"Halfway" Horrorfest Entry

This one definitely scored some points with me in overall creepiness and fear. I liked the cinematography, sound design, editing, ect; but what stood out more than anything was the execution of this piece in it's entirety. You had little time to work with and used what you had to your advantage (buddies pub), that's the Robert Rodriguez way to make movies.

This is a very solid, very polished film that tells me you've got some real talent when it comes to directing. You utilized VFX well and they didn't drown the film. I love the way he can't see the creature but the video camera can pick him up. Neverminding how logical or rational it might be, it's downright freaky and reminded me of 'The Descent' when they've got the night vision mode turned on their handicam.

Nice work, I enjoyed it!
 
FEEDBACK/SPOILERS:

Script: You made us wait a long time to deliver and with one actor it's hard
to set up a quicker pace. A tad slow and difficult to pull off without another
actor to interact, still, all in all, nice ending was worth the watch.

Editing: Solid. I felt disoriented as though I were going through it with him.

OVERALL: This is along the spine of a true horror flick. Better than some of the
others I thought were horror, this one has that disorienting feel, that alone
feel, that I'm a dead-man feel, a true horror ending. This is why I hate horror,
I hate the feeling I get when it's over, creep factor. Nice job.
 
Review | POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT! I watch the movies first time around strictly for enjoyment, second and third for review.

I'm back to Horror-Fest reviews and Hallway is up next! I hadn't even seen your thread for entry yet, I'm also not reading other reviews until I've watched and posted my own. Neat short, dude.

Script - Another short where I think there might've just been a skeletal structure. Maybe an outline, but no script. Then again that's just me talking. If there was, I wouldn't imagine it would've or should've been over three pages. There's a lot that could've been condensed here and you would've achieved the same thing.

Direction - It's a dark and spooky atmosphere here. I loved the coverage on that creepy ass bag. It reminded me a lot of the foreign film AUDITION. Like the application of hand-held here as well, from start to finish. Especially when the bag starts eating the guy.

Acting - Nothing to really showcase but facial expressions and screaming. Your guy screams okay, I guess. Lol. The bag is the best actor though. That thing was straight grim.

Cine/Lighting - It was a toss up, but I'm calling Cine/Lighting your best asset. Flickering lights didn't look too much like strobe lights, and even less like someone literally flicking the lights on and off really fast. Dunno how you did it, but it worked well. I also like the choice of location. Basement scenes have been over done in this fest, but I don't mind it at all here. It's a feeding ground, not a torture chamber.


Editing - Paced well. I think that the entirety could've been edited down for the content alone since there's not really any story going on. The cuts were good, you sliced the intense bag devouring scene really well. It did it for me.

Sound - Best headphone experience for me yet. Really clear, really pristine. The bag sounded mighty mean in my ears. The groans and grunts were there, the little shifts and moves of the bag. And I liked the overall "hum" that played throughout. Great sound.

Special Effects - So far some of the the best fest Special Effects for me. The darkness coming out of the bag, the bag itself moving and undulating like a bag filled with exactly what it was: evil. I love how you made the tied end kind of squirm and whip. A little blood went a long way. I'm not sure what was in the bag that made him bleed, but there's nothing that says whatever was in it wasn't armed with some sharp toenails. The face in the door was neat. Seen it before, but that doesn't make it any less neato to see in a DVX fest short.

Scariest Moments - The pay-off. The bag eating the dude. Well done. Well sold.

Overall consensus - While I'm putting in a lot of good comments I have a few things that threw me off. Aside from the length, I also notice that it falls victim to a lot of convention. The crawling man on the floor, the camera watching in the room, the face in the door (It was still neat). Machine-gun cuts. It was all well and good, but the conglomeration of popular pieces was a bit too spot-on. However, very good work. This is as horror as Horror should be. In fact, I could count on my fingers the closest-to-horror horror movies here and yours is on that same hand. Another fest entry without a story, and even if it's horror I believe you can still throw a plot in. It doesn't change the fact that I think this was a good/fun exhibition. And thank you for that.
 
I see Kholi liked the sound. I am telling this, dont know how people will take it, but I think I must say it...in the UK they KNOW HOW TO DO THE BEST AUDIO STUFF! From my experience, the professional work done over there is AMAZING! Not putting down US audio guys, but IMHO when it comes to audio, Brits know they're stuff!!!
 
This was the "Scariest film of the fest" for me. I liked the lighting and the effects of the scary crawler dude. It just all worked and deserves to be watched. Congratulations on an amazing movie!
 
Really glad you guys are liking it.

Some very complimentary comments there, and some constructive stuff too.

Geoff, for you to say I have good directing skills is a real compliment. I thought project 47 was very claustrophibic, there was a lot about it I loved as you know. 'The descent' is an interesting comment, I wrote a script a while back and had this scene in on nightvision. after I saw "the Descent" I was like.. 'oh crap...',. So I wrote it out of my script and it found it's way in here instead :-)

charli, thanks also. I think you're right that it's a touch slower than most of the entries here. But I dont see that as a bad thing. I relied heavily on the build-up and atmos to make the end more effective. I personally think if it had gone straight into it, it wouldnt have been effective. Tho after sitting through hours of short films maybe some bits could be chopped down to aid the ailing viewer in this contest :-). thanks for the positive feeddback!

