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Reviews
Sweet Thrills (2024)
An effective short with feature film potentials
This film has a pretty good story in 15 minutes. I particularly liked the fact that it is not a well-worn story that we have seen many times before. Sara Kloc does an outstanding job in the lead role with her partner Laura Saxon, they clearly have the talent to work together on a full-length version of this story.
The camerawork is impressive here and there, some work could have been done on the technical side, especially with the sound design, but overall a good and enjoyable short film. I look forward to seeing what this team comes up with next.
I was thinking between seven and eight, but the acting took me to eight.
The Wendigo (2022)
A bit of a rough start, but overall a well-paced horror film with some quite horrifying scenes
I had the opportunity to watch Jake Robinson's first feature film The Wendigo and overall, I liked what I saw.
The acting is generally adequate, I did find the actor playing Logan a bit too much at times, although it's true that his character was supposed to be a bit annoying one. On the other hand, Hunter Redfern and (although he had a small role) Paul Hurley were very believable, as was Matthias Margraves, not to mention the design of the title character.
Despite the fact it clocks out around 63-64 minutes, the story proved to be a bit thin in general, but the last 15 minutes was pretty effective.
In terms of cameo actors - if the crew works with apparently high-definition cameras, the vloggers should have recorded their scenes in at least 720p. It was a bit distracting to watch the lifeless, low quality (not the acting, but the technical aspects) webcam footage for minutes to be honest.
Overall though - especially as this was the director's first film- it was a fun and good creature feature. 7/10.
In Bluebell Wood (2021)
This is just the beginning of a beautiful journey
In Bluebell Wood, directed by Laura Ellen Wilson and Laura Saxon, is an exceptionally great movie. I loved how the child actors played in it (especially the two lead child actresses) and it was a cool short flick. Editing and colors were also great as well as cinematography (apart from some minor camera movements and jitters).
With its eleven minutes including credits, the viewer just wants more and would like to know how the story continues. I hope one day they will expand this universe.
His Father's Voice (2019)
A great story told well
A unique approach with great storytelling and music. Cinematography and colours are clearly the strong points of this film. It's worth adding it to your watchlist.
Raakavedos (2016)
Loved it - this is what this sub-genre is about
Last night I decided to watch Raakavedos, a little-to-no budget Finnish found footage mystery horror. Let me start with the fact I have not regretted my choice.
Despite being only 50 minutes the film is ready to deliver some great and creepy scenes and a likable main character played by the writer/director Elmo Rautio. Though the introduction proved to be a little long for me, many of the scares worked pretty well.
The ending also impressed me very much - it was effective and emotional at the same time.
Definitely give it go if you love found footage films.
In a Time for Sleep (2016)
Soap opera in 15 minutes
In a Time for Sleep is a short that is hard to be reviewed if one asks my opinion. While watching it, I had a feeling that I watched the first act of a cheesy soap opera.
Clearly the strongest points of the film are cinematography (towards the end) and colours. The actors were sort of OK, but I really could not feel their despair after they shared a secret.
"Sleep" looks like good and has a great audio, yet it almost gave nothing for me as I proved to be totally indifferent to its story.
I would be curious how the writer/director performed in the area of a totally different genre since he has great talent, but seemingly has been stuck in a style that he might not be able to fully perform.
Nihan: The Last Page (2016)
Conjuring Bela Tarr's works while making amateurish mistakes
I certainly had mixed feelings when I decided to review young talent Tofiq Rzayev's short film Nihan: The Last Page.
I am not sure if the director knows the works of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, but the movie summons Tarr's films in the first few minutes.
Actually I loved the long shots very much. The first problem occurred when dialogue came. Mr Sanchar was great, but I could not believe a word that came out of Alsen Buse Aydin's mouth. There was little-to- no chemistry between the two characters.
I believe Mr Rzayev can tell important stories with great cinematography as he did in his previous films, but he pays way too much attention to dialogue, which - regarding Nihan - might be a mistake.
This story, the message of the film could have been told in less than 5-6 minutes, hence this fact generates the next and possibly the biggest problem as 15 minutes proved to be quite long.
By paying a bit more attention to the screenplay and effective dialogue, the next picture will be more than unforgettable.
R.E.M. (2015)
Fun!
I had the privilege to check one of Hungary's very very few sci-fi fantasy films entitled R.E.M. Starring newcomers as well as filmmakers at the early stages of their careers it is necessary to say that one has to deal with a complex and - in the same time - entertaining film.
I loved the way of the storytelling, I am pretty sure, Mr Molnár has some business on this field. The acting was OK, some characters were pretty likable as well. The editor also knew how to do well-paced scenes.
Cinematography and color correction are those areas where improvement should have been crucial. Images are often very raw, which was quite distractive in some cases. The ending wanted to be summon the works of Christopher Nolan very much, but I feel that the script was well-developed enough not to include any mocks of bigger blockbusters.
R.E.M. is a great example to show that one can make an entertaining film by having little-to-no-budget if the crew proves to be enthusiastic. But regarding filmmaking, even the smallest detail matters.
The Girl in the Woods (2015)
Beautiful and brilliant
The Girl in the Woods is one of the best short films I have seen for a long time. I managed to check some works of director Tofic Rzayev and I am pretty sure this is the most captivating one he has ever made.
