Tree (2007)
Review by The Fiend of Grue
Tree is a short film that was written by Bill Elverman, who plays the lead named Tom. Tom, along with his wife Ellie (Kate Berry) and their daughter Katie (Avery Laine) move into a farm house that was formerly owned by Ellie’s father. At the beginning of the film, we see her father (Matt Staudermeyer) chopping wood and as he’s doing it, he hears voices around him. He looks up into the tree that he is standing by and then continues to work. He then gathers up the wood into his arms and then falls over dead.
John is a supposed former farm hand of Ellie’s father that has gone on to work for Tom, who is not very good at the farm life, but has it handed to him upon his father-in-law’s death. Tom and John spend their days tending to the farm and taking care of the endless chores that come with that lifestyle. One day when Tom finishes his work, he sees Katie standing in front of the tree where her grandfather died, staring up into the tree, almost in a trance.
That night when Tom puts Katie to bed, she asks him if he will protect her if she ever gets into trouble…will he save her? Tom is taken back by her question and when he asks her about it she says she has visions, that she sees things when she’s out in their yard by the big oak tree. Tom is slightly concerned but doesn’t put much thought into it until he’s out in the yard the next day chopping wood and sees visions of his own. He sees his daughter, a funeral with his wife and daughter mourning, a grave with dirt being thrown on it, all in succession.
The next day while working the farm, Tom is jolted when John and another farm hand show up and tell him that Katie is in trouble in the river. When he gets there, he sees Katie clinging to a log in the middle of the river and is told she won’t come in unless he comes for her. After nearly drowning in the ensuing rescue, Tom and Katie come safely to the shore amongst a group of clapping people, none of whom cared enough to help out. Katie is the least troubled of everyone by the situation because she knew her Dad would save her because of her vision.
From there, Tom becomes increasingly paranoid and concerned over what is going on with his family since this whole farm business was put on their shoulders. It doesn’t help when John tells him of a book that Ellie’s father wrote that had a part in it about visions that he had while working on the farm….visions by a certain tree. Tom looks through the book that John was talking about and finds notes that confirm what John was saying.
The next day while Ellie and Katie are at the fair, where Katie says that Ellie will win the pie contest because she saw it in a vision, Tom is overcome with his emotions and begins to savagely chop at the tree with an ax over and over with uncontrollable rage. From here the movie heads into its climax, but like always, I won’t spoil that for you…
Tree is a wonderful short film in a lot of ways. Shot in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin and Hebron, Illinois for $10,000 in 7 days, Tree is a beautiful film to behold. Director Michael Steinbeck did a great job directing this short (46 minute) film and I’m really interested to see what he does next. He told me that the Twilight Zone and M. Night Shyamalan were among the inspirations for the film and I must say that those influences come off well. I would also like to add that the short feels like an old Hitchcock program. Tree is certainly not a rip-off or retread but more of an added part to that sub -genre of horror.
The acting was really great for the most part, the only downside being some of the emotional scenes by Kate Berry could have been a little more believable, but other than that, this short puts even most modern horror films to shame. The feel, the dialogue and the chemistry between the characters all seem very real and never forced which in turn makes you care for them. Once things begin to happen you can easily sympathize with them and feel their turmoil.
With Tree, subtlety is the key to its success. There’s no gore, but it’s neither needed nor missed. This is a very character and story-driven movie that might bore some, but will delight those who can appreciate a slow burn. I also must add that the score, done by Jeff Arwady, is very effective stuff and definitely enhances this project on every level. All of the right sounds and cues are used at all of the right moments to make “Tree” all the more effective.
Drop Shadow Productions, who put the film out, has recently signed a distribution deal that will put this movie out on several formats in the very near future, including iTunes, Amazon.com and Internet downloads. When Tree becomes available you should definitely give it a look! It is far better than most mainstream horror fare that we get everyday from Hollywood. Kudos to all who worked on Tree!
Check ’em out at: www.thetreemovie.com
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