An Affair to Dismember

In 2007, the Tallahassee Democrat (local newspaper) held a short film contest at Halloween. People from all over the city submitted homemade horror movies, and the winning entries were shown on a giant movie screen at the popular downtown haunted house attraction the weekend of Halloween. The content of each entry had to be 100% original material (i.e., you couldn't use copyrighted music or film), and the total length of the film couldn't exceed 5 minutes.

I didn't find out about the contest until 1 week before the deadline, and I really had to scramble to finish my movie on time. The following film was produced in 16 hours over the span of one Friday night - Saturday morning. As you will note, the plot elements and special effects are extremely simple (by necessity). I wanted the movie to be an homage to the early Universal Studios silent horror films (such as the 1925 masterpiece,"The Phantom of the Opera," starring Lon Chaney - great movie, if you haven't seen it), so my short film is black-and-white, silent, and features two hallmarks of the silent era: 1) intertitles bearing stilted, simplistic dialogue; and 2) overbearing organ accompaniment. (Additionally, note the "scratchy" quality of the film itself - a cool effect you can add using Windows Movie Maker.)

My entry was selected as a winner and was apparently shown to the teenage denizens of Tallahassee on Halloween night. I was unable to attend the premiere, so I can only assume the film was a big hit.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our first attempt at horror: "An Affair to Dismember."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SVJw74EKMc

This movie is either horrific comedy or comedically horrific. I tend to believe it's the latter...