Splatter

"Splatter" (2009, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Netflix) is a short web series from the earlier days of the concept of TV streaming.

Johnny Splatter (Corey Feldman) was a troubled rock star who filmed himself graphically committing suicide. A small group of family, friends and colleagues are invited to his home for a will reading. Each, suspecting that they're about to be handed a massive payout, turn up, despite revealing that they didn't exactly like Johnny much.

Suddenly, the TV springs to life, revealing that Splatter filmed his will prior to his untimely demise... Or, is he back to take vengeance on his unappreciative acquaintances? As the episodes progressed, viewers were asked to vote for who would meet their death next.

The series suffers from its overtly corny style that comes across as a little too sincere, but overall I found the layout, practical effects and over the top characters to be tongue-in-cheek and a bit of fun.  There were, apparently, more episodes but only the initial run of three are available to view easily on Netflix. It is undeniably a disappointing effort from Dante and Corman, but this is likely down to the confines of the schedule and the gimmick.

Horror films have a great and long history of using gimmicks, and this early example of a Netflix original is no different. Feldman's vengeful zombie delivers a demanding "Who's next?" at the end of every episode and, at the time, the audience were given the chance to vote. It's cheesy, but that's what I was there for. I've also just always liked Corey Feldman.

We have the usual tropes and a small cast of characters including the ever awesome Tony Todd bringing us the only seemingly sane character in the bunch. While the short series is hammy and manages not to be particularly innovative, despite its natty gimmick, it delivers its resolution quickly and was certainly part of Netflix's foray into changing viewer's habits and a step towards the innovation and horror series being created today.

[Image: Netflix]

Hani 

Zombie With a Shotgun

"Zombie With a Shotgun" (2012, Hilton Ariel Ruitz, FilmBrewery) is a zombie themed web series.

We meet Aaron (Braeden Baade, a man with a fine set of arms! Those are good arms to have) and his girlfriend, Rachel (Lynnea Molone), who are caught in the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately Aaron has been infected by "some kind of virus" and appears to be heading for zombiedom.

In the first episode we find out how Aaron comes to be in the possession of a shotgun. Now, zombies toting firearms is not a new idea, we've seen it in Romero's "Day of the Dead" for example, but it's certainly interesting to see someone slowly becoming a zombie with a gun and find out what they will do with it when they get there.

At only 4-6 minutes long each the episodes are snappy and short keeping the viewer entertained. A dark atmosphere is still successfully built up despite the short run-time, with the use of some effective scoring, dark sets and the presence of vigilante human characters who constantly threaten our protagonist's existence.

Perhaps a little slow in plot and with a surprising lack of gore for a zombie film, the series focusses more on the gradual degradation of our leading man and his relationship with Rachel, than it does on gory fight scenes.

The acting is professional and the editing of the final product is shiny with a gritty realism. The makeup and prosthetics are effective and quite traditional, reminiscent of the older, less drool-y zombies. The special effects appear to be all physical, too (yay!).

A good Indie series with excellent potential for transforming into a larger series!

Catch episodes of the series here: http://vimeo.com/zombiewithashotgun 

[Image: FilmBrewery]

 

Hani