Part of a fascinating new crop of filmmakers, Massachusetts-based George James Fraser brings an exciting voice into the genre as the multi-talented filmmaker has already yielded scores of credits in the local indie scene. Today, we're going to look at several of his directorial efforts in his burgeoning career.
Salt and Iron-
Enjoying a quiet day at his favorite fishing spot, a man gets more than he bargains for when an unexpected surprise emerges from the woods nearby.
This was a really enjoyable effort. The suspense of the situation, with him growing agitated over not getting anything on his hook to it appearing someone or something is watching him, comes off as a wholly engaging opening here. With the eeriness and isolation coming through nicely in the stellar cinematography at the location, the sudden appearance of the women and what happens to him after that pints manages to successfully exchange from tense to erotic which is what causes the fatal blow to be quite impactful as this tone shift has worked nicely.
While the outcome of their actions and the purpose behind it all is entirely unknown due to the dialog-less nature of the short and it's overall brevity, this could work rather nicely as the opening scene in a feature-length effort and has a lot of great technical qualities to boot which makes for a great time overall just as a short.
Balletomane-
Arriving at a dance academy, as ostracized teen is picked on and ridiculed for being unprofessional and beneath them. Desperate, she uses black magic to strike back against her tormentors.
There really was quite a lot to like here. The fact that this tells a great story in short form rather than a continuous sequence, going from showing her treatment by the other dancers based on accidental missteps during practices or being unable to effectively perform as well as the others in the group. That serves to give the proper impetus for lashing out later on with her black magic powers as these scenes are quite chilling, showing her going through the preparations and different rituals in an exciting manner with the length of time it takes to bring it into focus which is the whole purpose of the segment with a chilling is somewhat cliched outcome. Perhaps this wastes a bit too much time showing her watching a movie on TV before she reacts, but otherwise there isn't much else to dislike with this segment.
My Little Miracle-
A young child is getting ready for slumber while her mother finishes up a bedtime story. The child then asks, "Where did I come from, Mommy?" The story to be told and the story to be seen don't seem to add up.
Overall, this isn't too bad of a short. The premise is certainly worthwhile and sets up a rather intriguing story that plays out with the mother wandering around the town following the other woman while narrating a peaceful children's story. The torture scenes themselves aren't so bad and the way they play out in the darkened red light is pretty chilling even with the cliched setups and a predictable outcome based on the setup. Still, this is quite the fun little entry and presents a nice, darker version of the classic children's tale.
Comments
Post a Comment