes of teasing and set-up for...nothing (as far as I know).  It's all neat and pretty.  It's just shame that it doesn't go anywhere.  It is neat visuals, an interesting story hook and...that's it.  It ends in the middle of what feels like the 2nd Act of a full Film.  So watch this for the neat ideas, not the Story.  It is chock full of great visuals and inspired insanity.  If this is purely a Demo Reel for Neil Blomkamp's Studio, then it's a good one.  This is what The Time Machine (I Bought at a Yard Sale) should have been.  Also it's good and that sucked.  This doesn't.  Can we let this guy do a Film he wants again?  Don't make me sick this guy on you!

While more of a Demo Reel than a Story, it is neat.  Can we see these ideas and effects in real Films already?!?

Horror Shorts: Zygote (2017)

I've been meaning to get to some stuff all year.  This is one of them.

Oats Studios put out some Shorts in 2017 as a sort of Resume.  It didn't get them an Alien Film- sadly- but let's at least enjoy the actual product.

Our Story begins In Media Res with two people escaping from something in a Scientific Facility.  One of them has blinded themselves for reasons I won't SPOIL.

Can they escape this lab and the mysterious creature on their tails?

What is this thing?!?  Is there anyone way to defeat it or is running the only option?

To find out, watch the Short.

An innocuous name for a good Short Film.  With a name like Zygote, it could be about so many things.  It could be people working in a Bio-Lab with a disease.  It could be some sort of alien creature infecting people.  It could about some sort of weird disease mutating from an alien spore.  It's kind of a bit of all of that, kind of.  As a Short Film, you don't get full context for everything that happens.  This is just the big, interesting part of the Story- no bit set-up or character setup.  If you go into this expecting more, well, I don't know what to tell you.  What you get is really well-done though.  The Acting- especially from Dakota Fanning- is top notch and you want to see them survive.  I didn't SPOIL the creature reveal here too much, but it's great.  I really, REALLY want to...but I won't.  Is this a bit like The Thing?  Sure.  It's one of the most well-regarded and copied Films in recent memory though, so what's the big deal?  Would I pay to see a full version of this?  Yes.  Would that have been better than Alien: Covenant?  Yes.  Here's hoping this becomes something bigger...

A good Short that teases a bigger, even more interesting Film.  Yes, it's not wholly original, but it's good.

New Shorts: World of Tomorrow

This is the shortest thing I've reviewed that wasn't a Segment on Twilight Zone.  World of Tomorrow is only 16 minutes long, but it is glorious.  From the crazy mind of Don Hertzfeldt comes this Short...

A young girl goes up to her TV Console.  What comes next is anything but what she expected...

She is sent a message from the future.  It is from...herself.

To be honest, it is too complicated and too strange to explain and/or SPOIL here.

Her descendant tells her about life in the future.  Life is...complicated and freaky, let's just say that.

Will the girl's glimpse of the future end up being a positive one or not?  To find out, check this one out!

 My kind of weird.  The Story is all sorts of bizarre.  It is a pretty simple one when you break it down, but who's complaining?  The Short is chock full of bizarre randomness and creativity.  Earlier works by the same Artist tended to play with the simple animation.  In this one, the basic animation as far as the character models is concerned is the same.  It is accented by all sorts of colors, patterns and designs to make it more palatable.  On top of that, the basic designs of the people allows for Hertzfeldt to show all kinds of dark, freaky things happening.  If they looked more like people, it would be super-disturbing!  It is still dark and trippy- don't get me wrong.  If you like dark, bizarre humor, this one is a can't miss.  If you're just into the Disney stuff, steer clear.  While many people may not know this Artist's name, World of Tomorrow shows why they should!  Was that a subtle enough plug?

Crazy, crazy fun.  Kudos, Mr. Hertzfeldt.

Horror Shorts: From Beyond

Even more obscure than the Stuart Gordon Film, there is this one.  Bundled with 3 other Shorts and a more-full Feature (around 45 minutes), this one made me curious.  After all, I've seen From Beyond done on a bigger budget, so how would this turn out.  In the Story, a man is presented with a miracle of Science from someone he probably shouldn't trust.  What he finds will change his life...but for the better?  To find out, read on...

A man drives through the rain to see someone.  Why?

He arrives at the man's house and he is shown the way to the basement.

Inside, the man activates a strange machine that...seems to change reality itself!

He explains that the machine allows you to see more than just the plain world around you.

He not only sees color, but he sees, well, this...

Needless to say, seeing a real-life Metroid in front of you would garner a surprised reaction.

More importantly, the machine makes it so that the creatures can see you as much as you can see them.

Naturally, the guy freaks out and shoots the machine, which makes the Inventor disappear.  It just kind of stops there...so yeah.  The End.

An interesting attempt to do Lovecraft proud.  The Short clearly has a small budget (I don't know what it is).  The Actors aren't the best out there, but also aren't bad.  The whole thing was made on the cheap and it shows...although mostly in the CGI.  Obviously, they kind of had to go that route for the Lovecraftian stuff out there.  I have seen worse effects too, so that is something for this Short.  It has the tone of discovery and mystery down pat, which is definitely a plus.  While they don't do anything too major, they seem to do Lovecraft proud with this attempt.  I'll have to look up more of their stuff in the future (if there is any).  Maynard has probably reviewed like a dozen of their Short Films by now, but he can just go to Hell!  Just kidding- he can go to R'yleh.  One more shout out for Miskatonic University...

It shows touches of really neat stuff, but doesn't quite break out.  It is very accurate to the Story, so that is a plus.