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by Thomas M. Sipos, managing editor [October 1, 2019]
[HollywoodInvestigator.com] For the 16th year in a row, the Hollywood Investigator is
happy to announce the winners of its
Tabloid Witch Awards horror
film contest. Winning films came from Italy, Japan, Malaysia,
Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Every year we look at what's trending. This year saw a surprisingly
large number of avant-garde horror films -- shorts and
features. Most years, there are very few. This year, it's a flood of
surreal images and bizarro storytelling.
We also saw many "proof
of concept" shorts. Such films are advertisements for an intended
feature, and thus often lack the closure required for an effective
short story. Even so, some of them were good enough to take home
awards.
Comedic horror, in low supply these past two years, saw an uptick,
especially for feature length films. We received a greater than usual
number of animation entries. Witches were popular this year. Hardly
any zombies. And "personal disintegration" was a popular theme this
year.
In selecting winners, films were assessed for originality, technical
mastery, acting, thematic depth, aesthetics (how well the technical
aspects supported the film's story, characters, and themes), and
entertainment value.
Billy (Gabe Fazio) and
Lisa (Augie Duke) are a thirtysomething Manhattan couple seeking a
quiet weekend in a seaside town in New Jersey. But as they approach
town, strange things occur. Little things, like a stranger at a public
restroom who displays sudden aggression. Not really dangerous. But
unsettling nonetheless
Exit 0 has no gore or big budget
special effects. A passing shadow is the height of it. Instead, it has
an intriguing story,
engaging characters, strong acting, and a creepily suffocating
atmosphere that implies hidden threats and mysteries. We never see a
ghost, but its presence is felt. It's hard to think of another ghost
film that implies so much with so little. There are the odd bumps in
the night, the weird strangers, the closed drawer that was previously
open. (Or so Billy says -- we never see the drawer close.) There's
even an Old Salt who tells tales of shipwrecks and hauntings.
What really anchors the
story are its characters. This is no haphazard haunting, but one that
is interwoven with Billy's own personal demons. Like all great films,
the more one watches Exit 0, the
more one's understanding and appreciation grows. Was it a ghost? Or
were Billy's repressed memories surfacing in a filtered way, because a
sudden and complete recollection would be too painful?
Yes, we've seen that trope
before, often done in a hackneyed manner. But
Exit 0's revelations come as a
surprise, and its execution is superb. The cast are uniformly
excellent. Fazio strikes the right balances over a wide emotional
range -- mildly annoyed, teasing and testy toward Lisa, increasingly
unnerved, measured tones as he tries to appear rational, struggling to
maintain control, finally losing it. Duke likewise hits the right
notes as his comforting girlfriend, maintaining a strong presence
while never stealing focus from Billy, whose story it is. Supporting
players are comfortable in their roles, creating distinctive
characters in potentially cliched, throwaway roles (the innkeeper, the
detective, the Old Salt, the alcoholic writer).
Top that off with slick
production values. Such as the hotel's creepy atmosphere, which is
enhanced (or created?) by some beautifully moody lighting. Overall,
writer/director E.B. Hughes has crafted an entertaining, memorable,
and artistic ghost story.
* Best Horror
Documentary: The
Hat Man
Director Kyle J.
Macias is a man obsessed. He's completed several short films about
sleep paralysis and/or the Hat Man. Those are his recurring topics.
(Similar to
Erich von Daniken and his focus on ancient astronauts.) And so,
with all that research under his belt, Macias has been building up to
this: a feature length documentary on the subject.
The Hat Man is a
dark figure who appears at night. He's part of that modern pantheon of
strange creatures popularized by AM radio's
George Noory and the late
Art Bell. Although Hat Men most closely resemble Shadow People,
they also overlap with ghosts, aliens, inter-dimentional beings,
Slender Man, Men in Black, the
Green Man,
et al. Macias's documentary covers some of these related creatures,
including Shadow Men, UFO Abductees, and Djinn (i.e., genies).
