Horror Shorts 2: Lycanthrophobia (1998)

Here's a fact. In Werewolf of London, Universal's first werewolf picture, the term 'lycanthropy' is never used. They instead use the term 'lycanthrophobia.' I'm betting that's where these guys got the word. But they use it for a very good reason: this is a film about homophobia and violence.

A bald man with a goatee talks to himself at the bar about what's under the skin. A timid man with an eyepatch comes in and tries to get a drink, but is accosted by the bald fellow, who decides to confide in eyepatch that he, baldy, is a werewolf. But he's a good werewolf who uses his silver bullets to hunt other werewolves, like the two guys playing darts on the other end of the bar.

This is one of the best horror shorts I've seen. It's witty, clever, incredibly well-shot, concise, and disturbing. I found myself laughing at loud quite a bit at the clever humour and made uneasy by the threat of homophobic violence. The subtext is obviously about violence and homophobia as a result of repressed homosexual desires. A motif is built up out of the notion of what's inside and under the skin (like blood or, heh, werewolf fur) as well as what's kept inside psychologically. There's even an amusing joke about werewolves tearing apart families--this is just what conservatives like to claim allowing homosexual marriages will do. But of course, everyone accused of being a werewolf here is a homophobe. "Make no mistake about it, they are monsters."

4/4

Dir: Harry Victor
Writer: Matt Pelfrey
Runtime: 15 min.

Where to watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIle9-nJ0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OipyN10--7Q

Horror Shorts 3: Good Day for the Bad Guys (1995)

In North America, we're not really familiar with the 'panto.' It's a particularly low-brow form of theater with some audience interaction. An actor in panto is either at the beginning of his career and desperate, or his career is dying. That might explain why so many of the characters in a Good Day for the Bad Guys are angry and depressed. A Good Day is set in a rather heinous panto based on little red riding hood. John (Peter Mullan) plays the wolf and his day is getting worse and worse: a child spits in his face, his fellow actor keeps whining about being stuck in panto, his boss is sexually harassing pretty little red riding hood during offstage breaks and nobody seems to like him. That's when he starts hallucinating/fantasizing murdering his boss and taking his job.

Good Day is a very economical dark drama that uses its short runtime to build up a powerful sense of despair. Nobody really wants to be in panto, these characters included. They hate it, but they need it. The exception is Jockie. He is the bad guy and he's having a fine day in panto, sexually harassing women, threatening his underlings, and generally being a bastard, but still getting lots of love because he plays a good guy on stage. Although I was with him for such a short time, I really cared about John enough to make this an emotionally brutal experience. His nightmare is being thought of as a bad guy and the panto plays that nightmare out for him every day; his dream is to be thought of as the good guy he believes himself to be, but it doesn't appear to be forthcoming.

Not really recommended for anyone seeking anything overtly horrific; this comes closer to Bug than The Exorcist.

4/4

Dir: Peter Mullan
Writer: Peter Mullan
Runtime: 25 min.

Where to watch it?
The special features section of the DVD for Mullan's Orphans

Horror Shorts 1: El Ciclo (2003)

A totally nude man (Jacob Torres) tosses a body into a basement then proceeds to scrub blood from a florescent-lit, grimy room. He slits his wrist in a bath. Then something strange begins to happen.

El Ciclo (The Cycle) is a short and sweet concept horror. When the implications of the end is realized, one wonders, "What is the point?" And I think that is the point. It is illustrating a certain pointlessness, a futility; perhaps the pessimistic worldview is the most disturbing thing about the film.

While the style of the piece is not particularly original, it is well-shot and well-lit. The special effects are in fact very well done and reminded me of Cronenberg.

3/4

Dir. Victor Garcia
Runtime: 9 min.

Where to see it? -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJoWawUv6fU

Two Animated Shorts

REVIEWS:
Who Killed Who? (1943)

With more visual inventiveness in under eight minutes than any David Lynch or Lucio Fulci picture has in an hour, all of Tex Avery's shorts are fantastic.

While ostensibly a murder mystery, Who Killed Who? plays as an old dark house picture. We begin with a long, slow pan into a window above the mansion's front door, all the while archetypal horror sound effects are played non-stop--gee, what's going on in there? Nothing. But it's spooky, isn't it?

As the detective arrives to solve the murder of the man we first find sitting a chair labeled 'Victim,' skeletons, ghosts, suspicious servants, and a hooded murderer pop out of the woodwork.

Oh yeah, and it's even got some cheesecake for the guys. Great fun. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89qW4-ht7w


Bold King Cole (1936)

Felix the Cat is too darned happy, so nature conspires to throw a thunderstorm at him in the midst of his banjo solo. Well, the only refuge for poor Felix is an old castle across the gorge, where dwelleth King Cole.

King Cole is a pear-shaped coward, but he boasts a lot. Enter Felix. Cole begins boasting to Felix in the hall of paintings, where the ghosts of previous kings--all with working-class Bostonian accents, oddly enough--conspire to teach the old windbag a lesson. And holy **** do they ever!

This little short actually traumatized its fair share of children when originally shown, or when placed on budget VHS cartoon compilations.

Now it's disturbing a brand new audience on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbzfRh4za8

Check it out, enjoy the terrific score, and the general playfulness with image and sound--especially sound.

FACTS:
Who Killed Who?
Director - Tex Avery
Voices - Tex Avery, Billy Bletcher
1943
8 min

Bold King Cole
Director - Burt Gillett
Voices - ?
1936
8 min

WHERE TO GET THEM:
On Youtube.
Who Killed Who? is also a special feature on the DVD for Presenting Lily Mars.

TIDBITS:
In Hellraiser: Deader, a character is seen watching Bold King Cole.
Who Killed Who? is featured in Twelve Monkeys.