Kitchen Sink

I loved this short film to pieces. When I saw it was called `The Hairy Fetus' so it took me forever to find anything on it. It was the kind of thing that I was just transfixed on the entire time. It moved along so well and got continually better and better as it went along. Then the end ending! I've never been so disgusted with a film I couldn't take my eyes off of.

I wish short films like this were more readily available so people could have access to them. Its not something you can rent. I actually caught it by accident between films on The Sundance Channel years ago, but it really stuck with me all these years. If you can catch it anywhere have a looksie.

Here's an odd-bod of Australian suburban horror. As a woman yanks on a vine-looking umbilicous, she reveals a monkey-addled child which quickly (upon H20 - Gremlins ripoff) turns into a full-size mancub, complete with hair from top to toe. She begins a lenghty shaving session with his entire body. Disturbed by his lack of movement (particularly in her bed, which she jumps conclusions and drops him into) she encloses him in a man-size ziplock and walks away. He paws and she cuts him loose, revealing the romantic within. As creepy and looming music plays, they kiss and an ending of unbelievable gore and savagery rolls. Not simply a hoot of a horror short, but a terrific atmosphere as well. The Director is currently shooting "Jesus's Son" with Billy Crudup and her assistant, Kimi Takesue, teaching my filmmaking class at Temple showed "Kitchen Sink" to us. Saturated darkness on top of a brooding situation (on of implausability but not lacking in its own cramped fear) make for a quick fix of camera trance and zone-pleasure. Worth your time.

The first time I saw this twisted but wonderful little film I was maybe 12 years old. I remember seeing it on television, probably broadcast as a filler after a feature film or something. It made a significant impression on me then and when I watched it again this week, it made an even greater one.

Canadian director, Alison Maclean, has created a wicked little masterpiece with this film. The way some of the shots in this film linger on dangerous moments proves her mastery of suspense. Without giving anything away, Maclean manages to show just enough of certain things to keep them unsettling and creepy.

The film is about obsession and the problems associated with dwelling on some tiny, nagging thing. The protagonist cannot leave well enough alone and so brings the real horror of the film upon herself.

This is definitely one to watch for a great example of how to create suspense.

A woman pulls an unspeakable fetus out of the bowels of her kitchen sink.In the tub of warm water the fetus starts to grow until he is the size of a full grown man.Suitably creepy and weird horror short.The monochromatic cinematography is stunning and the score by cult Kiwi band The Headless Chickens adds a lot to the atmosphere.The use of sounds is exceptional as the film is almost dialogue free.It's certainly a study of suburban loneliness and neurosis with the creepy feel of David Lynch's "Eraserhead".It won Best Short Film in the NZ Film & Television Awards and Audience Award at the Sydney film Festival in 1989 and is currently available on "Crush" DVD.

A bizarre, captivating and truly excellent piece of New Zealand gothic. In suburban New Zealand, a woman finishes the washing up and discovers some strange little hairs in her sink. She pulls and pulls and something flies out of the pipes. And it grows....and grows....Kitchen Sink is a dark comment on suburban neurosis, as well as an excellent critique of horror films and the 'woman in peril' genre. Filmed in black and white, viewers may be reminded to some degree of Eraserhead. A little masterpiece.