Director – Damian Bishop
Starring – Chief, Anthony J.K., and Sloppypapatv
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline – “Recorded in EP mode for maximum quality”
Social media is an invaluable tool if you love no budget horror. I often look through the indie horror and no budget horror hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Most of the time it’s dumb ass posting pictures of theatrical releases because they have no idea what they are talking about but if you shift through the shit you can come across some real hidden gems.
A few days ago I was looking through them when I came across a podcast page mentioning the S.O.V. inspired short Valley of Carnage from Dungeon Entertainment. I found their Instagram page and reached out to them. Sadly, I missed the copies of the film they had for sale but the short is available on YouTube so I was at least able to check it out.
**spoiler Alert**The film follows a man who is in a loveless marriage. His wife tries to fuck him but he’s sick of her. He countlessly tells her no before snapping. He bashes her face in with a hammer and then goes to work as if nothing has happened. Two of his co-workers find his behavior to be odd and the fact that he is covered in blood make them suspect that he is responsible for a string of murders. They contact the FBI who sends their very best Dimebag Darrell looking agent to track him down and stop him before he can kill again. **spoiler Alert**
I’ve watched Valley of Carnage twice now and I was struggling about how to approach the review. The movie is fun but I couldn’t think of what to compare it to then it dawned on me. The reason I love this short so much is because if reminds me of a Chris Seaver film that was run through the VCR until the video quality degraded. If it’s not inspired by one of Seaver’s films I would be shocked. I loved the characters, the plot, the humor, and even the gore. My only issue with the film is the video quality at times hurt my eyes with the dark images and contrasting bright white background. It’s hard to watch a movie when it makes your eyes water.
The acting in this one is funny as fuck. The characters are out there but it fits the film perfectly. The fake accents, the main characters forced yelling, their dry emotions all come together to make a film that doesn’t take itself seriously. It works and the cast really contributes to that. The story for this one is so fucking simple that is barely fills the short’s run time. In fact, the story could be trimmed down even more to be a little more effective.
Finally, the film has a few death scenes. We get some pretty bloody practical effects. The way the effects were done they don’t really fit the scene but they are fun to look at regardless. We also get a little bit of visual effects that actually fit the film due to the video quality. Overall, Valley of Carnage is the bloody and hilarious horror short you didn’t know you needed in your life. I seriously hope that this crew turns out some more content because I really enjoyed myself with VoC and I can’t wait to add it to my collection. Keep up the good work!
