 Jill's got the snake. Julia's got the flute. Alone, they have nothing. But together, they have a secret weapon to fight the darkness. Director David Mahmoudieh Writer David Mahmoudieh Stars Poppy Drayton Micah Fitzgerald Ross Francis I’ve always been a lover of short films, and over the six years or so of Film Gutter we’ve covered more than a handful, taking in the good, the bad and of course the deeply weird. So, I figured that – with the close of 2021 almost upon us (Ed. time got away from us at the end of the month, but what is time if nothing but an construct of our minds) – I’d take the opportunity to check out a couple of shorter offerings before closing with the now-traditional annual Top 5 list. Although given the range of particularly good films I’ve watched this year, I might have to expand to a Top 10… Before I get into it, I’d like to give a quick shout out to the Alter channel on YouTube, where you can find Snake Dick among a whole host of other short films. They do some great work in putting really interesting material out, and if you consider yourself a lover of horror in the short form then their channel is well worth dropping by. So, on to Snake Dick – and I hate to say it, but it’s just another one of those titles that drew me in. I’m a sucker for a film with a great moniker, and this was another classic case here. The story itself concerns Jill and Julia, who are on their travels and stop at a garage to see what they can do to fix their evidently broken-down car. The garage is combined with a diner and motel, and the minute they step out of the car they get cat-called by Hillbilly Joe and Hillbilly Earl (not the titles I gave them, but their official character names on IMDB). However, Jill and Julia have no intention of putting up with that sort of nonsense, and Jill draws a gun, forcing Joe to his knees and demanding that he squeal like a pig. Earl isn’t going to have any of that, and draws a knife in an attempt to even the odds, but Jill and Julia have one more secret weapon up their sleeves… although it’s not technically up their sleeves… Given the runtime, this one is of course relatively light, but it was shot nicely – making good use of the limited space that it was created within – and each character comes across as believable, if we do lean back on stereotypes a touch. While it did live up to the title, it did not do it in the way I had expected whatsoever which I think is also well worth of some credit. The end of the movie, with the leads driving off into the distance with smoke climbing into the sky, made me think that this was possibly a sort of ‘calling card’ with a view to something bigger perhaps happening in time, and I’d be open to that. There’s an implication of some larger event in the world, and the strangest element of the movie could easily be expanded and offer some more explanation if granted that extra bit of runtime. Some have suggested it could even make a TV series in the reviews, and again that could be intriguing. As a standalone, it’s plenty likeable and I felt like I’d certainly be happy to check out more from this director going forward. RATING: 8/10. This one uses some old horror tropes, sure, but it’s done well enough – and then the trope you might expect here is absolutely thrown out of the window for something far more unpredictable. It has the sense of a road movie, obviously without too much time on the road, but there could be scope to make something more of this one, and it’s still recent enough to yet hope that might happen! As I mentioned above, you can check this one our on Alter’s channel on YouTube, and I don’t think you’ll regret giving up your time to give this a watch. TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE HYMNS OF ABOMINATION: SECRET SONGS OF LEEDS (2021) The Heart and Soul of obscure horror film reviews |
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