2 strangers fall in love as mutant insects attack the town
- 11 months ago
Miles is a magician in the midst of a Halloween performance in a small town in New Zealand. But he's not very good at all, and the audience isn't warming to his act, shouting insults and grumbling. But when he pulls a young woman named Ngaire up to volunteer for his act, there's an immediate romantic spark between them, insulating them from the hostile world around them.
But as the pair are falling in love, the villagers are starting to revolt and demand their money back, admonishing Miles for his substandard act. But just as things are getting very sticky for Miles, a swarm of monstrously oversized and murderous larvae called huhu attack the town, setting off a chain of events that allows the outsider to find his place and prove his worth.
Directed and written by Patrick Gillies, this short film could only be described as an extravaganza, combining comedy, horror, romance and a few musical numbers thrown in for good measure. But it makes for a wildly entertaining story, deftly mixing 1940s melodrama, golden-era Old Hollywood musicals and campy 1950s monster movies to glorious effect.
Opening with Miles trying to get through his deteriorating magic act, the film quickly establishes the various strands of the narrative, from the landing of a strange object from the sky above to the sweetly awkward meet-cute of Miles and Ngaire to the rabble-some, close-minded villagers. But the film revels in the moments of disrupting action and emotional development, handling them with either excitingly camp horror sequences or lush musical spectacle, complete with choreography for both dancers and camera.
These heightened moments are all well-done and richly realized, rendered in polished cinematography and grand camera movement. And the musical numbers are a special treat, thanks to a gorgeous score performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. But there's also a story amid the jam-packed pacing and energy, about an outsider encountering hostility and accusation during the height of the Cold War who finds a way to win the heart of his lady love and the villagers as well.
Actors Jeremy Brennan and Victoria Abbott play the lovestruck couple with aplomb, handling the musical aspects of the storytelling with grace and sensitivity while also hitting both the romantic and comedic beats. Both performers are winning and likable, and it's easy to be swept along their story, even as it careens into its final sequence, full of both touching revelation and monster-filled chaos.
But as the pair are falling in love, the villagers are starting to revolt and demand their money back, admonishing Miles for his substandard act. But just as things are getting very sticky for Miles, a swarm of monstrously oversized and murderous larvae called huhu attack the town, setting off a chain of events that allows the outsider to find his place and prove his worth.
Directed and written by Patrick Gillies, this short film could only be described as an extravaganza, combining comedy, horror, romance and a few musical numbers thrown in for good measure. But it makes for a wildly entertaining story, deftly mixing 1940s melodrama, golden-era Old Hollywood musicals and campy 1950s monster movies to glorious effect.
Opening with Miles trying to get through his deteriorating magic act, the film quickly establishes the various strands of the narrative, from the landing of a strange object from the sky above to the sweetly awkward meet-cute of Miles and Ngaire to the rabble-some, close-minded villagers. But the film revels in the moments of disrupting action and emotional development, handling them with either excitingly camp horror sequences or lush musical spectacle, complete with choreography for both dancers and camera.
These heightened moments are all well-done and richly realized, rendered in polished cinematography and grand camera movement. And the musical numbers are a special treat, thanks to a gorgeous score performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. But there's also a story amid the jam-packed pacing and energy, about an outsider encountering hostility and accusation during the height of the Cold War who finds a way to win the heart of his lady love and the villagers as well.
Actors Jeremy Brennan and Victoria Abbott play the lovestruck couple with aplomb, handling the musical aspects of the storytelling with grace and sensitivity while also hitting both the romantic and comedic beats. Both performers are winning and likable, and it's easy to be swept along their story, even as it careens into its final sequence, full of both touching revelation and monster-filled chaos.