Chris R. Notarile is back with another short film, one that tests his boundaries and skills as a film-maker. The latest picture under Blinky Productions, Burned is a revenge thriller mixed with scifi psychological terror. We’ve all seen films like this, especially when browsing digital catalogs, but when was the last time you saw a SILENT and BLACK & WHITE film in the last few years? Exactly. Now, if you think you’re a certified reviewer because you’ve left a few star ratings on IMDB or Amazon, let me assure you that creating Burned was no small measure. The lighting still needed to be on point, to keep the greys focused and the scenes shadowless. Chris R. Notarile also had to put his directing boots on, laced extra tight, because he needed to help his actors towards delivering professional and emotive scenes without the use of spoken dialogue. This was a challenge for both, Noratile and his cast, but they jumped this hurdle with ease. Burned is criminal throwback turned revenge thriller that blends horror with film noir in a surreal sort of way. Find it at the bottom of this review.
Burned is a seven minute short film that has double-cross after double-cross. When a young business woman wants to step up in the world, she hires a hit man to take out the competition. And then she covers her tracks again. Only, after burning his remains, the woman and her cohorts discover that he’s returned from the dead with one goal in mind: revenge. As the bullets fly and the knives slice, our pseudo-hero makes his way through the city until he comes face to face with the woman who double-crossed him. Written and directed by Chris R. Notarile, Burned stars Ciprian Cosma, Marshall Foster, Jeff Odachowski, Laura Van Yck and Tom Proprofsky. Inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu, Burned was certainly a risk…but it payed off. It was interesting, and nice to see that Notarile is more than a one trick pony. Burned is artist and classical with a major dark arc. I can appreciate it in a world where everyone else is doing the same old stuff.
Final Score: 8 out of 10.
