THE LAST MEAL

Directed By Mark Stern

LAST MEAL is the tale of a diner serving last rights chow. Order the Dahmer or Gacy, depending on your mood for breakfast or lunch. Try the coffee, black: Aileen Wournos. Maybe you crave dessert: Timothy McVeigh had ice cream. Noah and Claire are tourists, come to see the infamous locale where legend spins even the owner escaped from death row. Enamored with fantasy, the couple fails to take note of a man lurking nearby, ordering off the menu: two steaks, rare, with cereal. The son of the owner’s victim has arrived for vengeance. As fantasy becomes reality, Noah and Claire will learn revenge is a dish best served rare, federal prisoners have a twenty dollar limit, and killers never... ever... eat salad.

This is a fun film!  I loved it.  Humor, gore and murder always make for an exciting film.  A great script and acting, with slick production values make this a short that stands out from the others.  As a huge fan of horror, this film is quite a ride. 

KANIZSA HILL

Directed By Evelyn Lee

After being shot, a head and a body learn to exist independently from one another while seeking reunification..

This very experimental animation short was like watching a bad acid trip.  The story was bizarre for sure, but you could understand the longing and desire for two halves to reunite and be whole once again.  This is not for everyone.  It is such unique story-telling that you should at least give it a go.   You may just be surprised.

JUST ACT NORMAL

Directed By Hollie Lavenstein

Just act normal monitors a man’s gradual descent into disorientation through four episodes. A stranger asking for directions to the Peace Pagoda turns out to want more than that. The President of the United States calls out of the blue to request a personal favor. A stuffed owl, purchased at a yard sale, turns into a menacing rival. An attempt at normalcy after a stay in the hospital sours. Is something wrong with the man? Or is something wrong with everything else?

Yes, something is wrong with the man.  This story is absurdism at its creepiest.  I have to say that it left me scratching my head looking for deeper meaning.  Perhaps that was its point.  Perhaps not.  The script left me a little confused but John Jolles turns in a fine performance as the lead.  Each vignette in this film made me feel creeped out and they got creepier as the film went on. 

JERRYCAN

Directed By Julius Avery

Five bored kids with nothing to do decide to blow something up. Paper, scissors, rocks seals the fate of Nathan, who risks everything after he is bullied into making a life and death decision.

AC/DC seems to be an important absent character in this film.  The lead character Nathan, seems to be fascinated by them.  I was never really sure why though.  He had a collage of pictures of them in his back pocket and a t-shirt he proudly wore.  I kept expecting them to show up in the credits.  The acting in this film from all the kids is exceptional.  The story is simple.  A bullied kid learns to fight back.  The story, set in a dustbowl of Australia could have been filmed in Arkansas or Tennessee or anywhere.  It is a universal story

Shane Morton