The Hat Man: Documented Cases of Pure
Evil (the film's full title) follows a traditional documentary
format. Interviews with paranormal experts and people who've seen the
Hat Man. Artists sketches from those eyewitness encounters.
Reenactments of Hat Man sightings. All of it set to appropriately
ominous music.
It's a slick,
infomative, and entertaining documentary. You don't have to believe to
enjoy. You can study the Hat Man as an acutal supernatural creature,
or you can turn off the lights on Halloween night and watch
The Hat Man for goosebumps.
* Best
Dramatic Horror Short:
The Music of John Low
When he was a
sensitive young boy, John Low's mother insisted he learn the violin.
But an abusive father, and the trenches of the Great War, have
hardened John. He no longer plays violin. He's a private eye. He takes
on tough cases. Like retrieving an occult book stolen by the evil
Professor Crowly (sic) from the library of Miskatonic University.
While not based on a tale by H.P.
Lovecraft, The Music of John Low is
Lovecraftian inspired. Horror noir that's also horror art,
John Low is a lyrical film, rich in atmosphere and classical
music. The character of Low is intriguing, memorable, and deeply
sympathetic. Like many noir detectives, he bears scars, both physical
and emotional. A tough guy with a soft spot for damsels in distress.
Writer/director Marko Kattilakoski's
team does a great job in recreating the interwar period on a low
budget, in terms of costumes and set designs. An especially
challenging task, given that the film is set in the United States
(references to the FBI), yet shot in Sweden. Bengt Westin is
especially well cast as the villainous Professor Crowly. In his
ceremonial robes and poses, he looks like the real Aleister Crowley.
Naturally, there's the usual
Lovecraftian tentacled monster. Kattilakoski wisely opts for less
is more when showing the creature. This might partially be because
his budget didn't allow for expensive visual effects, but it also
works aesthetically. By giving us only glimpses of the beast,
Kattilakoski eschews gross images in favor of visual poetry. John's
final confrontation with the monster draw transcendent beauty from
horror and death.
* Best
Comedic Horror Short:
The Witch Hunters Are Coming
We received several mocumentaries
this year, parodying different television formats.
The Witch Hunters Are Coming
targets reality shows such as
COPS. But instead of following police on patrol, this film tracks
two witch hunters who work for Britain's Occult Management Department.
Witchcraft is once again illegal in the United Kingdom. Siddarth and
"Dorothy from Kansas" are tasked to investigate accused witches,
collect evidence, and if circumstances warrant, terminate with extreme
prejudice. Dorothy is ever prepared with her bucket of water for just
such eventualities.
The Witch Hunters Are Coming
succeeds on three levels. It successfully satirizes witches in popular
culture, making references to
Snow White
and
The Wizard of Oz. It also parodies reality TV. There's the
hyper-dramatic music, the producers trying to squeeze tension from
every mundane incident. The hosts who address the camera during slow
moments when nothing's happening, either with filler material or a
promise of something exciting soon to happen. It's all very cute and
entertaining.
But we also discern a theme. The term "witch hunt" has come to mean
persecution of a politically unpopular person or group. And so, on a
third level, the film functions as political commentary. By some
reports, Britain is becoming an increasingly PC society, speech ever
more restricted, the police and local authorities ever more intrusive.
Siddarth and Dorothy work in cooperation with London's local councils
(a real political entity). They are government agents going
after politically unpopular -- or even imaginary? -- villains.
The Witch Hunters Are Coming can
be enjoyed as an innocent comedy. Yet its thematic content,
intentional or not, gives the film an added dimension, raising it
above mere laughs, into something intriguing and thought provoking.
Written and directed by James Atkins.
* Best
Animated Horror Short:
Paranoia
A woman can't sleep at night.
Wandering about her apartment, she discovers hidden cameras
everywhere. Watching her. After she removes the lenses, as many as
she can find, she sees the eyes. Eyes everywhere. Watching her. She
begins removing them ...
