The Short and the Short of it.

   Checking out the indieplex streaming service by looking at their extensive collection of short films.

Seed - (LGBTQ- Horror) 10 min. In the horror short Seed, a witch lures a virgin to help with her olive tree, but not in the way the title suggests. A young girl with an injured leg seeks a cure from a witch. The witch agrees to help her in exchange for helping with her garden, specifically a special olive tree. The witch, however, plans to kill the girl and use her blood to fertilize the tree. The girl's friend interrupts the ritual, forcing the witch to fight them both. The film manages to be sinister even though the setting is bright and outside, lead Niki J. Crawford is good as the witch. invoking a spirited strangeness. Everything else proceeds as described and the film although not great does what it is supposed to do tell a very specific tale with clarity and style by Writer/Director Nikhail Asnani

Bags - by Senio Zapruder  (Fetish - Horror) 7 min. is a fetish film about a person who performs by mutilating and rubbing against mutilated Dsqured2 designer bags. It's not my kink but one should never shame another's kink so in the film you get what is described but as a torture porn dance performance film featuring the named bags. It is just wierd enough to keep the casual viewer interested but it is certainly not for everyone. The statement about television and high ends products is not lost on me, neither is the humor in which this film was made.

Self Portrait - (Comedy - Horror) 6 min As described on the service, there is nothing more terrifying than facing yourself.  An artist doing a self portrait notices a mole on his neck that starts him down a unexpected path as he begins to obsess about his health. Writer Director and actor in this one Lewis Rose seems to capture how rabbit holes start and maybe how the first abstract art was made.

Neal - (Horror) 6 min,  Neal is a couple's pool cleaning device that on their anniversary does not take to them having a late night swim. Director Geoff McGee plays the short as straight horror and manages to make a pretty benign object into a killing machine. Mixed with the great horror angles of the camera work there is decent music and a sense of humor. So all and all this is quick horror fun.

He Dies at the End - (Comedy- Horror) 5min. Life is full of surprises.  Alone in an office, a man is taking part in a strange online quiz, to find out how he will die. Silly in we all do those only quizzes and in this one they actually make it a bit creepy. Silly ending works. This one directed by Damian Mc Carthy who has made some very good features after this short, (Caveat, Oddity) does a great job keeping it simple and telling the story.

Zombie America (Horror - Comedy) 9 min  Director Nick Poppy has not done anything of note since this film was made. It is impressive that he got Ed Helm to star in this narrated bit about post zombie apocolypse America. Glen is a zombie trying to get the message out that not all zombies are horrible. It's cute and relies on the scriptwriting to make the humor and Ed Helms is great in the role bringing a relaxed style that really works.