THE SEARCH ** France 2021 Dir: David Vergne. 17 mins
This short film follows the Chronos Corporation (French crew) following a crew who are investigating Italian hospitals/facilities – like ‘Most Haunted’ if it were filmed in Rome, on pasta.We follow Ben Wagner (Benjamin Vergne) – plus his two colleagues – searching for any traces of his father, in a disused sanitarium, where they find a book full of odd photos, drawings and writing – which seem like the ramblings of a mad man, which is a appropriate given the current location.
An armed man appears in the corridor, shoots one of their crew, blood pumping like a leaky faucet from his neck – they then try to hide.
Escaping down the corridors more fairly graphic bloodletting ensues as they see both attacked by a mad person with a bag on their head – like a cross between Jason in the original ‘Friday the 13th’ and Leatherface’s sister.
The original shooter then appears and is taken down once more in a fairly bloody scene which seems to end with ‘death by monkey wrench’, but being apparently indestructible he returns a few scenes later, soon being taken out in a vicious axe attack.
The film ends as Ben leaves the building, covered in blood and is shot by a sniper, presumably from the Chronos Corporation.
Well made, but not enough time to develop a full plot, which would probably be fully developed if this film was made into a feature length movie, which this short is more than likely hoping to accomplish, as it is, the short leaves the viewer more than a little confused.
Review by Ian Carroll