Paranoia
is a student film from De Montfort University in Leicester. Its
animation is rougher than of some other entries (it's a one animator
project), but it excels in other ways. Its horror is horrific.
Some images are cringe-worthy (you might not want to look), but
without being gratuitously gross.
The color palette is well chosen.
Mostly shades of gray with some black, very little white, and day-glo
red (and briefly, orange). The heavy use of grays effectively portrays
a nighttime world, but also creates an appropriately dreary mood. The
troubled insomniac might well feel like an oppressively never-ending
night is crushing down on her. Against this somber grayness, the
day-glo colors are a piercing, visual scream.
The images are effectively supported by
Connor Snape's music composition. Low, somber tones (musically gray),
punctuated by high-pitched shrill ones (day-glo red).
Paranoia
also has a topical theme. Google and social media are monitoring our
internet searches, purchases, comments, likes and dislikes. Hackers
secretly watch us through our laptop cameras. Cell phones log our
movements via GPS. Their microphones are secretly listening, as is
Alexa. Governments, corporations, and private snoops are all spying on
us. People are being doxed and punished for unpopular beliefs. One has
good reason to be paranoid.
Paranoia
was written and directed by Katherine Lindhorst, who did all the
animation.
* Best
Avant-Garde Horror Short: Queen of the
Dead
Jacqueline (Trista Robinson) returns to her late parents' home for a
respite from her stressful career. She's an author whose last book
suffered disappointing reviews and sales. Back home, she meets her
uncle (Greg Standifer), who is not the priest he appears to be, but
leader of a sinister pagan cult.
Innocent young woman lured by trusted friends and family into
demonic doings is an old trope.
Rosemary's Baby is the classic template, but other examples
include
Satan's Slave,
Necromancy, and
Alison's Birthday. Queen of the
Dead excels not in the originality of its tale, but in the
telling.
Queen of the Dead is filmed
mostly in black & white. It initially feels like a silent film due
to its lack of dialog, but also because it uses irises to frame or
focus attention. Thus Jacqueline's first utterance comes as a jolt.
A silent film that suddenly talks. But we're also jolted by her
girlishly squeaky voice. Its high pitch feels incongruent with the
character that we've formed in our minds. A mature woman of some
literary success, who suddenly speaks like a 10-year-old.
This
oddity works to Queen of the Dead's
advantage, which is a wellspring of weirdness. Among other films,
Queen evokes
Carnival of Souls. Queen's
stark black & white photography, especially of Jacqueline when in her
pasty white makeup, recalls the ghosts in
Carnival. The woodland Wiccan dance, filmed in soft-focus pastel
colors, evokes the pagan dance in
A Name for Evil.
The Wicker Man also comes to mind. A modern person deceitfully
drawn into a Wiccan blood sacrifice.
Other oddities abound. The cemetery is obviously a collection of
miniature tombstones. Why not film a real cemetery? Perhaps a nod to
German expressionism. The ending is surreal. Jacqueline both embraces
and renounces her demonic destiny, choosing a third fate that makes
sense only in the context of "dream logic." Its emotional impact
recalls the odd ending to the equally surreal
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural.
Queen of the Dead is an intriguing
work with a 1960s/1970s cult film sensibility. Trista Robinson has an
Anya Ormsby quality which well serves the film's retro conceit.
Written & directed by Justin Head.
* Best
Horror Music Video:
Aunt Ethel
Halloween at Aunt Ethel's
is a slasher film set (as its title suggests) on Halloween night.
The killer is known to the locals as Old Aunt Ethel (Gail Yost), a
crazy old cat lady with crazy white hair. Except Old Aunt Ethel
doesn't collect kitties. She collects and pickles body parts.
As slasher films go, it's pretty
basic. You have your sex-crazed teenagers. Your blood and gore. Some
skin. A large dose of black comedy.