Kholi, yup It does borrow heavily from a lot of horror conventions, but I dont think more so than any other film here. I've always been a fan of trying to do horror/vfx handheld and that was my main aim. I dont think thats too conventional but of course the jumps/scary bits are! Thanks for the in depth review, the script was thin/structure like I'll be honest. Most of my favourite horror films dont have too much of a plot. they are more primal than that.


Msconce - well thats just amazing, thank you so much for the comment. I havent got round to watching Stricken yet (im getting thru them slowly) but I will and I'll give you my feedback too.

And thanks a lot Paul too, people watching my film and commenting is as good as it can get!
 
One of the creepier ones on here. I thought it was gonna be very "Saw" at first, but you proved me wrong. :)

Pretty solid, don't have much to add to what's been said.
 
Acting: Solid but wanted more.
Script: Simple idea well executed. Creepy/ strange/ original.
Direction: Unique.
Music: Loved the simple sound design.
Editing: Tight my man.
Lighting: Looked ace, strobe added to the chill fact.
Loved: Titles, the warning (genius), T.V. shot in the distance (added a perspective I haven’t seen in any other film yet), the camera Foley, the blue demon, the crawling demon (did you AE his eyes and mouth out??)
Hated: Too little dialogue. The fact you didn’t call it “The Sack” or “Sack”, one cut that was cut to the same angle, also when the corner was brightly lit you cut to the wide but missed any spill. I’m struggling to find something wrong I really loved this film.
Overall: First film that really appealed to what I’m about and want to do. I honestly think this is a sleeper hit amongst giants. Horror. This film should get the recognition it deserves.

Reminds me of Danny Boyle's early work. Top stuff.
J.P.
 
I lack the time to write a really detailed critique of this one, but I really felt I needed to say something. So, here it is:

I liked this one a lot.

It was simple in that it was a single location, but you made a single location work (high praise deserved for pulling off that one).

This is one of the few that live up to this fests name, Horror. This film captures a horrifying point in time. Your lighting them worked on every level, I can't fault anything here. The camera moves were perfect, framing was generally very good.

The creature effect was maybe, just maybe, a little "corny" (hope that this translates to British English) but your "mates" performance really sold it for me, so I can over look it with out any effort.

This is top notch in every sense of the term. You used your running time perfectly, getting straight into it without needing any back story.

GREAT JOB!
 
This movie really spoke to horror for me.

Perhaps he got out of the ropes too easily, but on the other hand maybe he is supposed to so he can find the sack...

The frantic cutting and shooting style helped build the terror, here.

I've got to say that if I ever find myself in a place like this...I'm gonna be looking for a way out, not helping someone out of a sack...

You've done well with your limitations of cast and crew.

You've got a dark vision and I look forward to seeing more from you.

Oh, I almost forgot to ask: the title...Halfway, where does that come from?
 
Wow - thanks for all of the feedback - Really. I'm very very pleased here.

JP - we did have the title of the sack at first. but my problem with that is that it toally gives away that the sack is the important part. My intention was to make the audience think that a human is in that sack and the confrontation may lie elsewhere. But if I called it the sack I think people would be suspicious?

hmmmm.... i dunno...lol

Halfway was a last minute title. it was originally 'capricious state' which is even worse.

Halfway bascially means mid-point. A holding place from one place to the next. halfway to heaven, to hell, whatever. the point of no going back. .. that was the reasoning but clearly it didnt work....ahaha

As for giving Mark more dialogue, poor thing, we did !!! and we had to cut it cos it sounded pretty bad.......No offense to Mark, he is a director not an actor. My guess is I'll be acting bad in his next short too! lol.

but who cares, the fact you like the film blows my nuts off! Oh and corny translates pretty well... thats ok, it was only mark again with a face full of talc and a strobe light -yeh I blakced his eyes out in post

thanks again, amazing responses here!
 
I thought this was awesome. I still have a couple to watch, but this is my fav. I think by far. Everything was very slick. The style is very modern, but the fast cuts were not annoying like a lot of Hollywood movies are. Fantastic job.
 
With the quality of films and talent in this years fest, these comments mean so much to me.

You know for a long time I was making shorts and putting them on my shelf. But this year I decided to show my work and try to be more active in my film-making (I stalled for a while).

This competition really gives me motivation to continue, seriously, it's such a nice feeling that my work is being seen across the globe somewhere! And they are taking the time to comment on it.
 
HOLY MOTHER ****ING POOP NUGGETS!!!!!!!! THIS IS MY OFFICIAL FAVORITE!!!!!


THI ROCKED OUT HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANT BELIEVE HOW GOOD THIS WAS!!!

IT was like a connosiour of Chris Cunningham, and Mark Romanek met with the evil demon that lives in my brain, had ameeting figured out exactly what im afraid of.... the made it a movie.. **** you. THis is Amazing. I have given you the highest score ive given

Congrats thsi was great. Damn maybe i'll hire you to DP my next movie......


And you can quote me!
 
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