Director(s) – Chad Farmer (Encounter) and Nathan Ludwig
Starring – Kevin Maurice Roberts, Alan Heckner (Swamp Murders), and Mike Ruther
Release Date – 2013
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “They won’t take no for an answer…”
In recent years a huge influx of films have been made that are inspired by films that have long since faded from memory. The most common of these films are the exploitation (or grindhouse) films and the 80s slasher. I personally love these films and can not wait until the next filmmaker comes along and makes another throwback to a style of film now forgotten.
Last Christmas my wife bought me the Astron-6 Collection which consists of various shorts the indie company has made over the years. They are all amazing but one that stuck out to me was a short that was inspired by the silent era of films. I find silent films to be fucking creepy when compared to modern flicks and I always hoped others would make silent era-style films.
That brings me to the short Late Submission by directors Chad Farmer and Nathan Ludwig. I was at the Fright Night Film Fest in Kentucky when I found a flyer for the film. Sadly, the screening was already over so I came home and reached out to them and requested a screener which they graciously sent me. So thank you both for providing me with this copy!
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a family of three as they head out into the countryside to take advantage of a beautiful day. However, they are not alone. Two strangers have followed them. One, dressed as a burglar, and another wearing a mask and recording the whole ordeal.
The two kill the women accompanying the young man with intent of doing the same to him because they were wronged by the man. The two strangers are actually filmmakers and they submitted a film to play in a film festival in which the young man declined their submission. The two want to change his opinion of their film…**Spoiler Alert**
You don’t have to be very imaginative to shape the future. In fact, you can do that by just having a clear understanding the past. Films from the past were successful because they were using the technology from the time and that is what lead to their demise. Newer technology, filming techniques, and etc are always coming out changing the game. You can see this with slashers, exploitation, and especially silent films. These films were destroyed by “talkies” but it does not hide the fact that I still find silent films creepy as fuck. That is one of the highlights of this flick.
This film was able to capture the atmosphere that I truly love in the silent films and that is what makes them so damn creepy. I also liked the fact that the filmmakers did not try to make the film a period piece in regards to clothing and settings. The acting is spot on and can easily be compared to almost every other silent film I have seen. The cast is unable to convey emotions and words by actually talking so they resort to using over-dramatic body language to do the job. This cast definitely did their research and watched their fair share of silent films.
The story actually flows like a slasher from the 80s. This film could easily be adapted into a feature length silent slasher and I would love every minute of it. Finally, the film does have some on screen kills but not the best special effects. I would have loved to see a little more elaborate kills but the ones we do get does not take away from the movie. Overall, this is a breathe of fresh air in an industry that keeps pumping out the same movies over and over again. It is a great tribute to the slasher era and will not disappoint. I highly recommend it.
