Kappa Kappa Die - 2020 - USA

Kappa Kappa Die - 2020 - 4/10

 
New pledges to the luckless sorority endure the hazing.
Cleaning, humiliated, and a few creepy boyfriends of senior sisters.
Since a string of girls have died beforehand, one wonders what the allure is.
For a horror / comedy this is awfully talky.
Jokes fall flat, sight gags fare only slightly better.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3370111

Night Shift - 2020 - Philippines

Night Shift - 2020 - 6/10

 
Day seven for Jessie, assistant in the “End Of The World” – AKA the Morgue.
A religious skeptic, Jessie works with the deeply religious Dr. Alex.
Corpses arrive throughout, where they exhale, twitch, often move.
Owing to a massive storm, Jessie has been working nonstop 24 hours.
Her exhaustion gives rise to hallucinations, or are they?
Possibly too slow boil for many, and religious overtones, the dominion of Death, may be off putting.
For fans of Revelation, the Blood Moon (Book Of Joel), and the Fourth Horseman.

#Anniversary - 2020 - USA

#Anniversary - 2020 - 7/10

Wedding day jitters aside, Eric wants to say goodbye.
For two years, Sarah has been his emotional support and solace.
Sarah, understand, had been his fiancé.

 
Only thing, Sarah had died, so what Eric held onto was an algorithm.  AI.
He needs to let go.
She is so real, however, possessing all the obstinacy of the real thing.
Emotionally packed short.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3367791

After Love - 2020 - UK

After Love - 2020 - 6/10

 
Ahmed comes home, sits down in the chair to relax, then slips into the afterlife.
Later on, wife Mary comes across bits of evidence.  That her husband was a cheater, with another life in France.
She catches the ferry and travels to Marseilles, where things get complicated.
Quiet film of multiple betrayals.  Also denial and curiosity.
Joanna Scanlan and Nathalie Richard carry the weight.
One, grieving and angry, the other angry because Ahmed has not arrived to help her relocate.
Dialogue is minimal.  Instead, we watch characters react, think, try to understand.

Solitudo - 2020 - Poland

Solitudo - 2020 - 6/10

 
Three backpackers, and “the couple” clearly keep trying to leave the other make behind.
He is hard to shake, however, and clingy.  Uncool.
They break into an abandoned building for the night.
Only by morning, it is not abandoned.
Short film, not so much Horror as one haunt and loneliness.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3357758

The Empty Man - 2020 - South Africa

The Empty Man - 2020 - 6/10

 
From Bhutan to Missouri, the soft, wind-blown note draws those susceptible.
An ex-cop is asked by a friend to look for her missing daughter.
What he finds are her best friends, murdered or suicides.
Investigating deeper, he finds a cult like group, Pontifex, and the word tulpa.  
While never officially warned off, he is increasingly spooked.
This is a flawed film.  The cult, the philosophy, worldview, are creepy and bear an odd echo.
Here is the inverse of aspiration, the embrace of nothingness.
Yet, the driving force, the “empty man”, is ridiculous and out of place.
Buried within this is a fantastic, eerie gem, but the beastie is beneath stupid.

You Can Redo Your Life, But You Have To Die First - 2020 - UK

You Can Redo Your Life, But You Have To Die First - 2020 - 6/10

 
“You’re telling me, you invested that cube with bits and bobs and plutonium?”
“Yep.”
“And it’s a time displacemen –  It’s a reset button?”
“Yep.”
SciFi short mixes toxic comedy with lengthy dialogue.
Enjoyment may hinge on your tolerance for British self-absorption, self-loathing humor.
Think Extras or Camping.

Fatman - 2020 - USA

Fatman - 2020 - 6/10

 
In a world of limited to no consequences, it is unsurprising Santa is dispensing more coal than toys.
Chris is also suffering a crisis of faith, although wife Ruth tries to rally his cheer.
Add a wealthy, spoiled, sore-loser of a little boy, furious with his lump of coal.
Who hires a professional hitman to snuff the fatman.
Needless to say, there is a lot going on in this rambling holiday fantasy.
It does coalesce somewhat, yet the focus is not on Yule.
An odd film, not the first choice for family viewing, unless your kids giggle at a rising body count.
If so, perhaps anthracite may be fill future stockings.

A Good Year - 2020 - Belgium

A Good Year - 2020 - 5/10
AKA - Een Goed Jaar

 
Erik receives an inheritance from an aunt.  Large manor with weedy grounds.
It is in deplorable condition, estate taxes are horrendous, and Erik is recently fired for malfeasance.
He hires a ride from low-level con-man, Lenny.
And after they discover a hidden, and small, cache of old wine they hook up with restorer, Judith.
Yes, such contrived plotting leaves much to be desired.
The trio are soon offering bottles to high-end collectors, saying the vino is from Hitler’s stash.
The first victim?  A mob boss (Russian, Eastern Europe).  Things soon get complicated.
I was hoping this would resemble [U]Faking Hitler[/U], but it does not.
As a comedy, I never smiled once.  Midway, I starte

The Bridge Curse - 2020 - Taiwan

The Bridge Curse - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Nü Gui Qiao // 女鬼桥

 
There is “found footage” (a style I detest) early, but that subsides after ten minutes.
Dual narratives.  An investigative journalist examines the deaths of five students four years earlier.
Weaving the activities of those same five on the night they died during a “courage test”.
At midnight, near the bridge where many students have died, 13 steps become 14.
This is heavy on suspense and tension, with little gore.
After the midway point, the plot grows increasingly twisted, and imaginative.
Stick with this – into and past the credits!
Hey, creative opening graffiti for producers.  Nice job.