And after the last blade has
cut down its last victim, a final Halloween treat: after the end
credits, a promotional music video for the song "Aunt
Ethel."
"Aunt Ethel" is a hip hop song,
combining clips from the film with original material shot specifically
for the music video. That's nice. That shows effort. Many music videos
that promote a feature film lazily settle for just clips from the
film.
The resulting video is lively,
playful, and fun (and sexy and gory), evoking a passion for slashers
with a dash of Halloween spirit. Like other winning entries, "Aunt
Ethel" stands up to repeat viewing. No matter how often you've
seen the music video, it's fun to watch it again.
While all the other entries in
this category were submitted as music videos, ironically, "Aunt
Ethel" was perhaps tacked onto the end credits as an
afterthought. Nevertheless, it was the best.
Directed by Joseph Mazzaferro.
* Honorable
Mention
The Honorable Mention
prizes, like the "Best ... Film" prizes, are shared by the film's
writer and director.
* Ingenue
Sara is an aspiring young actress from Australia, come to Hollywood
to become a star. An ingenue. Upon arriving, Sara pays the usual visit
to Hollywood's Walk of Fame. She finds an apartment. She finds an
agent. She finds rejection. She finds a ghost in her apartment.
Not just any ghost, but that of a former aspiring actress who
died during Hollywood's Golden Age. An actress who never made
it, but now seeks a second chance at stardom through Sara.
Ingenue has many
merits. Its tale is intriguing, entertaining, and, despite
tropes common to ghost or Hollywood stories, still manages to
surprise. The supernatural scenes are nicely filmed with
polished sound design, and offer some genuine shocks.
The story is well written. Sara is an
engaging character. Because we care about her, we care about
her sleuthing to unravel the mystery behind the ghost. She
travels a rich character arc, during which her two goals -- a
yearning for stardom and a desire to learn about the ghost --
interweave into a satisfying closure.
Actress Nell Nakkan does an excellent job portraying Sara. Early
in the film, Nakkan offers a flat performance, and we think she
might be a mediocre actress. But once Sara is possessed by the
ghost, Nakkan's performance is extraordinary. Her transformation
is remarkable, similar to Naomi Watts in
Mulholland Drive. (Remember when Watts gave two different
readings of the same scene, the first okay, the next
outstanding?) Director Sophie Webb was smart to have Nakkan hold
back in the role of "non-possessed Sara," to create a greater
contrast with the "possessed Sara."
After this, Nakkan transforms herself into a third Sara. Sara
the diva. She was an untalented Plain Jane when we first met
her, but a nice person. Now a star, Sara exudes a controlled but
fake niceness, patronizing and slightly bitchy.
Ingenue
is directed by Sophie Webb. Written by Pete Carboni and Sophie Webb.
* H0us3
A group of tech-savvy friends discuss the internet over dinner. Topics
range from how to crack a password, to the ethics of Anonymous, Julian
Assange, Edward Snowden, self-programming artificial intelligence, and
conspiracy theories. Then one man discloses that he's cracked a highly
secret password, leading to the discovery of an app that can see into
the future. The near future. Their future. And it is
terrifying.
H0us3 is an intelligent, talky
film, shot in Spain. Its verbose script tells more than it shows. The
dinner table chatter is quick, perhaps because the screenwriters have
so much info about internet culture and politics that they want to
cram in. I kept having to pause the film to read the subtitles.
The film's weakness is its characters, who are not very likable.
Cocky internet nerds, trying to one up each other with their
tech skills. It's a script that might have been penned by
The Lone Gunmen. Nevertheless, the actors are competent, the
production values are slick.
The film's
greatest strength is its intelligence. Like much great science
fiction, the characters are mere vehicles to convey ideas, their
personalities secondary to the topics being discussed. And those
topics are weighty. Who controls information? Who should
control it? What's going on behind the scenes that governments and
corporations don't want you to know about?
