Three Minute Horror


Reviewed 8/4/05

Based on the success of last year’s 48-hour film challenge, the Phoenix Film Festival issued their 2nd Annual Challenge, culminating in two well-attended screenings at Harkins’ Centerpoint Cinemas in Tempe on August 4th. 30 Armed with the theme of horror, a line that must be uttered at least once in the three minutes (“See you next Wednesday.”), and a prop (a toy monkey), 30 teams were given two days to shoot and edit. Amazingly, 29 finished. Their impressive final offerings made it hard to choose any clear winners.

Coming in third in overall voting was Red Fish New Fish’sWednesday’s Perversion, where getting a monkey off your back hilariously goes a little deeper than a twisting of the phrase implies. The idea of putting a registered sex offender in the home of a mystical New Age healer is a great premise, and yields some pretty odd and satisfying results.

Second place belonged to Stir the Pot Productions’ Ghoulable, a satiric look at what it takes to scare people off your scent. Though this falls more into the area of comedy, it does use horror images to keep the viewer guessing, and the payoff is definitely worth the confusion.

Taking top honors in the evening, a placement with which I completely agreed, was Team Shirley’s The Girl in the Woods, which is the complete deal. The special effects are superb, the writing is top notch, and it adheres to the time-tested horror techniques of misdirection and surprising twists. Even the setting, a makeshift burial plot in the woods, and the use of a young girl who must defend herself against some pretty nasty enemies make this the kind of short film that deserving of viewing in a Festival.

There were others that I particularly enjoyed.  Team Justin Koleszar’s Live Shot, voted fourth in the festival, puts human frailty into those ridiculous location reports local news shows are fond of making. The juxtaposition of a reporter fighting for their life and a plastic news anchor fighting for ratings makes for a great counterbalance. Painted merry-makers finally get what’s coming to them in Corkey Productions’ The Bad Clown. Fake blood was flowing freely through most of the creations, such as Is What It Is Productions’ filmmaker’s dream of silencing hangers-on in My Friends Suck and the grisly-yet-humorous The Comedian by Grace Productions, featuring great comedic dialogue and wish fulfillment of every stand-up who has ever dealt with a surly crowd.

A theme often touched upon was the terrorizing of the abused or abducted woman. Women tied to chairs appeared in films like Melting Clock Productions’ Mr. Monkey’s Birthday Surprise and Aviator’s cleverly titled Everybody’s Got Something to Hide. When We Grow Up’s Running with Scissors gave an abused woman an unexpected ally, while Digital High’s The Only Thing to Fear turned the abduction theme upside down

The categories of competition have been expanded to go beyond overall favorites to include: Best Director (Gus Holwerda for top film winner The Girl in the Woods); Best Acting (Second-place winner Ghoulable, featuring David Chorley, Julian Blanchard, Ty Lopercio, Adam Gaumont, Ryan Gaumont, Billy Irwin, Kendra Ryan, and Adam Rini); Best Use of Required Dialogue (UWISH’s Apartment 3157, which spoke the line without actually saying it); Best Use of Required Prop (Third-place winner Wednesday’s Perversion); Creepiest Performance (Aubrey Maples as proof that children make the best psychopaths in Sonoran Productions’Roses are Red); Most Uncomfortable Moment (unexplained and horrific imagery tapping into base fears in Band of Brothers from Utha MuthasThe Meyers Procedure, which I think should also win most creative team title); and Best Cinematography (Best Boys’ visually stunning and professionally shot and edited Alternoia).

Arizona is fertile ground for independent filmmakers. The industry seems to be booming, and it’s exciting to watch its expansion and maturation. I only regret that this is an annual challenge, and that it can’t be offered more often.