LARVAE GIRL THE ROAD TO REVENGE PART 2

I asked myself... How?

How could it get any better...

And Hindsight showed me how.

The most epic reveal of all time in the theatre,

The most hilarious gore,

And such a satisfying ending,

This was incredible.

I thought the audience laughter had peaked with moments like when the venue person asked "who ordered the chicken?" or that fart gag that just kept giving and giving... ...then came this film in a sneak attack. right from the first frame the audience went crazy. Definitely one of the best heats I've ever been in. The film itself is a master piece of punk rock guerrilla film making very much embodying the spirit of the 48hours - or at least what it used to be in the days when you got a 24 pack of V at the startline.
sliders? gimbals? big lights on stands? F#@K that! We're doing it on a phone with an RGB light wand.
So much fun to be had with this film. I hope it goes through at least as a peter jackson wild card..possibly with part 1 as well?? not sure how that would work.

go team!

If a film between part one and two had to go to the city finals, part two should be the choice. I mean dude, whether it was intentional or not, part two touched some aspect of one that is enough for people to enjoy and understand part 2. There really was a careful process making this film and that's fucking impressive!

From the end of my Part 1 review...

Tonally wild obviously so hopefully we get to see the conclusion someday...

HOLY FUCK YOU DID IT YOU MAD BASTARDS! That is the best blindside sequel I've ever seen pulled off in this competition.

A saveloy loving ghost cult? More like cannon fodder for kinetic filmmaking madness complete with guns, gore, arrows, sheets and shades. Felt like I took a whole lot of dex and warped into a parallel universe.

Colours fantastic, larvae girl a wonderful confident on screen performance and really importantly pitch perfect sound for what was put on screen.

Fantastic editing and ending. I genuinely wonder though if you might be up for the pointy end of the comp if you had made one complete film rather than 2. No joke. But I've been following this comp since its incredibly strange days and you took me right to my happy place.

Its funny because just days ago I finally reviewed your film from last year and felt you had real Ryuhei Kitamura vibes and then this genuinely felt like an homage to VERSUS. My hat off to you I loved this film.

The crowd goes wild. The sequel we knew we wanted arrives in record time. We have been expertly duped by a fake film name in the heats schedule. And now is the time for the glory we had already been teased with to ramp up into full-blown action. The tables of the ghost cult are turned (like Jesus in the temple).

Trying to decide the better of the two films is futile. They are an inseparable pair. A lighthouse built on a foundation. The first film sets up, tantalises, and entertains in its own right, allowing the second film to shine.

Here we have the makings of a feminist anti-capitalist cult classic.

Well ok. I feel called out. I asked for more and this team delivered on both levels. Giving us a grand sequel that steps up the wild on every level. So much gore. So much blood. So much FUN.
Beyond the insanity of the film... making two films in a weekend is beyond ridiculous and the team might need their head checked for even attempting it.
My vote is to see both films in the grand finals please:)

The heart! Holy cow these 2 films had so much heart. I genuinely cannot wait to rewatch both of them.

And as someone who genuinely had no idea there was going to be a Part 2, this sent me. Incredible mahi team.

(Also I'm sorry, when read the reviews for this I just realized Steel Potato did the same 2 part review gag and I uh, already submitted the other one so I can't edit it and I'll umm, I don't... I'll just see myself out)

What got my attention:
A lot of funny visual effects, with a lot of funny props made from a variety of funny everyday materials for considered, planned intentional comic effect. Nice fight choreography. Editing, sound, camerawork etc. I imagine Look Sharp saw you coming and did real fucking well out of this short.

Take it or Leave it:
A film from the fairytale genre? Well, a ghost cult grunt makes reference to believing Larvae Girl was just a fairytale character, so tick. I guess it’s all made up fantasy with a collection of quirky characters, a hero on a journey and some bad ghosts – so another tick. "Once upon a time" opening? The "happily ever after" ending? The presence of magical elements like talking animals or fairy godmothers – yeah, substitutes are there. Rags-to-riches story? The importance of virtues like beauty and heroism – yeah, the lead is a hero and she looks cool/hot with what she’s wearing. Settings that require audience imagination to fill in details? Nailed it, 100% - extra imagination required. The ending is the classic Scooby Doo job but I guess that was your plan all along. Again, this short should be reviewed as a separate piece and it’s just a splatter action fan’s wet dream for the near 5 minute runtime. A satisfying splatter fest wet dream to be fair where the viewer has successfully managed their own happy ending.

Final thoughts:
This film is Herm’s Heroes doing their thing so fair play. It was a real, real crowd pleaser at the screening and as such will do pretty well I expect as part of probably the CHCH showcase at the EntX as people love, love this shit. I’ll stop there and not make this review a sequel.

Nice job HH – please keep doing your thing for 17+ years. The competition does need it. White walled breakroom spaces where everything sucks are for fucking losers. The type of films you make in this comp others may try to produce but never will or perhaps never should try to replicate. They’ll be very poor cousins if they do.

AND THE CROWD GOES WILD AS ‘PREVIOUSLY ON’ APPEARS ON THE SCREEN! “IT’S A FCKING SEQUEL” WE HEAR CALLED OUT IN THE AUDIENCE, “NO WAY THEY ACTUALLY DID THIS” WE HEAR FROM THE OTHER CORNER OF THE ROOM. AND JUST LIKE LARVAE GIRL SLICING A GHOST CLEAN IN HALF LIKE IT’S NOTHING, WE ALL ARE SPLIT IN TWO AS THE ENDGAME OF CHRISTCHURCH 48HOURS IS THRUST UPON US.

This wasn’t just a screening - this was a riot disguised as cinema. The most punk-rock, blood-soaked sequel drop in Christchurch 48Hours history, and you pulled it off in broad daylight like a gang of filmmaking outlaws.

Ghost cults. Saveloys. Fantastic animation and lighting effects. Bows & Arrows. Water gun flame throwers. Revenge! The whole thing moves like a fever dream shot out of a cannon, and we were grinning ear to ear the entire time. If Part One was chaos unleashed, Part Two is chaos unleashed with a chainsaw taped to its arm.

And look - the judges moaned. “Ten minutes, not five.” “Neither are a complete story”, “Not in the spirit of the comp.” Cry me a river. You made two full films in a weekend that actually carry a story across both entries. That’s not against the spirit - that is the spirit. That’s standing in the town square, chugging a V can, and screaming “48HOURS, BABY” until your voice gives out. It’s dangerous, it’s deranged, it’s absolutely glorious.

What really blew us away though was how Part 2 DOES WORK on its own. Larvae Girl in full hero mode, the cult getting ripped to shreds, the revenge arc dripping in blood - it’s all there. The fact that the judges couldn’t see that, nor respect the effort, fully devastated us in a way that we genuinely won’t be able to recover from. “Not a fairy tale”, cries the judges. “Up yours”, says the city managers (but if any of them are reading we do still love you and respect your decisions hahahaha)

THE BEST THING: The audacity. The reveal. The absolute joy of watching a theatre dissolve into chaos. This is what legends are made of.

THE NEXT THING: If you want to make the judges happy next year, maybe you do have to condense the madness into one five-minute atomic bomb. But honestly…Just do whatever you want, cause that’s what audiences will want to come and see, and it’s what your city managers (and undisputed biggest fans) want you to do.

#JusticeForLarvaeGirl