Skip to main content

We Are What We Eat (2012)

There are some horror short films out there that show that age is NOT a factor when it comes to skill and creativity...

Nicole is your average High School girl.  She goes to class, hangs out with her best friend, and misses her Dad when he's gone on business.  Today, she's going to find that her life is no longer... average...

Darien Davis produced this ten minute short zombie film with Sam Toller in a span of two days.  They covered a total of 220 shots, with Toller coordinating and directing the movement of 27 extras, five make-up artists, spread over six different locations.

And Toller did it all at the age of 16 years of age.  And he did it well.

When I was approached by Davis to watch and review this short film, I was VERY interested to see what someone of Toller's age would- and could, do with the project.  I have to say I was impressed.

Visually, "We Are What We Eat" displays some very impressive skill at using the medium to visually tell a story.  There are some cool angles and camera movements, all enhanced by pretty polished cutting and editing.  While, some of the closer shots of the zombie crowd DOES show mild make-up problems, the general feeling of the shots are still nicely tense, and crowded.  Toller gave a good sense of being swarmed by the zombies quite well in many of the shots- especially the Teacher's POV shot.

The story is interesting too, and I wanted to see more of it.  I really liked the non-linear nature of it.  By the end of the film, you're not sure how much was memory, and how much was dream.  I liked the characters (even the grumpy Teacher), and liked how the actors portrayed them.  I would love to see this expanded into a longer film one day.

I can see how this film would be accepted to appear at the Seattle NFFTY 2012 this past April, as well as being shown on DreadCentral.com for a ten day run.  They're also going to be shown at the 2012 Zombie Voodoo Festival this summer with appearances in four cities across the United States.

With the advent of film editing software people can use at home, and digital video cameras, anybody has the opportunity to be able to produce their own film.  Some of them, like "We Are What We Eat" rises above the average, to show that you don't HAVE to have age and technical training to produce a quality piece of cinema.  I'm placing this short film in "The Good," and I will be keeping my eyes open for more work from Sam Toller and Darien Davis.

Check out the trailer below:


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meridian: Kiss of the Beast (1990)

Sometimes, a director/producer will surprise you- such was the case during " Terrorpolooza 2012 " when I watched Charles Band's " Meridian: Kiss of the Beast " Catherine Bomarzini has come home after her father's death.  Needing company, she asks Gina to stay with her.  Soon, the two meet a wondering troupe of performers that Catherine invites to dinner at her castle. Catherine find herself pulled into a love triangle and an ancient curse that only she can break. After watching movies like " Evil Bong ", and " Demonic Toys ", I really wasn't expecting too much from this Charles Band movie- but I was pleasantly surprised by it. The story is actually quite interesting with lots of potential for eerie scenes, and character development.  It's a nice twist on the classic " Beauty and the Beast " story.  It's a bit slower than most of Band's other works, but moves smoothly and draws you with it. I have to ad...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zombie Bikers From Detroit (2001)

Over the years, it has been shown that with very little money, a skillful director can put together a high quality horror movie (John Carpenter's " Halloween ", " The Blair Witch Project ", and " Paranormal Activity " being a few of them).  So, when it comes to determining a movie's quality, budget is no longer a negative... Ken and his mother have moved from Hell, Michigan to Grosse Pointe near Detroit.  Upon his arrival, he meets the lovely Courtney, and her jealous suitor Chad.  While Ken and Chad square off, an evil is growing within Detroit and slowly spreading towards Grosse Point... where Ken will meet his destiny ... This week's " What Movie Wednesday " winner was " Zombie Bikers From Detroit "- a low budget horror movie that feels like it was put together as a school project.  High School, or College... I can't really tell. The premise- as stated in my little synopsis is interesting- as was the title.  ...
9 comments
Read more

The Black Castle (Les Daniels)

Vampires and witches are often a good basis for a horror novel.  Through in the Spanish Inquisition, and odds are you'll get a pretty good story. In 1496, while the Spanish Inquisition is in full motion, Diego  de Villanueva is seeking a way to rise through the ranks of the Inquistion.  He will do anything he needs to... even use his brother's darkest secrets and knowledge to bring fear and hatred to the world... " The Black Castle " caught my  eye while shopping at " The Book Place ".  I was intrigued by the idea of it taking place during the Spanish Inquisition.  While I did enjoy reading this book, I was also a little disappointed. The style is very fitting to the story- it has an almost old world charm and rythm to it that I found pleasing to the ear.  It's also easy to read, and flows at a nice pace.  While, it's not "fancy", the images it creates are fairly good and atmospheric. The story itself is a really interesting idea....
Post a Comment
Read more