This Side of Nightmare (2008)
Review by Jude Felton
I’ll admit that I had no idea what to expect from this short movie. Sometimes though that works out for the best, not always, but sometimes. Fortunately, in the case of This Side of Nightmare it was definitely a case of working out for the best, as this is a short and sweet sucker-punch of a short movie. None of the 11 minute running time is wasted, it just gets in, does its job and then swiftly exits.
The movie itself follows two lovers as they make their way home through New Mexico. They hit a rabbit, which somehow manages to spray the windscreen, and pull over to inspect the damage. Whilst stopped another car pulls over. At first the two girls think that maybe they are going to offer some assistance, but it soon becomes quite apparent that the two in the other car aren’t quite all there. The friends make a hasty exit, and hope that is the last they will see of the strangers. Of course, that is not to be and very soon things take a quite dramatically downbeat turn for the worst.
The story here isn’t the most original ever committed to film; it is however executed quite nicely. There is the odd moment where I thought we were heading down shaky-cam avenue, although this is primarily at the beginning of the movie and doesn’t encroach too much on the viewing experience. On the whole This Side of Nightmare is a well made effort, it is nicely edited, the limited effects are decent enough and the acting from the four actresses is spot on. There is more than enough here to keep you entertained, but then at 11 minutes you’d have to have some seriously bad ADD not to be able to sit through it. My real hope is that director Peter Grendle gets to make a slightly lengthier effort next time out, as the promise is there on the screen for all to see in This Side of Nightmare.
I thoroughly enjoyed this short and I do recommend checking it out. It doesn’t offer all that much new and original, but it’s a short, not so sweet and very ballsy little movie.
Red Letter Cinema – This Side of Nightmare’s Official Site
Popularity: 2% [?]
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