Two Horror Shorts That You MUST See

Peter Dukes (right) preparing to shoot a scene.

After an insightful email from filmmaker Peter Dukes, founder of Dream Seekers Productions, I was turned onto two horror short films that he's made. The description of which, had me automatically invested. Peter Dukes has directed more than 14 films, most of which are horror. He's also had critical appraise around the world for his sense and style of filmmaking.

Upon watching these short films, I couldn't help but smile. Here are two mini movies that were done on very little time and money, yet they somehow manage to be high quality and very well shot. I'm not saying I'm the hardest guy in the world to please (because I'm not) but, I usually don't enjoy short films as much as I do these ones.

These works of love for the genre show true skill and will for making entertaining horror films. I'd like to see what Peter Dukes could do with a full motion picture production budget, now that'd be interesting! There's very good visual clarity to these shorts. And although they're very simple concepts and not much really happens during their duration, you're never not entertained while watching. And the fact that something so simple could be done in such a way as these are is a true achievement. I'd sure as hell be proud of these if they were my films.



First up, you've got "LITTLE REAPER"- A horror comedy about the grim reaper's difficult teenage daughter and how she must take her dad's duties for one day. Chaos ensues.

Starring- Athena Baumeister and John Paul Ouvrier, with John Michael Herndon, Katharine Stapleton, Allisyn Ashley Arm, Katy Townsend and Sorsha Morava.

This one is funny, charming, endearing and thoroughly enjoyable. There's quite a few funny moments actually. Especially considering it's so short. But don't just take my word for it, watch it for yourself!

Next up is "THE BEAST"- An old fashioned horror picture about a father struggling with how to handle his only boy, who's been afflicted with the curse of the werewolf.

Starring- Bill Oberst Jr., Peter Le Bas and Alexander Le Bas

This one is probably my favorite of the two, even though I like them both. I've always been a sucker for werewolves, and this is the more serious of the two. This one is more intense and plays on a serious level, there's no humor to this one. The acting is remarkably good as well!

I'm glad these were brought to my attention, and hopefully some of you will enjoy them as much as I have. You've really got nothing to lose trying them out. They're barely longer than ten minutes a piece, and there's a lot worse ways you could waste your time.

Usually when I think of short horror films, good memories don't turn up, because there's a lot of them out there and the majority of them aren't watchable. These however, are in a different league, and are very well done. If I could find more like these, I'd make a day of watching them!


Check Dream Seekers Productions out on the web!
WEBSITE: http://www.dreamseekersprods.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DreamSeekersProductions
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/dreamseekerfans
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1088478/?ref_=fn_al_nm_

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh (2012)

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 77 MINS
WRITER(S)- RODRIGO GUDINO
STARRING- AARON POOL, VANESSA REDGRAVE AND JULIAN RICHINGS
DIRECTOR- RODRIGO GUDINO



Synopsis taken from IMDb
An antiques collector inherits a house from his estranged mother only to discover that she had been living in a shrine devoted to a mysterious cult. Soon, he comes to suspect that his mother's oppressive spirit still lingers within her home and is using items in the house to contact him with an urgent message.




Today I'm reviewing a chilling, mind turning film called "The Last will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh". Again, this is another film available on Netflix, so if you want to give this a watch, it's right at your fingertips. I watched this one late at night and by myself. To be truthful, I'd be lying if I said I fully understood it, there's a lot to this movie, and it may take more than one viewing to fully digest what the movie offers. I myself, will be watching it again very soon, maybe even tonight.

I've heard mixed reviews on this one, and I can be totally truthful when I say, that I see both perspectives when it comes down to it. I can see why some would love it, and I can see why some would hate it. Like a lot of horror films, not all genre fans are going to be on the same page when it comes to opinions. This is aimed at those who don't need gore thrown in their face. This is a slow paced haunting film with story and characters. It takes the slow burn route and really just slowly seeps into your skin and brain. 

