IFFBoston: Death Trike

There are two ways to look at this film. You can see it very simply, or you can attempt to overanalyze it into greatness. I prefer the former, mainly for the reason that the filmmakers were there at the screening. Death Trike is a comic take on the slasher film, except the slasher is a tricycle. And so, for seven minutes, we get to watch the directors friends yell at a tricycle. I might have accepted this if we hadn't been able to see the pole they used to move the trike, or if there had been anything other than watching three people killed by a tricycle.

To overanalyze the film would be to say that the terrible acting and effects are a commentary on the current conditions of horror films and how the conventions need to be changed for the betterment of the genre. To see the film is to note that this was a vaguely humorous concept (that like most vaguely humorous concepts can never work in practice) that was executed poorly. No cliches are challenged, no boundaries are pushed, nothing is altered from a traditional setup except that the killer is a tricycle. And so the film quickly becomes the worst thing a horror movie can be: boring.

IFFBoston: Everything Will Be Okay

I know I have already covered this one, but it was also the first film I saw at the IFFBoston. Upon the second viewing, it has lost none of its intelligence and depth. What struck me this time around was the abundant humor. Even though it has a very somber message, there are moments of great humor, including a man with a pipe coming out of his chest and the attempted greeting "weh."

The timing of the humor is impeccably placed, often for the viewer's sake. It introduces the film on an awkward/funny note, and it manages to lighten the mood when all seems lost. The humor always feels natural, coming from the development of the story rather than feeling shoehorned.

I know I sound like a slobbering fanboy on this one, but I honestly feel like this is the closest thing I've seen to a piece of transcendent work in a long while. It touched me on an intellectual level, an emotional level, and a spiritual level. There is nothing more I could ask of from a film.