The story itself is quite simple, but it is presented in a very elevated as well as beautiful way. All actors are on the top, they exactly knew what to do, although the characters were a bit simple. A wide range of symbols were used, however, the story starts quite slow - it was a risky decision from Mr Rzayev, but it worked. On the other hand, the film's ending is something one cannot see very often - beautifully written and directed. It can leave people speechless with ease.
The cinematography and the color of the film are more than professional, surely the biggest strengths of The Girl in the Woods. The only thing the crew should pay attention next time is the sound. An extremely important element in a film and here it was not perfect unfortunately.
To conclude, do not miss it. A well-executed and very powerful short film.
Aftermath (2014)
Million light-years away from what it could really be
I really wanted to love this movie as it had its potentials, but I could only love certain parts of it. Colour correction and the female lead are more than satisfying as well as the emotional music, which has its inevitable strength. The ending, the last four sentences from the characters were also beautiful.
But...
Why does one need to watch a movie with worse shaky-cam "conception" than The Blair Witch Project + all Paranormal Activities put together? Find a goddamn tripod and put that camera down because you ruin your work. Why do the two characters look into the SAME direction? The camera-work all in all is extremely bad. I don't want to watch the character for a minute in little to no light in vain.
By the way, Berkan Uygun will probably be a good actor one day. Now, he is not, he needs extreme amount of practice. Not a single sentence could I believe what he said with no intonation and poor skills.
Writer/director Tofic Rzayev should really find a good cinematographer as he certainly has talent to present simple yet effective stories, but in case the technical levels fail, he can only show an average or below average movie to the audience.
Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015)
Found footage at its best
I had the opportunity to check Be My Cat, and it is pretty difficult to describe the film. Not often am I up to watch a thriller like this as I wouldn't say we are talking about a horror. Indeed, it has its elements, but rather one has to deal with a clever psycho- thriller.
Adrian Tofei is an OK writer as I think he unfortunately wrote extremely naive girls into his script. He is a good director as the "film-in-a-film" concept works pretty well. But he is a superb actor. Period. I was amazed by some of his monologues and the chemistry between Alexandra Stroe and him. By the way, the two should be discovered soon as actors. The last 15 minutes they did together was more than fascinating.
Unfortunately, negative points arose as well as some effects - yes, blood - could have been better and after I finished the movie, I had a funny feeling, Mr Tofei might have forgotten to finish his movie in a proper way.
Even if you are fed up with found footage genre, you should give a chance to Be My Cat. Nicely acted, well-executed and memorable scenes what it can offer. An innovative, brave and groundbreaking film.
Páratlan cipö (2010)
Miracles do happen!
Páratlan cipö became my favourite Elekes Pictures flick last year. It does not contain any actors, just so-called puppeteers and a pair of shoes. One could say there is nothing fancy about it but Ákos Varga actually (and finally) managed to write a heart-warming short story.
The cinematography is a little bit weak. I would of been operating with more stative shots. The music was well-chosen and composed and the ending was really able to meet my expectations.
Not perfect work but you are definitely on the right track now. It is interesting to see how you managed to make something really exciting without actors. PC shows us: small miracles are miracles too!
Ne Félj! (2010)
Not bad but could have been better...
'Ne félj!' intends to tell us about that very narrow line that does exist between life and death and the story itself was quite good. I would define it as a segments of feelings instead of calling it a short film. The actor who played the angel made a really good job. But the others... oh, my. The suffering boy was still OK but the minor characters were just plain bad. The cinematography is sufficient, I saw a lot of unnecessary shots.
Another weak point of the film is the score. J. Sean John could not match the scenes with his music. Even using no music could have been better I guess.
Keep up good working! Good luck!
Gondolat (2010)
Confused plot with great moments
I guess 'Gondolat' intended to be a mysterious flick operating with twists and dramatic movements. The crew of this film did not manage to do that. Unfortunately it lacks mystery as a phenomenon. The acting was between bad and it-is-enough type. The girl had some believable moments but the boy failed to perform well.
The cinematography is OK, the colours could have been much better. The score was horrible. But the weakest point was the plot itself. Poor dialogues and rough-and-ready storytelling were that I saw. The heart of a movie is the plot and the well-written screenplay. And nobody can make a movie without heart. Neither can you.
A 88-as felderítö (2010)
War at its best
Actually I really really liked this movie. The acting was great. I loved the portrayal of the relationship between the two soldiers. If somebody wants to see an action flick, this will not be the best choice for him. It has great action scenes in the beginning of the movie but this is rather a drama with some well-developed dialogues. I could even forgive the lack of visual effects. The use of sounds reminded me those big budget action and war films we all can see in the television or in the movies. They were superb. I also found its sad ending very good. A nice example how to do memorable things with low budget. Highly recommended independent film.
Skizofrén (2010)
Three minutes long madness
I like thrillers. I really like those movies (be short or feature length) that operate with a twist or astounding ending. Skizofrén was able to fulfil these criterias. Even if this movie was made by only one man it must be defined as superb. The acting of Tamás Sáros was quite great. I believed his feelings and the confusion in his mind. The editing is highly the best part of the movie I guess. The 'Saw-type' glimmerings were effective. In spite of its 'spoiler-containing' title, the ending was a surprise for me. 'Skizofrén' is a great example how to make a good short flick with minimal crew.
10/10