I'd like to think it's aimed at mature viewers, because it's not all about what you see. You have to think and use your brain. The viewer is treated as intelligent, instead of throwing around cheap jumps and noise to scare you. Though, I will add that some of the music gets to be a bit much, and may make you want to turn your television down. It can actually get quite annoying at times.

What drew me to this film is that it has a sad undertone to it. It's not a happy film and it doesn't try to overcompensate by trying to be overly scary. The pace of the film may seem to move at the pace of a snail at times, but it still manages to keep you watching. Mostly because you're trying to figure out what the hell is going on! Don't take that in a negative light though, I always like a little mystery to my films. Sometimes explanations can kill the hook the movie has on you.

The narration by Rosalind (Vanessa Redgrave) is somber, touching and creepy. You really get a wide array of emotions going when watching this film. One minute you feel one way and the next minute you're all twisted up. This works exceptionally well when applied to ghost/haunting stories. This may not be the greatest paranormal film you'll ever see, but it certainly will sit with you for a bit after you watch it, and make you do an aforementioned second watch.

Leon (Aaron Pool), Rosalind's son is settling his mother's estate and starts to encounter weird things and happenings such as statues showing up and moving on their own. What's unique about this film is that Leon is practically alone through the duration of the film. The whole film centers around him and how he's reacting and dealing with his mother's death. We almost instantly know how he feels of her, which isn't very good. There's a lot in his past that he's not happy to remember. We come to understand that he was harshly abused as a child by his mother for not sharing her belief in God, and moved away to get away from it all.

When Leon comes back to deal with his mother's estate things go from weird to crazy, and them back to weird. The whole movie keeps you guessing as to what is really happening, up until the sad and haunting ending. There's really not too much to give away without confusing any reader, so I'll stop right here. Just know that if you're in the mood for a film that will keep you intrigued and may cause an eyebrow to be raised a time or two, this is worth a watch. Especially if you like haunting films and wouldn't mind giving it a second viewing once the smoke clears from the first time.

There's some bad acting at times throughout, which is the same I can say for the editing. This isn't one of the best ghost stories you'll ever see, not even close. It's also not the worst either. This is a movie that manages to do it's job without an abundance of gore, nudity and killings. It's an easy, laid back horror film that'll keep you're mind going the whole time. So yeah, it's absolutely worth at least one watch by anyone up for a decent haunting story.

State Of Emergency Isn't Just Another Zombie Movie

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 90 MINS
WRITER(S)- TURNER CLAY
STARRING- JAY HAYDEN, ANDY STAHL AND TORI WHITE
DIRECTOR- TURNER CLAY



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Chaos consumes a small town when a chemical facility explodes a deadly toxin. Moments after the leak, the town's residents show signs of mutation, causing the military to quarantine the area leaving any survivors helpless inside. The story follows Jim, a young man isolated within the red zone, as he eludes flesh eating zombies in an attempt to win back his freedom. 




Even though this movie was made in 2011, it's just now released. So technically it's a 2013 film. Same as the upcoming horror film "You're Next", which was also filmed two years ago and is just now coming out. This film, however, is actually on Netflix instant. That's how I stumbled upon it!

From the go, I had low expectations. I wasn't expecting too much from this film at all. In my mind, I instantly saw another bad zombie movie written all over it. I had nothing else to do, and it was late, so I figured what the hell. My mentality was that if it's bad enough, it'll just put me to sleep, and I love sleep. So I watched it anyway.

You can tell from the opening of the film that it's not made on a very large budget (estimated $1,300,000) but that doesn't always stop a movie from being good, so I try and not judge cinema by that alone. After about five minutes in, it appeared to me that my initial judgement on the film was wrong, and that this may actually be something special. So no, I didn't fall asleep. I did however, have to continue it the next night because I was so tired the night before. The point is, I actually stopped it to resume later as opposed to letting it play and sleeping through it. I guess you can say it hooked me.