H0us3 is smart horror/sci-fi. In
some ways, it resembles
Coherence, which was about a group of friends having dinner,
caught in a quantum entanglement. Both films start off slow and talky,
then veer into
X-Files territory in the latter half.
Manolo Munguia & Sergio Martinez have written a brainy and socially
relevant screenplay.
* Additional Winners
Every year
we see some bad actors, some mediocre actors, and some talented actors
who do a professional job. Among the latter are those few who leave an
impression. Who go beyond the job and create a character that lingers
in our minds. This last quality is often the crucial difference
between the winners and the merely talented.
Another
consideration is aesthetics. Many films are technically
slick. They are nicely lit, the sound clearly recorded. But if a
film's technical choices also aesthetically support
its story, characters, and themes, then so much the better.
In
Marcel Walz's Blind, a slasher is
stalking victims in the Hollywood Hills. He fixates on Faye, a former
film star who was forced to retire after botched laser eye surgeries.
As the title implies, Faye is now blind.
Blind
is a neo-giallo suspense thriller. It has the usual stylized
production design and cinematography. The colored lights. The
cat-and-mouse interplay between predators (there's more than one)
and victims. And at its core, it has Sarah French in the role of
Faye.
Faye
is not merely a target for a slasher, but a woman struggling to
accept the end of her old life, and begin a new life with new
interests, new friends, and even a handicapped lover. Over the
course the film, French portrays Faye as depressed, self-pitying,
independent, insecure, competent, vulnerable, and courageous.
As slasher films go,
Blind is not terribly bloody. It doesn't rely on shocks or
gore, but on our concern for Faye. We are
emotionally invested in her fate because of French.
Handicapped roles are generally considered Oscar material, and
French gives an Oscar worthy performance.
Sarah French wins for Best Dramatic Actress.
The
Revelator
is an unpleasant film. You expect a light comedy, but it slowly
darkens into a depressing take on the human condition. You won't feel
good having watched it, but its story -- particularly lead character
John Cameron -- will linger in your memory.
John is a small time actor in a small
New England town. His main gig is as a horror host on a cable TV
access channel. That makes him something of a local celebrity. Not
enough to pay the bills. He works at a deli to make ends meet. It's
tough, because he is the sole caregiver for his ailing brother.
The Revelator
is a tale of personal disintegration. Of a man filled with
frustrated dreams and an inflated self-image. To escape the
pressures of his petty life, he turns delusional, offering
autographs to people who didn't request one, or imagining that
younger women might be interested in him and that he will soon be a
network star. Eventually, delusions collide with realty.
Although John Cameron never made it
big, he invokes such characters as
Norma Desmond and
Baby Jane. Asked to perform at a high school game, John lingers
on the field while everyone else is leaving, swirling his vampire
cape, savoring his "acting glory." Later on, he brags about this
acting job, as if he were anything other than a costumed mascot.
There are many such fine, if
uncomfortable, moments in The Revelator.
We remember them, and John, largely because of George MacDonald, who
plays John on a fine edge. John's attempt to romantically interest a
much younger co-worker is cringe-worthy, yet we pity him even as we
are creeped out. A sweet guy, devoted to his sick brother, lonely,
frustrated, desperate for recognition and a bit of happiness, who's
also creepy, deceitful, and potentially dangerous.
George MacDonald wins for Best Dramatic Actor.
Amy is a zealous office manager who tries to foster
high morale and team spirit among the employees. Gary is the constant
thorn in her side, hampering her efforts with his bad attitude. Amy
endures Gary for as long as she can -- until he tries to sabotage the
potluck. That's when Amy snaps.
The Potluck
is a hilarious little gem.
It has no padding. It never drags. It's fast paced, with a quick
succession of funny jokes and one-liners. Like a classic Saturday Night Live
skit, it holds up to repeat viewing.
A big reason for its success is
Madeline Wager.
