Bloodtype Online

The short films of Patrick Rea 

Recently I had the opportunity to check out a few excellent short films from Patrick Rea.  Since they are all around the 10-minute mark I thought that I would review them all at once.  But before I go into the individual movies I wanted to talk just a little bit about the overall quality of all of the movies.  All seven of the shorts that I received boast excellent casts.  I end up reviewing quite a few independent movies and I can honestly say that no company or director has had such consistently good acting in their projects.  Additionally all seven of these shorts are well-shot, good sound, and posses’ decent special effects.  There are a few instances of CGI, but given the budget and overall quality of these movies it didn’t bother me a bit.  So now that I’ve got that out of the way lets look at the plots of the films and be warned there are spoilers in the reviews. 

Torture Porn 

    Lets talk a little bit about Torture Porn.  This clever little movie is a comedic take on the latest trend in the horror genre, the torture movie.  It takes place in a barren room with a young guy tied up to a chair and an older man dressed in a rubber apron ala Hostel.  The only thing here is that as hard as the man tries he can’t seem to get a reaction out of his intended victim.  Hell everything that he cuts off grows right back before his eyes.  Of course something must be up and before the movie is over the tables have been turned and the torturer gets a taste of his own medicine.  Yeah and before I forget make sure to keep an eye out of the Reservoir Dogs homage.  

Prisoner Exchange at Bannon’s Lookout 

    A news crew is traveling with the mother and father of a kidnapped little girl to Bannon’s Lookout.  The night she was taken a note was left in her room telling them the day and time that she would be left for them at the Lookout.  But in the meantime the girl’s father managed to capture the child of what took her and it isn’t human.  So together with the news crew they head off to exchange it’s child for theirs.  But the moment they are reunited the father springs an ambush and the creatures are mowed down in a hail of gunfire.  Returning home in the car the girls is very upset with them for killing the creatures.  It seems they were protecting her from the others.  Who are the others?  Well that would be ruining the ending wouldn’t it?   

Café at the Crossroads 

Something really bad has happened and the sky has turned red.  This means that everyone who goes outside gets burned and goes a bit crazy.  So imagine the surprise of the customers at an isolated café when in strolls a man who calmly sits down and orders a coffee.  They are really surprised when he announces that he is there to collect their souls.  The dialogue hints that he is perhaps the devil, but he certainly doesn’t get his due.  Well I suppose maybe he does because the patrons of the café aren’t what they appear to be.  Lets just say the H.P. Lovecraft fan in me had lots of fun with this one! 

Emergency Preparedness 

    The world has gone to hell and a lone survivor has barricaded himself in his home listening to the radio news bulletins of the chaos outside his door.  Not only that but he has managed to capture one of the creatures in his basement responsible for the attacks!  That is why it pays to be prepared, but then again maybe no one is out to get you and you are just being paranoid.  If you haven’t figured out yet that most of these shorts all have some sort of twist ending then you haven’t been paying enough attention.  Lets just say that being prepared can backfire on you. 

Merriam’s Circle 

    This is my least favorite of the short films.  I think that it is supposed to be a ghost story, but I’m not sure.  An elderly woman keeps seeing the same car drive by her house.  When she asks her neighbor to check it out the car speeds away.  But soon it is back, following her to the store, appearing in her garage, and eventually in her house!  Some of the dialogue hints that the recent death of her husband may be connected with what everyone assumes is her hallucinations of the car.  The ending is confusing and honestly I’m not sure what the story was trying to get across.   

Woman’s Intuition 

    A young lady goes to the doctor insisting that she must have some sort of fatal disease.  After extensive testing he comes back and tells her that she is fine.  Then the young lady explains to him that she has a sort of sixth sense about danger.  Whenever she is in danger she hears a buzzing sound, and explains to him (thru flashbacks) of several times this ability has steered her clear of harm.  So this latest time when she started to hear the sound she left where she was, but the sound never went away.  Even after traveling hundreds of miles the warning remained.  So that is why she assumed she had something wrong with her.  But after more assurances from her doctor she leaves his office confident that everything is going to be fine.  But of course it isn’t!  This is one of my favorites (only second to the next) and has a killer twist at the end.   

Shed out of Luck 

    The tables have turned on a hunter when he is held captive in an old shed by the very animals that he was after.  Not only that but when he starts asking for food and water they start to feed him his brother in law, who was hunting with him.  This really isn’t a spoiler because the character figures it out pretty early on, but since he is really hungry doesn’t seem to care.  Finally the animals let him go and give him back his gun, but why would they do that?   

    If only half of the independent movies I watch and review for Bloodtypeonline were as good as these my life would be so much better.  But getting to see quality stories like this makes it worth sitting thru all the crap.  I can honestly say that I enjoyed each and every one of the shorts that I watched including Merriam’s Circle.  Rea is a very talented filmmaker and has made a fan out of me. Some of the movies that I reviewed are available to watch for free on the Internet at http://www.senoreality.com/ so what are you waiting for?  I highly recommend that you guys go out right now and check this stuff out. 

Rating - ****

- John “El Juan” Shatzer