Hello ladies and gentlemen, your pal Muldoon here with an extra special lineup of fun films from all over the globe. With Halloween just days away, chances are you've already sorted out your costume(s), hit up a few parties, stocked up on excellent candies (don't go cheap, folks), and are in the perfect mood to soak in some Halloween themed flix! Good, because the lineup today is going to rock your world and help kick your Halloween weekend off right. In no time, you'll be flying out the door carving pumpkins, chugging pumpkin spiced lattes, and seeing werewolves making out with ghosts awkwardly at some random shindig. Point is, this is truly one of the greatest times of the year - a celebration of the freaky, the creepy, the crawly, the spooky, the... well a lot of things actually - so let's sit back, kick our collective feet up, and watch some fun films that spread the cheers of Halloween!
Go grab yourself some popcorn, lock your kids in a closet, kill the lights, relax and check out this little weekly film fest we've got ourselves here:
FRANK AND THE ZOMBIE GIRL
TRT: 6:52
To kick this shindig off right we've got a kickass stop motion film from Dawn Brown and Warren Manser. Featuring the voice of Christopher Lloyd, this seven minutes of gorgeous visuals tells the tale of love (well, zombie love) and includes designs that feel alive despite being captured one image at a time. "While malicious zombies attack the village, Frank connects with an old friend. But the reunion is bittersweet as her inevitable decay puts a hitch in their budding romance." If you're as fascinated with this piece as I am, then do yourself the solid of checking out FUN IN THE SUN, a short that exists in the same freaky universe of this one. While I believe there are more shorts coming from the two filmmakers for the web, as part of their HOUSE OF MONSTERS series, I'd love to see these exist in something a bit more mainstream, like as part of a TV show where they'd have the freedom to explore all the residents in their crazy town of terror. At any rate, if you want to know more about Brown and Manser, then fly over to their Mansart Studios website or The Monster Shop and poke around - you'll be bown away at what these filmmakers have already accomplished! Hopefully we get to see more from this world.
SPOOKY CLUB
TRT: 4:12
Joe and Lloyd Estas, along with the badasses over at Holomax, have our next short - a story of acceptance... and needing to steal body parts in order to fit in with the cool kids. Holomax is no stranger to SATURDAY SHORTS as I've had the privilege of screening a few of their unique films here, films like DEAD BIRD POCKET and DEATH MASTER'S HOUSE. There's a level of absurd comedy shoved into to each of their projects and this one certainly doesn't stray too far from that vibe at all. "This Halloween, Spooky Club decide to retrieve the stolen skull of Vincent Price and cremate it, just like he wanted." I'm always curious to see what Joe and Lloyd come up with and certainly look forward to seeing whatever they do next! Be sure to check out the Holomax website for more examples of awesomeness!
SPOOKY CLUB from Holomax on Vimeo.
O NEGATIVE
TRT: 14:47
Next up is a film from Writer/Director Steven McCarthy. "A man races to find shelter in a roadside motel so he can take the necessary steps to feed his companion's addiction." The film is very much in the vein of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, it's beautifully shot, cut like a collercoaster, and feels all too real (minus the obvious...). I've got nothing to b negative about in regards to this one, it's a solid film! Check out Steven's "Candles Are For Burning" Vimeo Page to see more of his work!
o negative from Candles are for Burning on Vimeo.
ZELOS
TRT: 15:03
Thoranna Sigurdardottir has our next film, a project co-Produced by Anthony Kiedis and Flea (yep, half the members of THAT band). "A mother who strives to "have it all" orders a clone to keep her home life in order and outshine her flawless colleague, but soon realizes she purchased an unbeatable rival." The film's a perfect example of why you might want to be careful what you wish for. It's a dark MULTIPLICITY that features strong performances from Erica Piccininni in the lead.
Zelos | Film School Shorts from Film School Shorts on Vimeo.
THE MOONLIGHT MAN
TRT: 2:42
Our next short comes our way from filmmaker Danny Donahue. It's fun, and includes just about every beat you'd expect to see in a horror film. While there's nothing necessarily revolutionary in the short, it's fun and very much well done. Well shot, with boat loads of fun jump scares, and a pretty neat creature design. "A girl walking alone at night is stalked by a long fingered-man in the shadows." I really like the short's monster and would be interested in seeing what more Danny has planned with its future. Absolutely click on over to Danny's website to see what else he's created!
SWEET 16
TRT: 1:02
To wrap us out, we've got a lovely film from Michael Kuciak. While I've seen many, many horror flicks - I've never quite seen... this. It's funny, and a great way to spend a minute of your time. A woman is terrorized by... (avoiding spoilers here.) Check it out, and if you dig it - click on over to Michael's Blast Furnace Media website!