An office potluck might not seem like a big deal, but Wager imbues Amy
with a fiercely funny passion. Wager's controlled intensity conveys
such a sincere zealousness that we come to share Amy's devotion to
this petty office event. Her monomaniacal crusade to search out and
destroy the man who would ruin her precious potluck carries the film.
The Potluck is her story.
Madeline Wager wins for Best Comedic
Actress.
Carl
takes his job at the library very seriously. When patrons are late
returning their books, he gets mad. But when they steal books
... then it's personal.
Every slasher has his motives. For
Carl, it's overdue or stolen books. (He also pines for the prim and
pretty lady librarian, and endeavors to eliminate his romantic
rival.)
As Carl, actor Les Best conveys an
exuberant mania for his job. Best's rubbery face swings from gleeful
to sinister, from sour to enraged, depending on how well you treat
"his" books.
Best is also talented at slapstick.
He's an older actor, but it hasn't slowed his groove.
Overdue opens with Carl rising out of bed and boogeying to
old time rock & roll. He exhibits uninhibited joy as he dances with
a broomstick, slides off the hood of his car, and even performs a
decent cartwheel. That's how much he looks forward coming to work
every morning. And how much he enjoys killing those who disrespect
the library and its books.
Carl Best wins for Best Comedic
Actor.
In
Ma petite Sophie, Diana is a hitchhiker who might, or might
not, be a vampire. After Julio gives her a lift, she turns up
again at his house. By chance, she says. Julio's girlfriend,
Sophie (who is under the care of a psychiatrist) insists
otherwise. Sophie says the young Diana is actually Sophie's 100
plus year old vampire mother, come to hunt her down.
The
evidence can be interpreted either way. We sympathize with Julio's
dilemma after Sophie knocks out and ties up Diana. Julio wants to
believe Sophie, but she does have a poor mental health history.
As
Diana, Laura Garcia toys with the couple and the audience. She
initially seems a friendly, flirtatious hitchhiker. We can see why
the mentally disturbed Sophie might have delusions fed by
jealousy. Diana is understandably distraught at being tied up. She
maintains her facade and sticks to her story for a good while.
Until she reveals her dark side while Julio is out of the room,
eventually going full blown monster. Then she surprises us with
her softer side.
Garcia keeps us guessing about Diana well into the film, and keeps
revealing other sides to Diana after we think we have her figured
out. As a vampire, Garcia is cold and deceitful, maternal and
merciful. A complex and memorable vampire.
Laura Garcia
wins for Best Supporting Actress.
As
the diabolical Professor Crowly (sic) in
The Music of John Low, Bengt Westin leaves an impression.
Crowly is sinister in his methodical mannerisms, hands hovering
protectively over his grimoire as he scrutinizes John Low, trying to
size up his adversary. Later, his eyes exude a suicidal glee over the
prospect of imminent death. And hysterical joy at the sight of his
baby monster.
Crowly looks like an occult scholar who is both evil and
slightly bent.
He is one of 2019's most charismatic and
memorable villains, and the reason Bengt Westin wins
for Best Supporting Actor.
Mary
awakes at night. Answers the doorbell. No one there. She is surprised
to find her lover in bed. When did he come home? They make love. She
awakes again and discovers the infant AntiChrist in a black draped
crib in her living room. When did she give birth?
We presume it's the infant AntiChrist. Nothing is explained. Dialog is
minimal. Annunciation is a scant
story told in strange incidents and symbolic images. Insects, swirling
liquids, a blood red ocean, dancing flames, etc., are intercut with
events. Freudian images associated with sex and the subconscious.
Religious images of sin and Satan.
Despite the scant story (I suspect the film is a "proof
of concept"), we can fill in the blanks. We know what's going on
because we've seen
Rosemary's Baby.