First off, the acting does suffer a bit, but it's very good for a low-budget film. Jay Hayden isn't the strongest of actors, but he does a very descent job of holding up this movie, with the whole film being about his character Jim.

If it sounds like I'm over praising this, let me back it up a bit and clearly state that, this is in no way a perfect movie. As I mentioned above, some of the acting suffers, as well as there's some forced and unnecessary dialog. There's also editing flaws throughout the film. I'm openly stating that this film is not a masterpiece. It is however, one of the few films that stand out in the zombie genre amongst the abundance made. Even though the zombie scene is exhausted in almost every way by now, "State of Emergency" offers it's own goodies.

One of them being that, there's actually a happy ending, and get this, they actually have a cause for what caused the sickness to spread! As opposed to the ever so popular "we don't know what caused the outbreak" cop out.

Another thing that this film lacks is some deep layered character development. It doesn't seem we ever get past the "woe is me and it's the end of the world" theme. I would have liked to go in deep with some solid character story. That would have put this movie over, and it's a shame it wasn't included. Coulda woulda shoulda, right? 

This movie barely makes it over the mediocre line, but ultimately it does cross the line. I didn't mind the way the zombies looked, but again, another aspect that could have stood out, but really doesn't. The fact that this movie keeps you intrigued enough to watch through the end is the most complimentary thing I can say. It falls into the middle of the zombie pack, but far from top and further from the bottom.

Frankenstein's Army Is A Stroke Of Genius

RATED- R
RUN TIME- 85 MINS
WRITER(S)- CHRIS W. MITCHELL, RICHARD RAAPHORST, MARY SHELLEY AND MIGUEL TEJADA-FLORES
STARRING- KAREL RODEN, JOSHUA SASSE AND ROBERT GWILYM
DIRECTOR- RICHARD RAAPHORST



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Toward the ending of WWII, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein's work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades -- a desperate Hitler's last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.




The only thing that made want to see this film more than I already did, is the uproar of positive reviews/write-ups that it's gotten. Offhand I figured it was just going to be visually fun to watch, I didn't expect it to actually be a very good film. However, now I see what all the hype is about!

Instantly, I saw that there wasn't going to be any cheese, just dark humor, so that stepped it up a peg for me. One thing that ruins movies most times than not, is making ridiculous jokes with bad dialog for the sake of achieving a small laugh. Not the case with this one.

The first 20 minutes we get to spend time with the Russian soldiers as they push through eastern Germany, aside from that, there's no buildup. Because it's shot in real time, we're thrown into the situation along with them as they find the secret Nazi lab. I didn't mind the lack of character development, having some is always a golden key, but this movie does fine without it. And I think the reason is, because the viewer is so invested in what's going on with the story, the characters actually are part of the background. The story is at the forefront. This works because it's a very original story, and completely mad!

Of course, I think the best part of the film is when we start to see some real action and interaction between the Russian's and the Nazi soldiers scrapped together from the crazy ideals of Frankenstein's journal. Above how cool and interesting the monsters/soldiers look, the best thing is that it actually manages to get a couple quick scares out of you. It's more creepy than scary, but the fact that this concept can get a reaction out of me like that says something positive. But it's more cool and innovative than anything else.

The Nazi soldiers looked badass! Not only are they creative and inventive, but they're ferocious! Just looking at them and the way they move makes the movie go up a few notches. But to have these monstrosities amidst the chaos is just pure genius. It really gives you a sense of fear and urgency, that drives home the point of how this is, point blank, a solid horror film.

The conclusion ended a bit more abruptly than I had expected, or wanted. I was expecting a bit more of a BANG with the ending, and that just didn't happen. Not to say that the ending isn't good, it's fine. I just would have preferred a more in your face approach to an ending. But in a way, we all have an idea of how this film would end before we go into it, seeing as it takes place during WWII.