BAM! That's it for this week, ladies and gentlemen! Hopefully you found a few films today that rocked your world or jolted your imagination. Have a great Halloween be safe, eat candy, party hardy, and just... have fun! I'll catch you fine folks a week from now with another handful of shorts that I think are pretty cool. In the mean time, check out a past article if you're in a film watching kind of mood!
SATURDAY SHORTS 2012
SATURDAY SHORTS 2013
SATURDAY SHORTS 2014
SATURDAY SHORTS 2015
Hank & Honey: A Holiday Horror; Black Christmas; Grammy; Pick Ups (1/2/16)
Lilitu; Auld Lang Syne; Chronoshred; Ash Vs. Lobo Vs. The DC Undead (1/9/16)
Believe; The Dragon's Blade; Native Immigration; The Problem With Friends (1/23/16)
Harbinger; Hyperthermia; The Chickening; Head (1/30/16)
Erebus; Boldly Gone; Cupcakes; City In Crisis; Vandalaze "Great Big Things" (2/6/16)
Blurry; American Virgin; Azarkant; The Homing Bird; Sex, Lies, And Terminators (2/13/16)
Connected; Terry And Brenda; Fuck Buddies; Audrey; BigHead Walking Dead Parody (2/20/16)
Absence; The Adept; MAT ZO - "Sinful;" Dreamco; Hoot (3/12/16)
Pop Music; Tumble Dry Low; Rooms; Promise; Darth Maul: Apprentice (3/19/16)
Status Update; Kafka's Little Fable; Ghoster; I Got Your Nose; Creature Feature (4/2/16)
Steve; The Good Survivor; Field of Screams; Mirrored; Jack Edwards - "Falling In Love" (4/16/16)
Rest Stop; The Technician; Romp; Who's There?; If Joke & Harley Quinn Were A Normal Couple (4/23/16)
Trial; Star Struck; Color TV, No Vacancy; Notifications On; One Sunny Day (5/14/16)
You Are Not Alone; Giraffe Soup; Brother; Bury Tomorrow - "Last Light"; Rain (5/21/16)
The Group; The Trap; The Echo of Small Things; Alison Blaire - "The Sight of Sound"; James (5/28/16)
Blinking Lights; Dédalo; Invisible; Identity Crisis (6/25/16)
Schackled; Miss Nobody; I Hate Mondays; Jefferson; Mary's Passion (7/2/16)
Swap; Ghostbusters: All Manned Up Edition; The Invisible Man; Sleep Tight; Defining Fay (7/10/16)
Carl; Flat Tire; Loree's Crazy 'Bout Kittens; Chum Zone II: Shark Fin Soup; Archetype (7/16/16)
The Chaplain; Bump CLassique; The Listener; Timelike; Fantasy Hospital Episode 4 (7/23/16)
Trial Run; Thick Air; First Date From Hell; Rise; God, Me And The Salty Peanuts; Graves (7/30/16)
Deathly; The Hope You Promised Love; Surrender; Crumb; Deep 6 (8/6/16)
Broadhurst "Take Me Down;" Prungen; The Paris Syndrome; Foxed!; Ecstacy Boulevard (8/14/16)
Heartburns' a Killer; Draft Eight; Versus; Chainsaw; Injustice For All (8/20/16)
Sebastian; Where You Are; Xenos; The Line; Sand Boys (8/27/16)
Long-Term Parking; House Of Straw; You Won't Regret That Tattoo; Invasion Day; Forever (9/17/16)
Best Friends; Nae Parasan; My First Day; Slaps; Merry Gentlemen (10/1/16)
Otherhalf; Red Curtains; The Great Break-Up Contest; Pioneer; Seven Rules (10/8/16)
If you have a short and think it belongs here or are on the fence about whether to send it in, please do send it in - I'd love to see what you've put together. I've already seen hundreds of fresh new filmmakers' shorts and like any good addict, I need more!
Shoot me an email at "Mike@aintitcool.com"
In the subject line include:
“SHORTS” + “Your film’s name” + “The film’s genre”
Then, in the body of the email, please include a synopsis of the film and any contact information you might think I need or would want published. The more info you send my way, the more info there is to put with your short.
Please don’t feel the need to submit multiple times.
Remember, the filmmakers might still be in the audience, so feel free to share your thoughts in Talkbacks below. (JUST DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE). I picked them, so you know I think highly of all of these, but how about you fine folks? How'd you like 'em?
BY THE WAY: If you've had a short featured here, that means that I personally am a fan of your work, so feel free to shoot me any kind of news on new projects/films/whatever. I can't say I'll be able to help or in what capacity, but I'm interested in your work and am always down to see more! (Keep making cool stuff, everyone!)
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
