When I first took a look at YouTube’s horror offerings a while back, I was not impressed. For some reason though I gave YouTube another try in that area and must say the quality of these finds is better than my first go. Imagination and skill are key and though not perfect, these attempts mostly have it.
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Tunnel
- Directed by Sean Louis Kelly
- January 26, 2023
After finding an old railway tunnel, a man on a hike finds himself trapped.
I think the original The Twilight Zone as well as the original The Outer Limits did quite a few episodes where (at least in part) the story was about the character(s) being unable to leave a certain area. Much like in those, in Tunnel the hiker keeps looping back to an old train tunnel. The thing is the tracks are gone and it looks like it has been well maintained. This might work a little better if things looked, well, less maintained.
I was struck by this hiker having a kazoo handy to play when he finds the tunnel. Who carries a kazoo on a hike? The more I think about it the more it bothers me. He hears somebody play it and whips his out. I guess having such a very specific thing handy is a subtle hint to the audience of what is going on.
Rather than build to being to stuck in the area it is more handed to the audience. There is no initial approach to it but rather it just is. And then after a moment or two when our first hiker is gone a second enters the picture and the whole shorts ends on a jump scare that makes absolutely no sense when you think about it. How does the first hiker finding the second in the tunnel connect to anything?
Having said that, Tunnel looks good and has fine editing. Despite issues it is better directed and produced than I expected. It will entertain you but try not to think about certain elements (like that kazoo) too much.
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Last Man
- Directed by Cameron D. Wood
- October 31, 2022
Death (literally) comes for the last man on Earth.
Production values on Last Man are not great. If you read the accompanying blurb they did have some technical issues which hurt an otherwise intriguing setup. Maybe round up a few more bucks and reshoot this. They do not make this unwatchable but they do ruin the flow.
The Earth is left without people. We get no reason but given this was initially made during the pandemic, fears of that may have played into the story. Death harvests his last soul and by the end you do feel a bit bad for the guy. With this last person, Death has come to a point where he has no purpose.
Each character is given enough time that you get attached though the acting of both performers leaves a bit to be desired. What helps you get past the issues is that ultimately this is a good execution of the idea.
I will not call this great but Last Man is entertaining. It may not be scary, but it is good. You will enjoy yourself.
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A Howl in the Night
- Written and Directed by Will and Liam Riley
- July 26, 2021
A man wakes in the middle of nowhere and soon realizes something terrible has happened.
I give writers/directors Will and Liam Riley praise for the use of black and white and professional use of the camera along with some good music. I can’t give them praise for much else in A Howl in the Night. As werewolf films go or films in general, this is quite boring as not a lot really happens. It’s a great deal of good music that sets the tone but not a lot happens. It is strong on style and weak on everything else.
One of the more annoying things for me is that there is a moment where the werewolf transformation occurs, but you never see it. All you hear are these noises and it all happens off camera. I’m fine with not having the budget to show a transformation, but I’m not fine with a transformation occurring off camera as film rolls. It screams “CHEAP!”
A Howl in the Night has a nice style that I found reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez in From Dusk till Dawn but ultimately I was just bored. It was slow and plodding. No excitement or mystery and not even a scare or some genuine spookiness.
A Howl in the Night aside from a great title and great style is not that interesting of a werewolf movie. It’s an example of style over substance or even entertainment and you can pass on this.
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Presented here were three short films of varying quality. Some were better than others but as always I suggest you peruse YouTube to see for yourself what there might be. While all were not bad, they demonstrate that there should be something there to appeal to any viewer.
Warren Watched A Movie 