Title: Vanity
Director: Myke Wilson
Writer: Travis Legge
Noteworthy Cast: Ty Yaeger as Richard, Melissa Revels as Megan
Runtime: 7 minutes 26 seconds
So, here we are… A review of the latest short film from Myke Wilson called Vanity. Currently Myke is starting on a comedy titled Goose and is making an impressive run as an actor, but his last short film – Event Invitation – was very good and ended up the Scary Story Slumber Party anthology. Now that Myke is directing a new feature, let’s do a review of his last film Vanity.
The plot of Vanity is very simple. Richard [Ty Yaeger] asks his ex girlfriend Megan [Melissa Revels] to meet him in a dive bar to discuss previously unfinished matters. She reluctantly agrees to meet him there, and quickly finds herself not only faced with disgusting acts from her past but a bar full of demons as well. Who knew breaking up could be Hell…literally?
Something I notice a lot about filmmakers out in the midwest is that they love to tackle social/political issues while mixing them with horror elements. An example of this could be Words Like Knives, a film about bullying from Kelsey Zukowski that Myke Wilson played the role of Landon. As far as Vanity goes – and be warned, spoilers are ahead – the social/political issue being tackled is abortion. How do you handle it? Is it still the woman’s right to choose when the biological father WANTS the baby? Honestly, yes, Vanity is a horror film, but I feel like it could be shown in film studies classes as a tool, a how-to on making impactful and thought provoking films. There’s so many themes in such a short amount of time – including vanity, duh – that I must give props to the writer Travis Legge.
As I mentioned, Vanity is a horror film, but there’s nothing too scary in it that would frighten away most viewers. A little demonically possessed voices, blacked out eyes, chains with a mind of their own – oh, and someone being skilled alive. I can’t forget to mention that a character gets skinned alive. There’s not much blood and there is no nudity here, but I don’t think the creators of this film meant for this short to be a typical horror flick.
My only real criticism of the movie is that Ty Yaeger over acted…a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I think he was a perfect choice for the role. His look and the sound of his voice made him spot on for the leader of a clan of demons. He just…over acted the part a little bit. And on the other hand, I feel that Melissa Revels underacted at times.
Vanity is a creative, thought provoking horror film. You don’t see those too much anymore! If you ever see it on sale at a horror convention, or see it screening at one, make sure you give it a look over. It’ll be a fun little addition to your horror movie collection.
No, he was perfect <3 Better than anyone else.