This is a
little different from what I normally post here at the site as I normally just
cover feature length movies. While at Grossfest this past weekend I met
filmmaker Todd Wolfson and he handed me a copy of his short films 8-Bit Blood
Bath and Sponge. I haven’t avoided doing short films on purpose, I just haven’t
gotten my hands on any that interested me. Or at least until now that has been
the case.
First up
is 8-Bit Blood Bath. This one clocks in at a brisk twenty-one minutes and is
the longer of the two. Things kick off with Billy playing some Nintendo when
the phone rings. He is invited to a Halloween party, but when he arrives it is
a trap. Some cultists have decided to sacrifice him in a ritual. Either because
of the ritual or out of revenge he returns as Billy Blitzkrieg, a demon out to
kill everyone he comes across! The rest of the movie is a series of random
kills and his brother (I think?) tracking down and putting an end to things.
This one
has all of the typical issues that I expect in an ultra-low budget movie. The
acting is bad at times, the editing is awkward in spots, and you get a lot of
wind noise on the mics when shooting outside. These are all things that I
expect when watching a short film like 8-Bit Blood Bath. You need to realize
that not everyone goes to school to learn to make movies. For a lot of
filmmakers, including some who did actually go to school, this is where they
learn their craft. I only mention this because viewers new to the independent
scene might get tripped up by the problems and turn it off. That would be a
shame because there is some good stuff here.
I was
impressed with the creativity and effort put into the making of this one. I’m
tired of seeing people making movies that are bad copies of the movies we all
like as fans. Have your own idea before picking up the camera! 8-Bit Blood Bath
is a unique and far different take on the genre. Sure, we have all seen demon
possession movies and/or body count flicks in the past, but the video game hook isn’t
anything that I’ve seen before. I appreciate that.
While a
simple concept Wolfson and crew go out of their way to establish the character
of Billy and his love of 8-Bit video games. They do this by having the
character playing a Thing based video game in the style of the old Nintendo
side scrollers complete with some simulated game footage done with a bit of
slick animation. This is referred to later when the demonic Billy Blitzkrieg
chooses his weapons as he dispatches his victims. The animated effects used for
the game and the inserts was very cool and shows the level of work they were
willing to put in. That is another huge positive.
 |
| Billy Blitzkrieg |
I know I
mentioned the editing as an issue earlier, but that was more the transitions
between the scenes. The way the movie is assembled isn’t a problem at all. In
fact, this is where I might be most impressed with Wolfson. You would think
that it is nearly impossible to make a boring twenty-minute-long movie, but I
can assure you that it isn’t. I can honestly say that there isn’t a wasted
scene in 8-Bit Blood Bath. Everything is either moving the story along or
setting up a kill. Far too many filmmakers fall into the trap of loving
everything they shoot and refusing to cut stuff out for pacing. I don’t know if
he was very efficient in what he shot or if he wasn’t shy about cutting it,
either way it is a great job.
The other
short on the disc was Sponge. This one is only five minutes long and is shot
like a trailer for an old movie. Jerry is a door to door salesman who has
failed at his job. That is until he finds a batch of sponges in the trash. They
sell well but are also aliens here to conquer the Earth and eat the locals!
They totally nailed the feel and look of an old horror movie with this. The
creatures look silly, which is appropriate for what they are making. And again,
I found this to be very creative and well put together. This was a nice added
bonus to the DVD.
I’m very
much looking forward to the next movie from Just Buried Productions and
director Todd Wolfson. I believe he said they were working or finishing up
their first feature and if what I’ve seen here is any indication it will be
worth checking out. You can check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JUSTBURIEDPRODUCTIONS/.
© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer
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