One of many avant-garde shorts we received this year,
Annunciation eschews dialog in
favor of images -- beautiful and compelling -- to depict what might
merely be a nightmare. This conceit is reinforced by
Argento-inspired colored lights, and is also what makes those
lights aesthetically appropriate. Compositions are arresting and
similarly surreal, interacting nicely with the set decor (e.g., the
lamps swinging to geometric precision, from no natural cause) and the
symbolic images. Split screens are among the film's other cinematic
bag of tricks.
That this is a nightmare is hinted by Mary, who asks her lover if he's
had a nightmare. Either way, real or surreal,
Annunciation is a visual delight.
Had
Dario Argento directed
Rosemary's Baby, the result might be
Annunciation.
Carlo Madoglio wins for Best Cinematography.
Saori
feels trapped in her marriage. Every day, little things eat away at
her soul. Cleaning up after her husband, Keisuke. Washing his undies.
Listening to his boring tales from work. His loud workouts in the
morning. His annoying laughter at the TV. His hideous snoring at
night. It's piling up inside of Saori. Ready to explode.
Saori, Piling Up opens as a
mundane domestic drama, shot in an appropriately banal fashion. But as
Saori's grievances pile up, the cinematic techniques intensify to
parallel her anxieties.
Sound is an active participant. Saori's
emotional woes have given her tinnitus. We hear the ringing in her
ears as we see Keisuke's curled lips in closeup, laboriously
enunciating as he tries to be understood. We can see how Saori might
find him annoying.
As the film progresses, the volume grows unstable,
heightening or lowering to extremes. Abstract sound effects are used
toward the end, paralleling the introduction of surreal images.
Less a story than a profile of psychological disintegration (that
seems to be a common theme this year),
Saori, Piling Up relies heavily upon surreal visuals, distorted
sounds, and aggressive editing to depict a discontented housewife's
interior struggles.
Jun Koyama wins for
Best Sound Design.
Saori,
Piling Up is one of many avant-garde films we received this
year. What begins as a straight narrative devolves into an
increasingly subjective view of Saori's boorish husband and her
suffocating marriage. Sound destabilizes and assaults us. Repulsive,
surreal images -- all in Saori's head -- are introduced.
Editing supports this subjective perspective. Early in
the film, shots are longer, creating a slow pace to reflect the
story's mundane milieu. But as the story continues, the pace quickens,
shots shortening as Saori's frustrations "pile up" until she boils
over and finally "explodes" (so to speak).
Editing functions in a creative manner,
actively working with sound and images to support the film's story,
characters, and themes.
Soichi Umezawa wins for Best
Editing.
The
Baby Farmer isn't merely weird. It has layers of weirdness. A
woman is carrying a giant larva. It's her baby. She doesn't think that
a giant baby larva is all that unusual. She wants to bring it to a
restaurant. She has to be told that no proper eatery would allow her
to bring that thing in with her.
Who tells her this? A lady vampire. This vampire is pressuring the
mother to give her larva to a "baby farmer," who turns out to be an
elderly woman in white. Does this woman own a larva "farm"?
Not much is explained in The Baby Farmer,
another "proof
of concept" film. But this one doesn't just lack closure, it lacks
a setup. It's a piece of free floating weirdness. Not unlike some of
David Lynch's short works. Or
certain scenes from some of Lynch's longer works.
The Baby Farmer has other Lynchian
aspects. Its soundtrack features Jerkcurb's "Walking in the Air,"
which sounds like something Lynch would select. Then there is the
production design. The film appears to be set in the 1940s -- a
favorite Lynchian period. The props, costumes, and set decor, create
an ambiance of surreal, dislocated weirdness. They not only suggest an
era, they establish a mood.
James Saxe wins for Best Production Design.
A
truck driver is told that workers at a construction site have found a
"strange" mound of dirt. It's his job to haul it away. The driver's
son has foreboding visions about the mound -- that it contains
something not of this world -- but who would believe him?
With the mound securely (they think) locked in
the back of the truck, father and son drive off.
