Judge, Juror #2, and Executioner

Imagine being wakened by a bright light, not like that of some sort of alien abduction, but rather as if someone was snapping your photo, with the flash on, in the pitch black of your own bedroom. . . well, that is the concept of the 2015 short film Polaroid. Produced, directed, filmed and edited by Alex “Pressplay” Wohleber, it is a vignette of sheer terror. Waking from the bright light and distinct sound of a Polaroid picture being taken, our lead, simply known as Guy (Matt Halpern – also a producer), not only finds himself in a possible robbery situation, but also quickly learns that the electricity in his home isn’t working.

It is likely that this sounds familiar: a movie about a group of people who enter an unusual strip club that ends up being packed with vampires – I would fashion a guess that most film afficionado’s would immediately point to the now iconic Quentin Tarantino penned (and executive produced), Robert Rodriguez directed 1996 horror feature From Dusk Till Dawn. . . though this concept was actually first done a decade earlier in the 1986 horror comedy Vamp. Producer Donald P. Borchers came up with a simple idea, ‘vampire strippers’, and decided to take it to a young filmmaker with only one well respected short film to his name – Dracula Bites the Big Apple, Richard Wenk (now a well respected screenwriter who has penned such films as 16 Blocks, The Equalizer, the remake of The Magnificent Seven and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), who expanded the idea and took on the role of director as well.

Human nature is fickle. For all the good things that come with it, there is a belief, even a drive, to be right. Perhaps best termed a stubborn streak, we feel that we alone can have the appropriate perspective on an issue, leading to countless gripes between neighbours or amongst family members. It is likely that, if we travelled back two thousand years, Ancient Romans would be having similar tiffs in which both believe they are in the right. It is this scenario that comes to life in the absurdist 2017 short film Punch Bag, a dark comedy with a unique vision. Written and directed by Daniel Harding, the narrative follows Naomi (Ingvild Deila), a woman who finds herself in one such similar situation, disgruntled with the intrusive noise of her neighbours. Finding a striking yellow and red pamphlet that offers aid for such matters, she waits outside the business office, growing more hesitant to enter after hearing the lopsided row going on inside.

A wonderful feel-good story, Swedish director Davis F. Sandberg, now known for his 2016 full length feature debut Lights Out and the currently-in-theatres horror prequel Annabelle: Creation, started as an animator and documentary/short filmmaker. In a dangerous amount of debt back in 2013, he wrote and directed a short film titled, perhaps you’ve guessed it, Lights Out. Released at the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge Film Festival, it made it to the finals, and won Sandberg the Best Director award. Then, the power of the Internet kicked in, and Lights Out shot from thousands of views to millions – and Hollywood higher ups came scrambling. The man, formerly in financial difficulties, has now become a name to watch in this recent renaissance of the horror genre out of Tinseltown.

Sending a cold brisk current down the viewers’ spine, Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River is a darkly piercing mystery crime thriller with an old school western vibe. Providing the film with a unique spin much like another story he penned, Hell or High Water (which earned Sheridan an Academy Award nomination), the motion picture has the feel of a traditional western updated with modern topics and themes. Like a John Ford epic, you’ll find a posse searching for answers, characters chock full of bravery, a sort of wild lawlessness, and picturesque yet harsh locales, though this is not set in the blistering deserts of the nineteenth century wild west, but rather on an Indian reserve in present day Montana, where the chilling wind blows a substance no less forgiving – snow.

Following in the vein of other epic adventure tales of the past, like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Lawrence of Arabia, ‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ and Apocalypse Now, writer/director James Gray’s adaptation of David Grann’s The Lost City of Z is a dangerously grand journey into the mysterious jungles of the Amazon. The 2017 feature is based on real life British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) – an Indiana Jones type, who, at the start of the narrative, is a military man with low standing due to his father’s previous actions (despite the fact Percy never met him). Looked down upon by the wealthy upperclassmen of the military, he is sent to the Royal Geography Society, where they try to persuade him to survey the border lines between Bolivia and Brazil (as the ever more desirable rubber plantations are leading towards war – the two governments have accepted the British institutions offer to do the job). Though wary, the Society members hint that this could be the perfect way to restore his good name, and Percy decides to take the position.