Length: 09:07
Logline: A woman is transported into the woods where an evil demon preys on those who have sinned.
Amber Brookes takes the lead, (trailing off to the shops in her bloomin' pyjamas of all things) and although she delivers what feels like is a naturalistic performance, lacks confidence on screen. Although having characters talking to themselves isn't always the best way to convey information, it kind of suits the protagonists character here so doesn't stand out too much in the grand scheme of things. Dialogue varies between being realistic to being bizarre as exposition on what the heck is actually going on gets delivered through lines which sometimes feel out of place. There's some sound recording problems which leaves some dialogue annoyingly inaudible but the overall sound design works well with the genre with layered sfx's and atmospheric drones, and nice changes in tempo.
A change to a colder colour scheme marks the arrival of Brookes into the surreal wood landscape and the pacing of the edit is also modified to signify this transition. The running scenes, which are visually dramatic and distorted are good at showing urgency but could also quickly becomes tiresome for the audience as the camera gets frantically jolted around all over the place. Lighting isn't the best and there's a lot of washed out looking shots to be had along with hard to make out blacks.
The plot is left with a few holes as it's not clear what Brookes has done to deserve her transportation to a reality where demons hunt those who have sinned or how she magically gets out of there and back home. This could do with more clarity in terms of story and character arc to prevent baffling audiences any more than they probably are. Overall, this low to no budget horror lacks scares if it's a horror and laughs if it's a comedy-horror, while the technical difficulties and story flaws distract from a potentially decent short.
Amber Brookes takes the lead, (trailing off to the shops in her bloomin' pyjamas of all things) and although she delivers what feels like is a naturalistic performance, lacks confidence on screen. Although having characters talking to themselves isn't always the best way to convey information, it kind of suits the protagonists character here so doesn't stand out too much in the grand scheme of things. Dialogue varies between being realistic to being bizarre as exposition on what the heck is actually going on gets delivered through lines which sometimes feel out of place. There's some sound recording problems which leaves some dialogue annoyingly inaudible but the overall sound design works well with the genre with layered sfx's and atmospheric drones, and nice changes in tempo.
A change to a colder colour scheme marks the arrival of Brookes into the surreal wood landscape and the pacing of the edit is also modified to signify this transition. The running scenes, which are visually dramatic and distorted are good at showing urgency but could also quickly becomes tiresome for the audience as the camera gets frantically jolted around all over the place. Lighting isn't the best and there's a lot of washed out looking shots to be had along with hard to make out blacks.
The plot is left with a few holes as it's not clear what Brookes has done to deserve her transportation to a reality where demons hunt those who have sinned or how she magically gets out of there and back home. This could do with more clarity in terms of story and character arc to prevent baffling audiences any more than they probably are. Overall, this low to no budget horror lacks scares if it's a horror and laughs if it's a comedy-horror, while the technical difficulties and story flaws distract from a potentially decent short.
Best Bit: Last scene and Brookes reaction to her ordeal.
Worst Bit: Werewolf soundbite taken straight from the 'Drive' soundtrack.
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
Thanks very much for that bud.
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