Saturday 27 June 2009

Worldwide Short Film Festival - "Midnight Mania: Freaky"


First the creepy films and now the freaky ones. They sure know how to live up to their titles.



Glottal Opera (directed by John Fink) - 4 minutes of 4 women singing as seen from inside their throats. It's weird, wonderful, certainly freaky and a bit too long. It is pretty interesting matching the sounds you hear to the way a human body makes them though.



The Snake Mountain Colada (directed by Calvin Reeder) - Probably my least favourite of all the films I've seen in any of the screenings. I think the filmmakers actually achieved what they set out to do - recreate a Texas Chainsaw Massacre style vibe, mixed in with drug binging and internal organs. In all honesty though, I hated pretty much every single frame.



Danny's Magical Potion (directed by Gaute Hesthagen) - How do you even try to review a film 1 minute long? Danny drinks a special potion, becomes nice and we see how the effects ripple. Why is it freaky? You need look no further than the screencap below.




The Sexiest Stories on Earth! No. 2 (Las historias mas sexy del mundo! No. 2) (directed by Eric Cheevers) - As an homage to euro sex comedies of the 60-70s, it seems to nail the period and style. I couldn't find the film online, but here's the original film by Cheevers entitled "The Sexiest Stories on Earth! (Las historias mas sexy del mundo!)". You should get the idea:




The Heart Of Karl (directed by Steven Kostanski) - Kostanski and his Astron-6 Video team produced one of my favourite films from last year's Toronto After Dark Film Festival - the great and highly entertaining Lazer Ghosts 2: Return To Lazer Cove. This time out it's a full story as opposed to a simple fake trailer, but there's less of a fun goofy spirit to it. That's not to say it isn't good or funny, it's just a different tone. More downright...um...oh what's the word...oh yeah, freaky. Another film that goes on a bit longer than maybe it should, but there's some particularly brilliant moments contained within.

Here's the trailer:




Eel Girl (directed by Paul Campion) - A scientist observes an Eel Girl and then things go pretty much exactly how you figure they will. And you're glad they do.



The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon (directed by Richard Gale) - Most of the work here was done when they came up with the concept and the title. Especially when they decided that the weapon would be a spoon. Unfortunately this too goes on longer than necessary, but you can't help but laugh pretty much every time the insane murdering guy whacks his victim with the convex side of the spoon - leaving darker and darker bruises as the story goes along.



Everyday is a Fish Day (Høydepunkter) (directed by Jens Lien) - The daily grind of the life of a fresh fish for sale. Who knew they had longing in their hearts?

Here's the entire 1 and a half minute film:




The Sleuth Incident (directed by Jason Kupfer) - I just liked the different ways that the filmmakers created to make this big stuffed bear appear to be moving on its own - walking, sitting, lunging at someone's neck to rip it out...



My Rabit Hoppy (directed by Anthony Lucas) - Aren't bunnies cute? Until they grow up to be big and strong that is.



Git Gob (directed by Philip Eddolls) - More short animated goofiness. Fun, entertaining goofiness, but goofiness all the same.

Here's the entire 1 and a half minute film:




My Love Lives in the Sewer (Mi amor vive en las alcantarillas)
(directed by Manuel Arija De La Cuerda) - The black and white photography only emphasizes the grungy, grimy and overall disgusting washroom and sewer scenes. A young man (as the title indicates) believes he has found his true love who lives down in the sewer. He communicates with her via letters printed on a certain brand of toiler paper. It's even stranger than you're imagining right now.

Here's the trailer:

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