FILM GUTTER REVIEWS: HE TOOK HIS SKIN OFF FOR ME (2014)

Dir. Ben Aston, United Kingdom, 11 mins
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Only last week I was saying it's pretty rare that Film Gutter actually makes a stop on home shores – whilst there seems to be a welter of extreme horror made around the world, and we've had the opportunity to review movies from locations as far spread as Georgia, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey and many more besides, only a handful of our reviews have come from within the UK. So to take a look at two British short films in a row is is a small chance to redress that balance – it's one I had heard of previously, and it certainly doesn't take a mindreader to tell you what the movie is about given the title, which is almost uncomfortably on point. But would this be worthwhile way to spend 11 minutes?

Ultimately I would have to say yes and no. The story itself is extremely slim (maybe not surprisingly) and follows an unnamed couple, beginning with a voiceover from our female lead saying that she asked her partner to take his skin off for her – which he did. We never see that particular act, but we do see plenty of her skinless partner and the initial joy that she feels being able to see him so much more clearly and sharply without that intervening layer of flesh. Initially there's a great thrill in that for her, but it's fair to say that the appeal wears off over time and over the course of this short film – all the cleaning up the patches of blood from around the house, the endless washing of the sheets and then the naturally uneasy and uncertain reactions from their friends. The male lead leaves his 'skin suit' hanging up in the wardrobe and looks at it longingly a number of times – things are starting to go wrong for him at work, again not surprisingly, as clients are put off by his unusual appearance. Our finale isn't much of a twist but is delivered pretty sharply, almost in moments before we cut to our credits.

It's an interesting enough idea, and I like the fact that it doesn't gloss over many of the practical elements of his life choice and equally goes a little into the stresses and strains it takes on both of their lives and the relationship between them. It was a little disappointing that we only heard of his flensing himself in the opening credits, and didn't really see anything of the event that leads into the story – it feels a lot like we've missed some key scenes. In fact, it's less the fact of him taking his flesh off but what leads to it – where does a relationship have to get to for someone to be willing to do something so extreme? It's a nice special effects showcase for sure, and looks good in that respect, but it doesn't really have much by way of a storyline. Fundamentally it's an interesting concept without any real interesting developments or surprises. Maybe with a longer runtime they could have done more with this one – a sort of grotesque Nekromantik-style dark romance might have bloomed out of this set-up. But as it is there's a sense of ultimately being pretty unsatisfied with something that might have been a very worthwhile experimental piece.

RATING: 5.5/10. Sometimes a short film feels complete or near-complete in its form, and other times it can feel like an extended trailer for something that may or may not happen in the future. Unfortunately this falls into the latter, with a sense of incompleteness and the chance for this to be much more, given the running time. There are some nice moments throughout, but not enough to really grab you and leave a lasting impression. As such, it's a fair 5.5/10 from me.