Al JenningsCult of Alfie (UK) - top 3 films of Jennifer's Bodies Film Festival
A short film about a man who wakes up with a bag on his head and rope round his neck, completely disorientated and unaware of his surroundings. A nice nod too the Saw universe, the emphasis on the clock ticking in the background was enough to torture the audience as well as the character on screen. Well Produced!
Scared Sheepless (UK)
‘Survivalismo’ is a short film by Jose Pedro Lopes of Anexo 82 Productions (follow him on Twitter @zecopeco) shown at the Abertoir Horror Festival this year. Short films are a relatively new medium for me to review so bear with me.
The film confronts the viewer with a man in a hellish situation – he is perched on a chair, a bag around his head and a noose around his neck. He is alone in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse and throughout the course of the film must come to terms with why he is there and perhaps more importantly, does he deserve it?
The concept of the film largely concerns the man coming to terms with his situation and much of the inspiration of this is taken from the Kubler-Ross school of thought of stages of grief. The stages include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance and all certainly play out in the film. What is really remarkable about this is that even with the short 9 minute timescale none of these stages feel rushed and all add to the intensity. The performance of the lead enhances this further and even without seeing his face you do feel a connection to him.
What begins as an individual facing his own inevitable death becomes a larger metaphor for all loss and grief. There are many times in life where we ask ‘Why me?’ and this film deals with those feelings of judgement that arise when those things happen. I won’t reveal all about this film as it is a much more interesting and shocking experience.
I am very excited about the next project from Anexo 82 Productions and you should definitely look them up and see ‘Survivalismo’ however you can. Thank you to Jose Pedro Lopes for the opportunity to review this wonderful bite-size piece of intensity.
Hayley Alice Roberts e Elliot Mcintosh
Quadramania (UK)
Quadramania (UK)
'SURVIVALISMO': A Review by Justin Hamelin (Mangled Matters)
I was fortunate enough to have a message in my Facebook inbox one day from the exceptionally talented Mr. Lopes, asking if I'd be interested in watching and reviewing his short, 'Survivalismo'.
I had recently found out the film was selected into the 2012 Jennifer's Bodies Film Festival, which is run by one of my favorite ladies in the history of the world, Jennifer Cooper, out in Scotland. So if Ms. Cooper was enamored with it enough to add it to her film festival, I knew it was going to be something that was going to knock my socks off.
Holy shit, what an understatement.
'Survivalismo' is eight minutes and ten seconds of some of the most raw, nerve-racking emotional twists and turns I've ever experienced in a film.
Director Lopes does an unbelievable job immediately gluing your eyes to the screen and once the final credits start rolling, there's a good chance you'll realize you didn't blink at all in those 490 seconds that you just watched.
The lead character, an unnamed man whose face we never seen, awakes in a dingy basement with a burlap sack over his head and a noose around his neck. He is teetering on a chair and before long, he is also teetering on the edge of sanity- spinning through the 'five stages of grief', as defined by the Kübler-Ross Model at a break neck pace.
We find out more about this fellow in eight minutes than his best friend, girlfriend and anyone else close to him know in the lifetime they've spent together.
Does the man survive or does he succumb to his grief over the truth as he crashes through the Five Stages?
Reminiscent of the original 'Saw' in several regards, but even MORE psychologically effective, 'Survivalismo' left my jaw hanging and my blood cold when the final scene cut.
Hollywood, you've been warned- it's minds like Mr. Lopes that are keeping independent films rolling on all cylinders. Tinseltown big wigs, you could learn a thing or two (or five) from peeps like José.
10/10
JF Hunt - Creepercast
According to Jose, Survivalismo “is an experimental horror movie, based on the 5 Stages of Grief of the Kubbler-Ross Model. Designed to be the total opposite of the torture horror movies.” Knowing that, this one requires repeated viewing! At least for me, the first time I saw it the film seemed to test my patience. But when it got to the end of its eight and half minute run the payoff was so intense I needed to watch it again to truly appreciate what had brought it to that point. The lack of background music and attention to small natural sounds actually puts us into the head of the guy we are watching. We also picture his surroundings much as he does and all of those little details make it that much more creepy. As he goes through his five stages we learn more about him, and that in the end he is quiet possibly the worst friend anyone could have. Then the twist comes, which actually made my eyes pop wide open while I declared “Holy Shit!” I have no intention of ruining this one for you all so please, do what ever it takes to see it. It also comes as a horror festival surprise having been featured in some major fantastic festivals such as Yubari Fanta Film Festival, (Japan), and The Abertoir Horror Film Festival Melies D’Argent Competition (UK). I may also be able to blame it for inspiring me to write my own Kubbler-Ross related short film that will gladly share the script with anyone who wants to read. Just comment below! But this isn’t about me, it’s about Jose…PAULO PERALTA, http://cineuphoria09.blogspot.pt/
Survivalismo de José Pedro Lopes é uma interessante curta-metragem portuguesa que nos transporta para um armazém abandonado onde encontramos um homem amarrado e com uma corda ao pescoço. Desconhecendo os motivos que o levaram até àquele exacto momento, este homem que inicialmente se revolta pela sua deficiente condição, cedo a recusa apenas para nos revelar mais tarde os seus próprios porquês que a todos nos irão surpreender.
Os instantes iniciais desta curta-metragem são por um lado interessantes porque nos colocam numa situação de surpresa visto que desconhecemos o que terá levado aquele homem até ali, como também de expectativa pois aguardamos algo que nos indicie os momentos seguintes.
Se inicialmente o argumento de José Pedro Lopes consegue cativar e fazer-nos criar uma certa "empatia pela vítima" devido ao seu desespero que nos revela que quanto mais se revolta mais a corda aperta, não deixa também de ser verdade que se revela um pouco tremido quando a "vítima" finalmente se revela, numa aparente (apenas) tentativa de dar um significado àquilo que ali se passa.
É, no entanto, quando percebemos o verdadeiro espaço em que nos encontramos que todas essas explicações fazem finalmente sentido e transformam o final desta curta-metragem num interessante twist que consegue dar-lhe a credibilidade que esperamos e criar a intensidade que esperamos de um trabalho de suspense que a todos acabará por satisfazer.
