EOD

Rolling laughing for the first 20 minutes at the slurping sounds and the wipwipwipwipwip sounds, then got a bit exhausted when it just kept going slurrrrp and wipwipwip for an additional 30 or 40 minutes. The guy transforming into his “lady with big hooters” form got me sitting up in my seat and paying close attention…

Now THIS is the ultimate interpretation of the "comedy horror" genre. It's disturbing and shocking but I couldn't stop laughing.
This surely has the "most incredibly strange" award in the bag right? I've never seen anything like it!
And the rate at which it builds is so funny. Starting as remorse over a simple tripping over words and quickly spiralling into more unlikely and disturbing imagined scenarios. Really felt like I was stuck in the mind of a deeply unwell person.
The film is beyond critiquing. The team clearly knows their intentions well and I'd hate to interrupt that. BUT I think this really would have gone an extra step, had the intestines looked more realistic. That would have really brought the shock factor up to 11.

No other film in the heats got me like this one! This is what this competition is all about! WHO are the geniuses behind this film? How have we never met? We need to collaborate RIGHT NOW!! THIS WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!! Such a strong vision! Such a trip! I never would have expected something like this in a little ol Christchurch heat! Loved it so so so much!!

Zero idea how this didn’t progress into the next round. You guys had the best film of the heat.

I LOVED this so so much. You guys absolutely nailed your genre 100% and I was hooked the entire time! Fantastic editing. Great performance from your actor. Fabulous set design and props!! I was so inspired by the long arms and the paper mache (?) head. Snubbed from the shortlist in my opinion. Keep making cool and weird films, can't wait to see what you make next!

i would definitely have to say holy moly because that is the only appropriate reaction. the judges werent ready for this although we are ready for this and so so much more.

When a man makes a mistake during his presentation, his anxiety manifests in strange and unusual ways.

This was horrifying, in the most hilarious and disturbing way. I was sitting in the theatre watching this during the heat and all I could think of was “wtf did I just watch??” The costuming of this piece left me so disturbed, it was absolutely fantastic! Those long arms and weird face masks hit a real sense of uncanny valley, almost slenderman like vibes. The editing of this was frantic, manic, absolutely inspired! What started out as a funny word fumble led to quite frankly, the most hilariously disturbing film I have seen in all of the Christchurch heats!

The only thing I would note is that the energy ramps up to a hundred really quickly, and then just stays there for close to half the film. The energy could have potentially built up slower, or you could have ended the film a bit earlier, as that may help its pacing hit without dragging on too long.

An absolute wild ride of a film, what a joy and a horror to watch! I’m honestly shocked this didn’t get shortlisted!

I had to watch it twice and I still don't know what is happening. I think I speak for my whole team watching "wat da fa..." It was really well done and we couldn't stop watching because we had no idea what was going on. It felt more experimentalist horror rather than comedy horror but the public speaking anxiety is definitely something we all relate to...maybe not to this extent. Loved it!

Well well well, this was certainly...something! I really enjoyed it...yeah, yeah!

The idea is surprisingly strong, and we need more of it in this comp - bold, random and a strong visual style and direction. What it lacks in story it makes up for in total emersion and consistency. It's bizzare, it's a nightmare, and it really does feel like you're trying to wake up.

Our biggest critique? While the escelation is awesome, it does plateau, and once that hits we still have maybe another minute or two to go, momentum is lost and we're left sitting at the end wondering if you accidentally went over the time limit (you didn't, but it did feel like maybe you were going to).

While we loved it, it unfortunately couldn't hit shortlist due to it's lack of story it had to tell, which I think is pretty sad. The judging criteria doesn't create a lot of room for this sort of work to get the recognition it probably deserves. I'd go a step further and say a film like this directly challenges one of the core questions of this competition, "What makes a good film, and who gets to decide". I imagine if the city finalists were picked by a monsterous combination of judge, manager, HQ and audience feedback, this could have gotten a lot more love.

Some of these reviews say it's bonkers you didn't make shortlist, some highly respected members of the Chch community chip in saying its something they've never seen before! That puts you in a unique spot for the future - you can continue to focus on your specific craft, and find yourself amongst giants like Herms Heroes, Toot Toot and Team Diversity - teams that make something uniquely their style, at the risk of judges not being particularly gripped by it. You could also pivot, and take this incredible sense of style, atmosphere and character and put a metal rod of plot through it's spine - who knows where that might take you!

THE BEST THING: great editing and an escelation that shouldn't have worked, but it does.

THE NEXT THING: Hmmm I don't know what to advise here! Do the same thing again if you want? But also maybe take your talent and consider a more stock standard tale that could actually get you some more support in the judging realm. Up to you! But I personally would love to see more of this vibe in the future. Awesome stuff!

Ew but also... yes.

This is actually scary. The analogue, homemade and clearly fake gore actually added to what made this so disturbing. A million shots, all edited together in a feast of sensory overloading sounds and cuts.
It started awkwardly hilarious (The pen slide out of hand is our goat) and ended actually giving us tinglies.

It plays with the form itself and is more of an experience, than a standard grade film. It is effective. Evocative. Creative, Brilliant.
We think this is amazing. It doesn't fit in the box, which may hinder it in competitions like this. But when people say a film is art, this is the kind of thing we think of. One of our new fav entries of all time!