Welcome to the second part of the Straight for the Kill short film program that’s going on at the Philadelphia Film Festival. Just a quick announcement, not all of the film playing in this program will be reviewed, as there were a couple of films that weren’t on the screener that I was sent, but I will try to bring coverage to these films at a later date, as if everything goes according to plan, I will have a four part to this series, so stay tuned.


Rite
Year: 2009
Director: Alicia Conway
Studio: Dobleronfilm
Stars: Tabitha Morella, Kelly Holden-Bashar, David Bickford
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 9 Mins
Official Website: http://www.ritefilm.com/

“Rite" tells the story of a girl, who’s going through the passage into adulthood. The takes place at a social gathering, where a young girl is getting ready to take part in a ritual. Before the ritual, she begins to hear strange distorted voices. Soon, she partakes in something that represent a transition from childhood to adulthood. An interesting fact about “Rite”, the editor of the film is Ben Rock, who is also the husband of Alicia Conway, but genre fans know him very well, as the director of “Alien Raiders”, a very intense and entertaining alien invasion flick that’s in video stores, right now from Raw Feed Films.

I liked it, when directors try to do different things within the confines of this genre, because there are still original ideas left, but you never see that more often. “Rite” is one haunting visual films that works on all levels. Director, Alicia Conway does a great making this film different, in a sense that’s there’s no chaos happening. The reason for that was that she made a film that focuses on a message about a difficult time, in a child’s life, when that child is going through the passage into adulthood.

Now you’re wondering why, you should check this film, since this doesn’t sound like a horror film. The reason that this film is considered a horror film, the imagery that Conway uses is very dark and Gothic. Everything in this film comes off, like a first rate film, from the production to the film score. Everything looks professional. One of the reasons for this is the imagery. Conway uses this imagery, so that it makes the subject matter interesting and keeps you glued to the screen. She also manages to direct the performances in a way that you feel like you’re in this fantasy world that takes place in the film. Conway also manages to get a very haunting and Gothic score for the film. Not taking away from this very good film, but the best part of the film was it’s score, which was done by Kays Al-Atrakchi. The score added to the film’s dark tone, which also makes the story, haunting.

Besides the score, I really liked the fact that Conway sets out to write a different kind of horror film that focuses on a theme and not the over the top violence that most horror films are accustomed to. One of the things that makes this very different, the way the film’s story told from the main character’s eyes. You get to see things from her perspective, which makes this an interesting character study. It makes you get a look at the mind of a person, before through something life changing. What also made this screenplay different, the fact that Conway makes this film more of a visual piece than a conventional film with a lot of needless chattering and action. This visual piece works, because the images fit the surreal-ness and dark tone of the story.

“Rite” is a very dark and haunting surreal film that definitely worth your time.

Review Rating: Five Stars

The Fairy Princess
Year: 2009
Director: Stephen Lyman
Studio: Compound Pictures
Stars: Damian Buzzerio, Cara Marano
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 14Mins

"The Fairy Princess” is a dark short film that takes place on Halloween night, in a small community. One of the people in that community is spending the night passing candy to the various youngsters. Later in the night, he comes across a young girl, who is dressed like a fairy. He abducts her and locks her up in his basement. Little does he know that the tables are about to turns, as this is no ordinary little girl.

“The Fairy Princess” is a very dark but well acted film. Writer/Director, Stephen Lyman does a very good job creating a dark atmosphere that gives the film its uneasy tone, given the subject matter. It really makes you feel uneasy with the situation at hand. Another thing that made this film good was the way that Lyman directs the two main actors. He does a very good job making one so sweet and innocent, while making the villain, a total creep. It makes it very uneasy and haunting.

The screenplay written by Lyman and Wenoah Wilms was good in creating a dark Halloween story with the subject matter at hand. The subject matter that they chose made the film story and screenplay very dark and gives you this eerie vibe that present through out the rest of the film. The subject matter also gives you this sickening feeling that you feel, for most of the film, which also might make some people who watch this, just to feel a little frightened. Another thing the screenplay does well, the way the writers develop the action, as they did a good job setting up the situations and the characters, as the payoff is well worth sitting through.

“The Fairy Princess” is a dark fable that will make you feel frighten with the subject matter at hand.

Review Rating 3.5 Stars