Filmed in Malaysia, Cargo appears
to be a "proof
of concept" short film. It feels that the real story
begins after the film ends. The monster emerges from the mound and
kills some people, whereupon father and son hurry off to save their
skins. Leaving the monster behind.
And now the real killing starts, we think.
Although Cargo isn't too original
on story or style, its monster is impressive. A dark, hulking, gangly
creature that camouflages itself within the rocky dirt mound, and
emerges from hiding at opportune moments. We won't show it to you.
That would spoil the surprise.
But it's worthy enough to win
Jorik Dozy the Best Visual Effects award.
Every
year we receive some films with gory make-up effects. Some are well
crafted. Some even show a bit of originality. But the make-up effects
in Saori, Piling Up are wildly
original.
The film doesn't use make-up effects in the normal manner. Characters
suffer no gory injuries, and there is no actual monster. Rather,
make-up effects are used in a concrete yet surreal manner to depict
Saori's inner rage. She buries bloody, gelatinous lumps embedded with
kitchen utensils and other domestic icons. Her dog excretes Keisuke's
bloody, rubbery head. Saori wields ... well, some of it is hard to
describe.
The make-up effects in Saori, Piling Up
are as slickly crafted as those in any film we saw this year. They are
more original. And they are not arbitrary. Not the usual scary
monster. Rather, they are drawn organically from, and reinforce, the
film's story, characters, and themes.
Natsumi Kameyama, Keiko Nakanishi &
Masato Kato win for Best Make-Up Effects.
This
seems like an easy choice, but that doesn't make it any less
appropriate. As its title implies, music is a key component to
The Music of John Low. It informs the character of Low, a
violinist turned private eye. His embrace, abandonment, and return to
the violin form part of his character arc, paralleling his
relationship to the outside world.
Music also does much to set the mood. Rather than directly amplifying
events on screen (dark, dramatic tones during horrific events), the
soundtrack opts for contrasts. Brutal incidents are accompanied by an
uplifting pastoral lyricism. It's not an entirely original conceit
(see the use of classical music in
Hardware). But it works.
This is an award for Best Music Soundtrack, not for Best Music. How
the music relates to, and aesthetically supports, events on screen is
a key factor in deciding the winner. Yes,
John Low's violin music is beautiful. But more importantly, it
aesthetically supports the story, characters, emotional sensibility,
and themes.
Hakan Liden & Ronny Rasmusson win
for Best Music Soundtrack.
* The Final Tally
*
Best Horror Feature Film
.......................... E.B. Hughes (Exit
0)
* Best Horror
Documentary ........................... Kyle J. Macias (The
Hat Man)
*
Best Dramatic Horror Short Film ..............
Marko
Kattilakoski
(The Music of
John Low)
* Best Comedic Horror Short Film ...............
James Atkins (The
Witch Hunters Are Coming)
* Best Animated Horror Short Film ..............
Katherine Lindhorst (Paranoia)
* Best Avant-Garde Horror Short Film ........ Justin Head (Queen of the Dead)
*
Best Horror Music Video .......................... Joseph
Mazzaferro (Aunt Ethel)
*
Best Dramatic Actress .............................. Sarah
French (Blind)
* Best Dramatic Actor
.................................. George MacDonald
(The
Revelator)
* Best
Comedic Actress ..............................
Madeline Wager (The Potluck)
* Best Comedic Actor
.................................. Les Best
(Overdue)
* Best Supporting Actress
...........................
Laura Garcia (Ma petite Sophie)
* Best Supporting Actor
............................... Bengt Westin (The
Music of John Low)
* Best Cinematography
...............................
Carlo Madoglio
(Annunciation)
* Best Sound Design
................................... Jun Koyama
(Saori, Piling Up)
* Best Editing
............................................... Soichi Umezawa (Saori,
Piling Up)
* Best Production Design
............................
James Saxe
(The Baby Farmer)
* Best Visual Effects
....................................
Jorik Dozy
(Cargo)
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