Amalgam: no-budget home movie is surprisingly complex in plot and visual effects
Craig Murray, “Amalgam” (2007) Using just a handycam and his own home as set to make a black-and-white film on next-to-no budget starring himself and a few…
Horror
Begotten: film explores Christian and pagan myths of fertility in cycle of birth, death and rebirth
Edmund Elias Merhige, “Begotten” (1989) A remarkable student film that explores Christian and pre-Christian creation / fertility / life cycle myths, “Begotten” was inspired by a…
Zoetrope: Kafka short story inspires a film about how science, industry, bureaucracy and politics oppress a victim
Charlie Deaux, “Zoetrope” (1999) Based on my favourite Franz Kafka short story “In the Penal Colony”, this is a stunning-looking short piece about a man’s last…
Italian and Italian-language Films
Salo or the 120 days of Sodom: gruelling film of corruption, unfettered freedom and abuse of power that turn humans into machines
Pier Paolo Pasolini, “Salò or the 120 days of Sodom” / “Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma” (1975) Grim and harrowing to watch but an…
Australian and New Zealand Films
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello: beautiful layered Gothic steampunk film steers viewers into a heart of darkness
Anthony Lucas, “The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello” (2004) A nominee for a Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 2006, this is a visually beautiful…
The Awakening: tasty little film of death and how suddenly it comes
Ignacio Cerdà, Ethan Jacobson, Francisco Stohr, “The Awakening” (1991) This 8-minute short is the first of three films forming a trilogy about death and how we…
True demon movie hiding in “Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek” but weak story and characters need more work to bring out the monsters
Shuhei Morita, “Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek” (2004) A very lavish short film that uses cel-shaded animation to render the CG imagery three-dimensional, “Kakurenbo” has a definite…
Rubber Johnny: small dense film in which a universe of transformation and realised ambitions is contained
Chris Cunningham, “Rubber Johnny” (2005) Started small as a commercial based on the idea of a raver’s body morphing into different shapes as he dances, then…
Psycho (dir. Gus van Sant): a decent remake with a different message from the original film
Gus van Sant, “Psycho” (1998) A shot-for-shot remake of the Hitchcock original with much the same dialogue and even reconstructions of the original sets, this film…
Anxiety about industrialisation and technology and their effects on individuals and society in “Tetsuo: The Iron Man”
Shinya Tsukamoto, “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” (1989) Once again Tsukamoto has remade “Tetsuo: The Iron Man” in the form of “Tetsuo: Bullet Man”, the previous remake having been…