HORROR DVD/BLU-RAY REVIEWS

Four friendly poker buddies (well, three are friendly, one's just an arsehole) are waiting for their fifth player to show up. When he does, a new player is shocked by Ken's unusual new career. It seems that Ken is now a serial killer, and he's having trouble seperating his work life from his social life!

Now this is a short with some serious talent on display. I was digging the buddy vibe right up until the gnarly twist of the serial killer, and the dark gallows humour that it produced was right up my alley.

First off, the script was tight, and the dialogue flowed due to the performances of the five actors in the film. The shots were basic but nicely done, and the comedic pacing was excellent. I especially loved the serial killer Ken, played by Samuel Lloyd. He was so likeable and unassuming, that after their new buddy bolts from the game in fear, when Ken declares he'll start seperating work from poker after he plans to "Hunt down Brian and fu*k his corpse in the bathtub" I almost pissed myself laughing. Disturbing and funny, my kind of mix. This short film (just over 13 minutes) is filled with such one-liners that will catch you off guard, just like a nonechallant serial killer pal would when he bitches about work and brings a dead (or should I say hald-dead) victim to the weekly poker game.

Writer/Director Ryan Levin shows some amazing creativity and talent here, giving us a short darker-than-dark comedy that sports some wicked laughs, well shaped characters, so interesting and well done gore, and a tight little package all in a short time frame. Very good job indeed. This one was far and above better than most indie shorts out there, which is high praise considering the amount of short films that people are independently producing these days. Levin's Battle Of Ireland Films just may be a small company to watch out for.

And I swear, if this ever happens to me I'll never gamble again! I mean could you imagine the mess of the poker table after a girl has been brained to death on it!

Video: 1.66:1 Widescreen.

Audio: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround).

A very professional and dead-on comedy short, that's just grisly enough to qualify as a grade A genre effort. This seemingly everyday situation, with a twisted twist of horror thrown in and keeping you off your guard, is hard to execute. But Levin and cast pull it off, and the results are bone chilling and hilarious. And the medium of the short film is perfect for this kind of tale. This is one of the best one's I've seen lately, and I hope that they keep them coming!