Category: Horror

He Took His Skin Off For Me (2014) – Different Love story Drama

Ben Aston’s He Took His Skin Off for Me is one of the most literal short films I have yet to see, as it concerns the relationship between two people, where, the male (Sebastian Armesto) loved his partner (Anna Maguire) so much he decided to take every part of his skin completely off his body, leaving him nothing but a bright red display of muscles and ventricles. The eleven-minute short film chronicles the relationship these two have created with one another, with the female of the relationship talking about the struggles that have come about with her lover carrying out such a drastic act. While love-making and intimacy hasn’t suffered, cleaning the house has become more of a common practice, as her partner leaves bloodstains all over the floors, carpets, sheets, and clothes, and his job has suffered a sharp decline due to his inability to close deals because of the distraction of his physical appearance. Nonetheless, the two share a strong bond and are largely unfazed by the opinions and glares of outsiders.

Before anything else is said, special effects artists Colin Arthur and Jen Cardno must be commended for their unfathomable anatomical makeup, perfected and executed using no computer animation and all practical effects. Aston states Armesto sometimes spent up to eight hours in a makeup chair, but for good reason, as he is so breathtakingly realistic and impeccably perfected that one almost wonders what the special effects crew did with his skin. With that, the film conducts itself in a very straight-forward, minimalist manner, which could be the most disappointing element of all because the film walks with its concept rather than letting it run on its own. We watch things that play out to what we expect and nothing really more. That isn’t necessarily such a hefty criticism, however, seeing as the entire cast is, for one, thoroughly capable at acting in a low-key fashion, and secondly, the makeup and special effects work is so fascinating to view. Aston’s methodical storytelling, reliant predominately on dreamlike pacing and narration, makes for a strangely calming, almost reassuring aesthetic to an already deranged piece of work that is effectively defies categorization in every regard. He Took His Skin Off for Me shows just how far someone in a relationship will go to express their feelings and affection to the one they love, even if the action doesn’t make much sense or liable to be met with perplexing stares and such from others. – Steve Pulaski

Directed by Ben Aston. Starring: Sebastian Armesto, Anna Maguire

Self Assembly (2014) – creepy, tender and comic short film!

This film opens with a tragedy – not a big thing to reveal here, because it is the start of the film. The reason to mention it though is because the opening really does give you a sense of the film’s tone. What we have is oddly dainty and slightly comedic music playing, while stark (but not cold) black and white images show a boy playing with his ball by the street. We sort of know what is coming but I was not prepared for how clearly and yet matter-of-factly, we would see what happened – it is a quite shocking piece of special effects.

This tone continues as the film keeps the music and in fragments tells us the story of a couple building a self-assembly cabinet which turns out to be assembling some sort of life within it. The ominous but yet slightly perky presentation works well, because at one time it is oddly comic but yet also threatening and so obviously horrific. Through the film it is possible to see the impact of this creature as that of a disrespectful child and then teenager, but the design of the creature and the tone of the film never let us forget that this is a horror of a sort. The building “wrongness” of it all never goes away and I found this sense of terrible tension to be great value, particularly in moments where it resulted in something happening.

The design of the creature is interesting, but for me it is the colder and familiar-but-creepy design of the faces, the cabinet and other aspects that make it constantly creepy. The cast work well opposite the special effect; Kinsella is good as the father who is pent up somewhat, while Kirwan brings across her character’s sense of loss and need for motherhood really well; they make the characters and the environment seem real – which means the horror is all the more creepy as a result. The camera doesn’t seem to move around much, which gives the film a stillness that benefits the content, it does feel like the camera is holding its breath at times, just as the viewer may in some tense moments. Likewise the black and white adds to this and generally the whole film has a great visual aesthetic which is creepy in a cold, ordinary-but-not way. Sullivan and Shanley manage to produce comic and tender moments throughout, again just making the horrific and creepy that much more effective.

It is a hard short film to define, but it is very good at what it does. It is accessible, recognizable, creepy, tender, comic, and horrific; and the way that the film is perfectly judged to deliver all of this across the running time is really very impressive. – bob the moo

Directed by Ray Sullivan. Starring: Darryl Kinsella, Amy Kirwan, Ruben Kenny, Bobby McGlynn