Logo by Kristian Horn What the &#$% is ZOMBIES & SHARKS?

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Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. Any self respecting horror fan will tell you, it’s not the size of the scare that matters; it’s the amount of shocks you can cram in. And before I get too gross with the innuendo, let’s get going with this special column dedicated to horror short films. Lately, I’ve had a plentiful amount of tips on cool horror shorts sent my way and maybe this will become a regular feature here at AICN HORROR. All I know is that this crop of horror shorts may be dinky in stature, but they sure are big in scares. Enojy!

Today on AICN HORROR
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
NO REST FOR THE WICKED (2011)
HOME (2010)
AN EVENING WITH MY COMATOSE MOTHER (2011)
OCULUS (2006)
And finally…HELPING HAND!

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Premiering at Fantastic Fest 2011!

NO REST FOR THE WICKED (2011)

Written and directed by Ryan Schiffrin
Starring Ray Park, Zachary Levi, Malcolm McDowell, & Kane Hodder
Find out more info on the short film and where to see it here.
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

Spawning from his hit comic THE DEVIL’S HANDSHAKE from Archaia, Ryan Schiffrin writes and directs this short horror adventure romp featuring the title’s two main characters Basil & Moebius. Basil (Ray Park) is a street tough brawler while Moebius (Zachary Levi) plays a dashing cat burglar playboy. Together the two are the stuff that makes for good adventure. Schiffrin goes for broke here as Basil and Moebius are out to find a map to a secret treasure. On their quest they run into a maniacal Malcolm MacDowell, zombie ghouls, and a kung fu monkey. Filled with action and humor, Schiffrin packs a lot into this short film.

The real thrill here is seeing Ray Park without his face covered by make up or masks. The guy is actually not a bad actor and though everyone knows how formidable his martial arts skills are, not as many know that he’s a pretty commanding presence without a hood or mask too. Schiffrin writes some punchy dialog for Park and Levi (who is playing a role much more akin to his performance in the TV series CHUCK) highlighting that these two heroes have a lot of history together. NO REST FOR THE WICKED is a fun little short. I know Basil and Moebius are set for another comic book adventure soon, but I’d love to see a feature featuring Schiffrin’s characters played by these actors as well. NO REST FOR THE WICKED will be making its debut at Fantastic Fest this fall. Find out more about this short film here.

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HOME (2010)

Written and directed by Cameron McCulloch
Starring Jamie McDowell, Anthon Ikram Umit, Emily Curtis, Stefan Engelhardt, Rob Peters, Roy Aralios
Find out more info on the short film and where to see it here.
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

The fact that there’s a category these days called “Rom Zom” tickles to me to no end. Combining romance with zombies may be a bizarre mash-up, but in keeping with the emotional heft death has, especially when it’s a loved one, it does seem to be a subgenre that is worth exploring. Cameron McCulloch has put together quite a zombie opus in this 11 minute short film, HOME. Set with little dialog, a young woman fights to keep her farm safe from shambling Romeroian zombies on the perimeter of her land. This woman is not afraid to inflict brutal death to any zombie on her property.

But all of this zombie bashing is a mere lead up to a finale that packs an emotional punch that will definitely leave a mark on your heart. HOME leaves you with an odd mix of feelings at the end: happiness and sadness, true despair and utter exasperation. Not to give away the ending, but it is one you’ll not soon forget, making HOME a zombie short with weight and power. Seek out where to find this Rom Zom here.

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Screening at the Hyart Film Festival this weekend!

AN EVENING WITH MY COMATOSE MOTHER (2011)

Written & directed by Jonathan Martin
Starring Wendy Macy, Michele Wilson, Missy Hill, Rex Macy, Sue Rowe, Alivia Lionelli, & Gary Reimer
Find out more info on the short film and where to see it here.
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

A cackling hag, a creepy limping child, and a bad toothed clown. One of those elements alone could make for a scary movie experience. This little half hour short sports all three. AN EVENING WITH MY COMATOSE MOTHER has all of the right elements of a great scary yarn: a teenage babysitter is told to housesit and check in on the ailing mother upstairs. Seems like easy money for the teen. Seems like the perfect set-up for horror to those watching.

This shortie is high on camp, but the production values of this one make it view like a full scale production. Writer/director Jonathan Martin relies a lot on age-old creepy visuals here, but backs it up with a fantastically dramatic score and gorgeous lighting and camera shots. This is a professional looking flick and one that will make you wince in your chair more than once while watching. AN EVENING WITH MY COMATOSE MOTHER is playing at the Hyart Film Festival this weekend, at the HollyShorts festival in LA this Friday night before the 30th anniversary screening of Halloween 2 and will be at Screamfest in October.and you can check the website for more places and times to check it out!

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OCULUS: CHAPTER 3 – THE MAN WITH THE PLAN (Short Film, 2006)

Directed by Mike Flanagan
Written by Mike Flanagan & Jeff Seidman
Starring Scott Graham
Available on DVD on Amazon.
Reviewed by Ambush Bug

If you didn’t notice from the above interview, I liked OCULUS a lot. Not only is it an original slice of horror, but proof that there is hope for this genre yet and that you don’t need a big budget or bigger stars to make a good horror film. OCULUS plays like a stage play, set in one room, with one actor. It’s a small film with big ideas. In thirty-one minutes, OCULUS does what most mainstream horror films rarely do in and hour and a half: scare the shit out of me.

OCULUS tells the tale of a mirror that appears to be cursed, or at least that’s what the sole actor in this film, Scott Graham, believes. Graham is effective in this role as a nervous yet driven man devoted to solving the riddle of the mirror. The reasons for Graham’s dedication are revealed later in the film, but at first, he seems like a dedicated scientist who has carefully set up cameras, food rations, recording equipment, and telephones in order to prove that something is weird about this mirror. The scene is set so well in this film as Graham reports the history of the mirror into the camera. The stories are so twisted and vividly explained that you can’t help but be sucked into the story. Without one special effect in those first ten minutes of this film, OCULUS had me riveted to the edge of my chair with some smart writing from director/writer Mike Flanagan (and Jeff Seidman) and perfect delivery from Scott Graham.

OCULUS is a near perfect short film. It introduces a terrifying mystery and pulls back the curtain just enough to send shivers down your spine. I’m excited to hear this short will be made into a full length feature. Before it hits theaters in 2012, you should check out OCULUS. I guarantee you’ll be scared at what you see in this mirror.

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And finally…here’s a damn suspenseful and diabolical short called HELPING HAND (2010) by Alessandro Cima. Enjoy!





See ya, next week, folks!

Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole / wordslinger / reviewer / co-editor of AICN Comics for over nine years. Mark is also a regular writer for FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and will be releasing FAMOUS MONSTERS first ever comic book miniseries LUNA in October (co-written by Martin Fisher with art by Tim Rees)! Support a Bug by checking out his comics (click on the covers to purchase)!















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