Born Again Film Review by
Summoning the Devil and welcoming a hellish bundle of joy into the unsuspecting world should be a moment to rejoice for those practicing Satanists, but Born Again shows that wicked plans can easily fall through. From writer/director Jason Tastevin and writer Randall Greenland, comes a short horror film that will wet your appetite for gore and perturbed humour.
Comedy horror is a tricky genre to tackle, especially when your run-time is only 6 minutes long, however, in the case of Born Again, it gives the perfect opportunity to truly capture the dark essence of the film. By taking a concept so disturbing and twisting it into an awkward and very real situation it really gives the viewer the chance to appreciate the details of the dialogue and acting.
Every “you do it” look, every interaction and every second of the short is timed to perfection, and acted without a flaw at all. Ellie Church (who is a frequent favourite of mine from Headless and The Legend of Wasco) delivers what should be expected from a heavily pregnant woman who has sacrificed her body for the sake of rebirthing Satan himself, and her performance is immaculate.
Brian Spangler, Jordan Fehr, Tiffany Arnold and in particular Randall Greenland deserve to be heavily praised for their abilities to really convince the audience. Many shorts have an amazing premise but fall flat when it comes to acting; feeling a connection with the characters and believing every breath they take is a vital lifeline to any good short horror movie.
Born Again’s plot is downright hilarious, and everything I could wish for from six minutes. The comedy aspect is The Evil Dead combined with Tucker and Dale VS. Evil, therefore taking everything great about classic and modern splatstick and utilising it for six seconds of deliciously devilish laughs, which culminate in a controversial, gore-soaked ending that will outrage religious types in the same way as the Life of Brian did.
With pun-perfect comedy, some of the best acting to date and incredible blood-soaked special effects, Born Again should be given out to all independent filmmakers as a “How To Make a Successful Short Horror Film” guide. It could also be given to beginner Satanists, as an idiots guide on how not to summon the Devil.
