Worm

The Details:
Directed By: Richard Powell
Produced By: Zach Green
Country: Canada
Language: English
Color: Color

The Review:
In a flooded market of direct to dvd horror, CG blood and mainstream zombie mania it is becoming harder by the minute to find a film of genuine quality. Luckily, a needle fell out of a haystack right in front of me. Shining white and glowing like an angel. Or more appropriately, black and festering like a case of Ebola.

"Worm" is a short film from fledgling film house Fatal Pictures. However, this isn't another YouTube quality attempt to be "edgy" by some drunken college kids with a camera phone. No, once the opening shot of "Worm" graces the screen any worries of poor production quality are quickly diminished, and things never go downhill.

"Worm" is an incredibly dark, sadistic and competent psychological thriller that dives deep into the psyche of high school teacher Geoffrey Dodd. The film is carried almost entirely by Dodd's internal monologue, carefully acted by Robert Nolan. Nolan's acting and voice work maintains a perfect level of insanity that never topples into absurdity.



And this brings me to the thing I appreciate most about "Worm" that most new horror movies lack: SUBTLETY. There is no gore, barely any blood except for a single scene, no nudity and no trendy music from the MySpace band of the week. "Worm" is a class act.

At this point I could go deeper into explaining the plot, but considering how short the film is I will simply just say this: In a mere twenty minutes, "Worm" achieves a level of uncertainty that surpasses what most psychological thrillers barely pull off in two hours. Any parents out there will probably consider home schooling while watching this. Horror fans - "Worm" and Fatal Pictures deserve your attention!



SUBTLETY: Hard to come by these days.
ACTING: Impressive.
PRODUCTION: Top notch.