Summerland Short Horror Film Reviewed by
Short films, regardless of whether or not they are horror, need to pack a punch. There’s only a short amount of time to capture an audience and present them with a story that they feel immersed in for around ten minutes. Unfortunately Summerland tries hard to grab it’s audience by the balls or breasts and thrust them into the twisted mind of a psychopath, but falters along the way.
Summerland is a short horror film from a group of ambitious filmmaking friends called Cat 4 Collective, with this film written by Sam Hel and directed by A. Baez. With thoughts running through his head about how the media instantly throw serial killers into the limelight and make them famous, the warped man decides to become a killer. Wearing a ski mask and bomber jacket he sets about torturing his victims with a sense of hope in staying alive, and ripping it away from them at the last minute.
The problem with Summerland is that it has an intriguing premise that could have delivered something truly disturbing, yet it doesn’t give this to the audience. We’re left slightly confused at what is happening; it’s tiring to try and figure out why the masked man is shaking his head viciously, and hearing distorted screams from what are most likely previous victims. The idea is there, but it seems the direction was lost along the way a little – as a short film it needs to be concise and clear with every shot. Some of the shots are a little unclear in terms of reasoning and adding anything substantial to the short, which adds extra time that just isn’t needed.
As an advocate of all independent filmmakers, I hate to criticise something that has had a lot of hardwork put in, but Summerland just leaves a lot to be desired in many ways. The concept is amazing but the short itself doesn’t quite cut it like a murder rampage should.
