BiTS '17 Selected Short Film Reviewed

BESTIA - Director Gigi Saul Guerrero

A sole figure (Mathias Retamal) dressed in furs comes too on a patch of sand surrounded by water and the most magnificent setting of stumped trees imaginable. He awakes with a start remembering the terror that faded him before he passed out. Off camera, there are the growls of a very large beast. As our hero tried to get his bearings the sound seems to follow him as he enters the woods. More clues turn up to explain what went wrong before. As a bad situation progressively gets worse the protagonist must make a harrowing decision on what to do next.

*** 1/2 Out of 4

FUN - Director Greg Kovacs

Greg Kovacs is a 7-time alum of The Blood in The Snow Film Festival. His latest Fun asks the question what if when the hyper-positive children show host received a NO answer to her questions asked to the viewing audience. Pigtailed Anna (Tiffany Hunter) the host of Poppyseed place is untangling a skipping rope. Into the frame comes muppet like Ellery (voiced by D. Campbell MacKinlay)y to assist with days topic FUN. Ellery is invited to play jump rope but the audience has other more sinister suggestions on what would be FUN to do with the rope and to Ellery.

**** Out of 4.

CONSUME - Director Michael Peterson

The timely topic of residential schools is explored in this short based loosely on true events.  Former Resident school student Jacob Wematim (Julian Black Antelope) is facing losing his land and the break up of his family. He is visited by mythical wendigo spirit in the form of a female elder (Wilma Pelly). She directs him to provide meat for his family, which in his desperate state morphs into a final solution for Jacob.

*** Out of 4.

ITCH - Director Sean Patrick Kelly

John Smith (Sean C. Dwyer) is watching an infomercial for an itch remedy lotion that he's already purchased. After it ends he develops an uncontrollable itch on his right hand. He tries to scratch it then rub it with the cream. Still unable to find relief he moves on to increasing physically scarring measures to scratch that itch.

*** Out of 4.

SCRAPS - Director Christopher Giroux

Billy (Jordan Gray) and Jessica (Emily Alatalo) are leaving a bar after hitting it off on the first date. As they walk back to his place the journey seems to be taking longer and longer. The guy who seemed nice at first looks like he's leading his date astray. Soon the pair is confronted muddying the issue as to who is actually leading whom into a trap.

*** 1/2  Out of 4.