Bloody Hell.
Blimey there’s something blood thirsty happening in Film Of The Month.
A quick glance over the recently uploaded films brought these two B-Movie gems to my attention and since I am, at heart, quite a sensitive soul, I rather wish it hadn’t. However you can’t fault either the Brother’s Peretti or Ben Robinson for the gleeful enthusiasm they bring to their task of making me look away.
“Nightshifters” is one of the best examples of comic book CGI I’ve seen in a short film for ages. The performances are broad and there’s some stuff in the plot I don’t quite see the need for and suggests this might be a trailer for a much longer idea… but it’s fun, violent and definitely accomplished.
“Neon Killer” is a loving pastiche of 1980s video nasties. Once again, though the performances are off the wall and the story is barely coherent you have to be impressed by Ben Robinson’s attention to detail. This film is a brilliantly observed parody with great effects and a very dark sense of humour. It is also extremely violent and I’d urge you not to watch it if you’re in anyway likely to be offended or disturbed by continual bloody gore which is often more realistic than it is cartoonish. (you may need to let this film load for a short while before playing it because it’s quite high res)
Neither film is quite my personal taste but you can’t deny that both are impressive pieces of work. “Neon Killers” does make me wonder though about censorship. I’m sure it’s all part of the joke but I can’t help but be mildly bewildered at a film which’ll happily show a woman have her legs cut off but not show her breasts. Somewhere in the part of my mind that reads the Guardian I found the censorship here almost more objectifying and dehumanising than the graphic violence.
Oh and for those of you not reading this directly on my blog at www.shootingpeople.org/bensblog then here are links to both those:
Nightshifters: http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=71283
Neon Killer: http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=71167#