Presented are my thoughts on three rather random selections from YouTube. Perhaps you’ll find something that intrigues you amongst the three. I know I did.
Just one though.
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Book of Nukpana
- Written, Directed, and Produced by Travis DesLaurier
- October 23, 2023
A trio of outlaws accidentally dig up an evil book that drags them into a terrifying ordeal. Sounds like a discount Evil Dead because it is.
Too much happens in too short of a time in Book of Nukpana. The outlaws find the book, the book does evil, and everybody’s killed in about eight minutes or less. I understand this is a short film and they must get from Point A to Point B but I’m feeling this is more proof of concept for a film than it is the actual film. Boom boom boom boom and then it’s over. It overwhelms the viewer with such a rapid succession of events that you do not get bored but realize when you have time to think that this was some seriously empty calories.
It is just really dumb luck they pick the one spot in the surrounding area to dig and find the very threat. Too much coincidence. No hint of evil trying to make evil happen. I am willing to let a great deal pass but without some hint of guidance I have trouble with them finding the book.
It’s just too much in too little of a time and the coincidence of finding the book bothers me. There’s plenty of supernatural that happens after the book with no hint that but nothing right. We don’t even get sinister music.
Book of Nukpana throws a lot at you and hopes you don’t think too much about it. Unfortunately I did and it harmed my enjoyment. I think if a little bit more thought had been put into it I might have a different opinion.
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Crow’s Creek
- Written and Directed by Zack Kampf
- May 11, 2024
A wounded gunslinger finds an old farmer burying something in the desert. And maybe a ghost too.
Weirdly Crow’s Creek is the second random choice involving a supernatural book but a book that is distinctly less defined than the one in Book of Nukpana. Was this one of many films drawing inspiration from the Evil Dead series which itself looks like it drew inspiration from a Cult Classic named Equinox?
Writer/directed Zack Kampf makes some commendable efforts at an unsettling atmosphere but with everything looking far too clean (a long running trend in general film production these days) you are taken out of that feel. There is something to be said for both your poor farmer digging a hole and your wounded gunman being dirty.
The dialogue and acting is excellent. That’s a saving grace of this film. It’s believable and at times sinister and foreboding. Maybe not downright creepy but ‘dark’ would probably be the best way to put it. The direction and camera work is fine. Not great, but better than some other YouTube presentations I’ve watched.
While it has quality, it seems incomplete. It’s missing the final act to complete the story or something to put all together. I can’t quite put my finger on one. Maybe I should not have read the description saying this was part of an upcoming anthology.
Crow’s Creek is not a bad watch, but it could’ve been better. It’s just missing a little something. Not a terrible film, but not as complete as it could be.
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Slightly Red Handed
- Written and Directed by James Hastings
- June 17, 2021
Out in the Wild West, a retired magician is confronted one stormy night by an anxious priest.
Slightly Red Handed is a short 15 minutes or so worth of film that comes from the UK. You can’t miss it when some of the characters speak because their accents occasionally slip. Apparently there is a fine line between a British accent and a Southern twang.
This is a well-directed, well written, and well-acted piece. A man comes seeking a former magician who he believes has supernatural abilities and can raise the dead, whether or not he actually can is rather ambiguous. The man believes or may actually have killed his wife whether or not he actually did and if it’s just coincidence that she got up left is a little unclear.
There is some fantastic music in this. In fact, the songs blend in and out of the film in a way that normally shouldn’t work but the way this movie is structured and presented you don’t even think twice about it.
This overall production is film quality. Even a high-end film with the production values and love given to this better than many Westerns I’ve come across. They created something different in the Western genre that still fits in with the Western genre. According to the text on YouTube this was filmed in a garden shed.
I was waiting for the answer on whether he really could do what the priest claimed but it never came and that makes it so much better. It was left completely up to viewer to decide and I personally don’t have an opinion one way or the other on this. The implication is that his show was enough to convince some.
I found him Slightly Red Handed impossible to stop watching. It’s everything you want in a short film. One of the better presentations I’ve seen in quite some time. If you want a little something different with your Western or just like a good story this is it!
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YouTube can provide some real gems such as the third film. Other times they can almost get there or be the beginnings of a good idea.
Slightly Red Handed is the best here. I strongly recommend that one.
Warren Watched A Movie 