The Isolation Distancing - ShortsTV

“Nowhere to Run” (2019): Simple but intense short set in the wild has a couple (Josh Gilmer and Brittany Wolf) backpacking in the idyllic woods (except for a giant cockroach), interrupted by this tattooed, bulging-muscled, foul-mouthed, filthy and hideous cretin, just ruining an engagement because he wants to rape and molest Wolf. While Gilmer is pissing, this creep with wicked eyes (Mike Ferguson) attacks him with a sledgehammer, assuring himself no intrusion on an attempt to abuse Wolf (who tries to flee but is cornered near a cliff with nowhere to go, knocked unconscious by Ferguson with the handle of the sledgehammer). Wolf will have to outsmart the much larger Ferguson in order to gain any advantage. A convenient bottle is available as is his discarded sledgehammer at Ferguson’s sparse cabin in the woods; will she be able to flee or does she want to stand and get revenge. With female empowerment out of a scary situation more than a bit obvious as a closing point made, I am sure this short film will leave viewers disappointed as whether or not she’s victor against the more imposing Ferguson is left to consider. **/**** Part of ShortsTV’s “Midnight” series.

Jason (Chris Kang) arrives at his brother’s place, not finding him home at his apartment, hearkening back to a memory when he scared Andrew (Ryan Keem) with a tale about Eyecatcher (Koreatown is the setting where this boogeyman seems to lurk in an alley led by a bird)—when it is the memory as big brother tells little brother when they were children in their bedroom there are illustrations of the creature—before eventually finding a laptop informing him that his brother would be late (out to get some more booze). So Jason cleans up all the liquor bottles and scrubs the floors, sort of organizing the disheveled apartment before lying down on the Andrew’s little bed, slipping off for a nap, finding a dead mouse on his lap (and eventually a dead bird on the sidewalk outside). He decides to walk the sidewalk, encountering a homeless young woman brushing her teeth (and spitting on her street), scaring her off eventually with the bird he found (and mention of Eyecatcher). He does eventually walk into the wrong alley while looking for Andrew (the homeless woman, speaking in Korean, is clueless as to where he is) and right into this old guy sitting down in some urban dwelling, turning around to reveal himself to be a ghoul. The short film crew dressed up the old guy with creepy eye contacts, and the film has him walk distortedly. Jason tripping over his shoelaces and falling to the floor as the ghoul seems poised to “possess” him cracked me up instead of what I guess was meant to be horrifying. Andrew returning to his apartment and finding his brother under the bed, seemingly the Eyecatcher, pulled under the bed with subsequent sound effects to indicate a horrible end might get a brief jump scare. A nightmare dark tale come true and the brothers who succumb to its boogeyman…it’s quick and over in a hurry, giving us a glimpse into the brothers youth and later as adult brothers. Jason knows Andrew quite well, even when they have been apart (the laptop recording Jason was able to say what Andrew was up to before he said it), which was a nice touch. But the brothers never meet and Jason spends a lot of his time with the homeless women in Koreatown. **/****

“Full Moon” (2000): A witch gathers her two friends (and a third who was invited) for the full moon to perform a ritual from a book by burning hairs under lit candles conjuring a possessive demon or something (that possesses the outsider who is outspoken, irritating witch, Amy, preparing an evening just for her friends, one of which is now pregnant). Lights go on and off, there is some noise, the pregnant friends gets nausea and vomits in the break room, and a levitating possessed victim lifts up her arms with feet off the floor and screeching from a hideous face no longer hers. The short film does have a bonding scene as the witches sit around a table (before the night goes south) revealing something about themselves…the cute goes awry because witchery during the full moon might bring about evil. **/**** I liked the chemistry of the ladies in the film so an extra * added.

“Tu Me Plais” (I Like You; 2017): Lovers (Francesca Ritrovato and Maxime Colin Yves) in a bathroom discuss the harassing boss that keeps her working and upset. He thinks she should tell him off while she contemplates what to do about the situation. Ritrovato, nude in the tub, takes to her mobile, realizing that her job is a bit stressful while Yves shaves and tells her how much he wants/desires her. They kiss and nose caress a bit but as she is about to suck his cock, Yves pulls away feeling while she does that the employer would be on Ritrovato’s mind. Not much to this one, but the conclusion of this seven minute short seemed to indicate to me that she kind of likes the boss despite his straining demands on her. I assume, despite their handsome look together, the inability to push the man not there out of the conversation (and out of her life), the relationship might remain strained. The novelty of the short is that it almost entirely takes place in the bathroom. **/****. Ritrovato and Yves both bare their bodies but despite some breasts and a smidgen of dick, I didn’t think this was anything that erotic or smoldering…which was probably the point.