MIDNIGHT SNACK

Produced by David Passine and Karen Hunt
Written, Edited, and Directed by Shawn Hunt
Director of Photography - Marc Fenneuff

Man - Michael Passine
Woman - Nadia Campbell
Creature - Dominic Passine

As a standing rule, I don't review downloads off the internet, but the makers of MIDNIGHT SNACK sent me their film about a week before they posted it online. Since it's available for everyone to view for free, I suggest you take a look at the movie before you read the rest of this review. Unlike most of the other reviews at B-Independent.com, there's little reason for me not to discuss the film in detail since I don't have to worry about ruining any surprises.

Click here to view MIDNIGHT SNACK

Playing on the joy-filled side of cute, the O-Henry-like nature of the short actually comes from the title. It's set up going in one direction and "boom", there's the punchline.

The short works in that it plays with childhood fears, especially the "monster under the bed" idea. As a youngster, you hear a floorboard creek, or see a shadow cross your ceiling, and you instantly believe there's a monster in your room. I've been there, done that, and was even so afraid that I ended up wetting the bed because I was too afraid to get up and turn on the light (that light switch was on the other side of the room and there was no way in hell I was going to get that Gollumgager the chance to pull my little fanny under the bed or into the closet with the witches). For me, growing up was hell. Every shadow had a different horror waiting to get me.

We have all also woken in the middle of the night with the munchies. Some of us a little too often as my current waistline indicates.

It's universal commonalities like these that allow viewers a quick rapor with the characters in short films. The idea is to get to the point as quickly as possible, but that doesn't mean the filmmaker can't cheat the audience out of an entire story.

The opening of MIDNIGHT is a little long and could probably use some tightening, at least in those early shots. Coming in under 5 minutes total, it still feels like it takes to long to get to the kitchen. Perhaps some quicker cuts would have been in order. The same shots, just quicker cuts.

The gothic atmosphere is great. Excellent cinematography and use of shadows. It's like the boogeyman just stepped out of one.

Adding to the gothic atmosphere is an excellent score by Christopher Kahler. It's all other-worldly loops without sounding overly techno.

The twist itself is pure O'Henry and works even without the title, although I think the title adds a layer of dark humor and drives home the joke.

As the movie played I kept being reminded of a shortfilm showcase John Carpenter hosted a few years back. I believe it played on Sci-Fi and was part of a national short film contest. All the shorts were around two-minutes or so, and contained recycled material. As MIDNIGHT SNACK played I kept think how similar it felt to those short, only better. Those shorts were about cliches and horror conventions, MIDNIGHT SNACK is about the twist. After seeing the winners, I'm sure with a little tightening MIDNIGHT SNACK could have won that contest.

Crazy Ralph Films

Drunken Flesh Films

---