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SHADOWS IN FOG
First up is "Last Stop Station,"from Kumpon. Shot is black and white, Kumpon provides a uniquely modern spin on an old-style monster movie. Kumpon himself portrays a tabloid photographer who pulls into the wrong late night gas station where a pair of free-wheeling grim reapers fill up and service his car. Seeing the opportunity to turn the situation into a headlining paycheck, he burns a roll on the demonic duo. But as these things often turn out, the reapers want something in return.
Produced, Directed, Written, and Edited by Andy Kumpon and Wayne Spitzer SHADOWS IN FOG is a short film collection where the very title conjures images of classic horror and noir thrillers...the things nightmares are made of. Directors Andy Kumpon and Wayne Spitzer aren't Murnau or Lang, but he does create some beautiful images that reveal their Lovecraft-charged expressionistic roots.
While the short is "cute" at best, with a humerous punchline at the end, it's the striking black and white visuals that allow the short to excel. Worth viewing for this reason alone, any one of images would a fine still suitable for framing above my desk.
It should also be noted that Kumpon is just as comfortable in front of the camera as he is behind, turning in a comic performance that's as believable as it is funny.
Comprising the second half of SHADOWS IN FOG is "Shadows in the Garden" from Wayne Spitzer. In the town of Cthulhu Gardens, a predator is stalking the townspeople. Fortunately, Cthulhu Gardens has it's own Swamp Thing-like guardian in the form of one of the nameless Old Gods who watches over the night in a Neighborhood Watch kind of way.
Shot in color, "Shadows in the Garden" is no less striking to look at as "Last Stop Station." Told almost completely silently, Spitzer takes it upon himself to tell a story completely through visuals alone. At times he cheats with the help of newspaper headlines, but it's that visual device that allowed Lang to get around the censors with the classic M.
Even more impressive is how sympathetic Spitzer is able to make the creature. Doing so goes against the Lovecraftian roots of the piece, but it creates a nice juxtaposition with the underlying themes of man versus nature.
Unlike the work of companies like Titan Productions, who make direct translations of Lovecraft's work, Spitzer and Kumpon use Lovecraft as a launching pad to spin their own unique visions. To their credit, they bring to the table exactly what I've always found lacking in Lovecraft's work, humor and pathos.