English subs = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3350843

Karen Dalton: In My Own Time - 2020 - USA

Karen Dalton: In My Own Time - 2020 - 7/10  

 
Of all the Folkies, Karen had the worst luck, in line with her antagonism to showbiz.
Stellar documentary of her hard-scrabble Oklahoma childhood, marriage at 15, abandoning marriage #2, heading to Greenwich Village during the Bohemian Folk boom of the early 1960’s.
Her voice, depressing, distressing, mournful, laments from one song after another in this.
In spite of her obstinacy, and later substance abuse, she miraculously recorded two albums.
Two live albums were released following her early, and not surprising, death.
Dalton is essential for late, late night listening.

The Erl King - 2020 - UK

The Erl King - 2020 - 6/10

 
Following an auto accident that leaves Alfie injured and his father dead, the woodland god takes an interest.
Mother Julia has trouble reconnecting with her son, who holds on to the belief his father is alive.
Two souls, neither of whom can let go.
Quiet woodland short.

Proxy - 2020 - USA

Proxy - 2020 - 7/10

 
Surrogate, copy, replicant, clone, Victoria services clients.
Unresolved issues, simmering anger, lost love.
She is the target of, more often than not, hate, regret, violence.
A copy, tensions do accumulate, nevertheless.
Futuristic short benefits from quality actors, and restrained direction.
English subtitles = https://subscene.cam/subtitle/3306701

An English Haunting - 2020 - UK

An English Haunting - 2020 - 5/10

Grandpa Aubrey rattles on his deathbed, the nurse ran off, so his daughter and grandson arrive.
Daughter Margot cannot stand the man, so she drains the wine cellar.
Grandson Blake is a bookish type, aware that there is “something going on here”.
Behold the research montage in the library / billiards room.

 
Despite early misgivings (clear warning, one name is writer-director-producer), this held up as decent spooky thriller.
Until the last act when it went haywire.  Mind you, I was laughing out loud at how ludicrous this became.
Even M R James or Lovecraft characters possessed more spine than Blake.

Boys From County Hell - 2020 - Ireland

Boys From County Hell - 2020 - 6/10

 
“I was thinking we could route the bypass a wee bit and avoid those stones.”
“Local bullshite.  There ain’t no 300 year old vampire under that cairn.  You knock it down!”
And thus the ancient cairn is knocked down, and soon blood flows in the village lanes.
Witty comedy mixes alcohol and plasma, jokes and stakes.
Well traveled tale, yet the lads are a game bunch, if inept.
Friends, followers and foes of Abhartach, join Bram and refill your glasses with this one.

The Hunt For Salamander - 2020 - Bulgaria

The Hunt For Salamander - 2020 - 6/10
AKA - Otdel Izdirvane

 
Kamen leads the 4-man MWD team.  An
MWD is an elite, national Missing Persons unit.  It is an above the law, violent, crew.
After a morning jogger is murdered for no reason, they hone in on a recently released convict.
What follows are assassinations, frame-jobs, cover-ups, interference from politicos.
A trail begins to surface (feels improvised to me).
Late in the series, we hear about the Salamander organization – think SPECTRE.
Europol has been after Salamander, yet the organization is completely hidden.
Villains get shuffled, the narrative goes into a higher gear, and then … the show flat out ends!
Thirteen episodes, loose threads galore.  What happened?  They run outta money?

Milk Teeth - 2020 - USA

Milk Teeth - 2020 - 6/10

 
Anyone who hates flossing, this opens with the dangers of over-zealousness.
A barter is extended.  Teeth for wishes.
Consider, he is in the orphanage and desperate for adoption.
Prospective parents come, and choose other boys.
Underlying terror, but overly dark.

Mouths Of Sand - 2020 - Spain

Mouths Of Sand - 2020 - 7/10  
AKA - Hondar Ahoak

 
Recently reactivated Inspector Garcia is called in about the disappearance of Captain Josu.
Everyone in the small Basque port assumes Josu is dead, and refers to him in the past tense.
As with most mysteries, there is thicket of suspects with motives.
Josu had been convicted of smuggling and drug-running a decade earlier.
Inspector Garcia pursues the drug angle, rather than the disappearance proper.
Upsetting the entire local equilibrium and economy.
Unusual mix of legends and mysticism adds color to this short series.
Spanish production, although Basque is the primary language.

The Ghost Bride - 2020 - Taiwan

The Ghost Bride - 2020 - 6/10

 
The Pan family are having hard times financially.
One solution is for daughter Li Lan to marry a recently deceased man from a wealthy family.
Down in the Underworld, dead son Tian Ching couldn’t agree more.
He lives a luxurious life, but wants an attractive consort.
Wait!  Then there is a Heavenly Guard, trying to bring the corrupt son to Judgment.
Attractive costumes, imaginative sets, but the story is young fantasy.
Juvenile at times, awkward, swoony romantic.  Better for young teens.

Nightshift - 2020 - Egypt

Nightshift - 2020 - 6/10

 
Zein works the graveyard shift for Delta Telecommunications.
Customers phoning about outages, connectivity issues, whatever.
One infuriated caller repeatedly crosses the line, leaving our poor worker to deal with it.
Ugly short will strike a chord with any hapless soul who ever worked the phone line.