Wednesday 14 August 2013

Crestfallen (2011) - Short Horror Film Review


Crestfallen is a short six minute horror film from Jeremiah Kipp (who also directed the weird Drool) and is about a young woman who decides to commit suicide after finding her husband in bed with her best friend. I often feel that no manner of zombies and monsters can ever come close to the real horror that can be experienced in life.

Starting off with the suicide the film then traverses in silence the events that led to her deed revealing in short snippets what has occurred, almost like the fragmented thoughts that would be flowing through her mind at that point. The whole piece is silent with an almost fantasy like tune playing over. Harry Manfredi who did the theme tune for Friday 13th is responsible for the score, it's otherworldly quality juxtaposed with the surreal bathtub suicide to create an encapsulating shell that perfectly compliments the movements of the piece, often sharply cutting from bright, sunny memories back to dark, tortured present with a sinister chordal snap as if to elaborate on the downward spiral the woman's life has taken.


The way Crestfallen is set out is almost perfect in its execution, Kipp does more with the direction to create emotion, and the real head space of a victim in these six minutes than many manage in feature length films when they have time to develop characters. I didn't like the resolution, it made sense, I won't argue that, but a bit too soppy for me, but maybe I'm just a bit bleak in that regard. Masterful direction, an inverted fairy tale that veers close to sweetness.

SCORE:

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