No Trespassing
Sometimes the best films are the ones that let the audience do all the heavy lifting, such is the case with Charlie Lawton’s wonderful short film No Trespassing. Functioning without any dialogue, the film documents the harrowing plight of a girl (Sara Jackson) who becomes turned around in the woods when she and her friend (Lea Lawrynowicz), who has since vanished, trespass on seemingly abandoned property. Realizing that she is not alone in the woods, a mysterious creature roams about searching for her, the lost girl makes a desperate attempt to escape this strange place she finds herself in. Relying solely on body language, atmosphere and a chilling sound design, Lawton crafts a film that not only hooks the viewer, but subtly makes their skin crawl in the process.
What Do You See
Jumping into things with a great shot of a young woman, Selena (Raven Cousens), running frantically running down the street, Charlie Hamilton and Zachary Ramelan’s What Do You See effectively builds upon its eye-catching opening sequence. It does not take long for the short film to quickly reveal itself to be an exorcism tale. Selena seeks the help of a hypnotist, Elijah (Rich Piatkowski) and a his assistant, Isaac (Austin Duffy), both of whom seem to be carrying wounds from a previous encounter with her, to exercise the creature inside her before it causes more harm. Hamilton and Ramelan craft a film that is consistently creepy without drifting into farce. One just wishes the predictable ending had packed more of a punch.
The Jogger
Exercising has many benefits but, for some of us at least, the actual process of getting into a fitness routine can be a real pain. In his oddly amusing dark comedy The Jogger, director Jay Randall shows that exercising on an empty stomach can downright turn us into monsters. Such is the case when an overweight jogger (Mike Paterson) struggles to make it through his first jog, complete with heckling fitness freaks (Ken Proulx and Patricia Summersett), in the park. Embracing its cheeky tone, the voice over in the film is reminiscent of those classic instructional Disney shorts staring Goofy, The Jogger may not linger long in your mind, but it is fun nonetheless.
Taking Possession
Peter Campbell’s Taking Possession has a really intriguing final act that hints at a potentially great story had the idea been fleshed out further. Unfortunately, to get to it one has to sit through all the conventional tropes one would expect from a haunted house tale. The film follows new home owner Isaac (Martin Huss) as he gets the keys to his fully furnished and extremely secluded house from his real estate agent (Jemma Robinson). As things go when your closest neighbour is a twenty minute drive away, and there is no phone or wifi, Isaac hears several creepy sounds in the middle of the night and eventually regrets his purchase. Again, the short film shows much potential in the latter half, but ultimately it does not offer much new to the genre.
These reviews were originally posted on www.cinemaaxis.com.
