Herd

When I saw this at a short film fest in NYC, I laughed so hard tears were running down my face. You have GOT to see this movie, especially if you've seen ET, 2001 and a fair share of paranoid sci-fi movies. Vegetarians, check it out, too.

The only reason I am giving HERD a score of 8 is because the film is ultra cheesy, the special effects are often pure crap and the film a bit disjoint. But this is because filmmaker Mike Mitchell obviously couldn't afford more and he was rather young when he made it. Based on the budget, it's hard to believe that he's now a big-time director making huge Hollywood animated and non-animated films! Obviously this film impressed the right people!

The film begins with a terribly made scene with cows spinning up into space on a crappy fake diorama. But, it's also oddly hypnotic and fun seeing these plastic cows...which turn out to have not much to do with the story. Then the scene changes to the real world and a poor schmo has to deal with some super-annoying and super- aggressive Mormons who won't take no for an answer! Soon after ridding his home of this infestation, the unnamed hero in our story notices an alien (a puppet) running about the house. It begins smashing his appliances...all in order to build something. Where does all this go and what about the strange men in black?! Well, see it....because if I describe it you will just assume I am insane!

There is so much to love about this film. It's strange, it's funny and it's just something you have to see. I really don't want to say more because it would spoil it...just watch HERD!

everything in this movie is hilarious, witty, and terrifying. i don't know which image is more unnerving: the jehova's witnesses with helmets or the plastic pig dressed like a gay cowboy, or the scene of dorman and the alien during "the morning after".

i have never seen any student film quite like this one, where the direction is so "well, i'm here. look at me or don't," yet still so brutal. i don't want to spoil the ending, but if you've seen it, you'll know what i mean. mike mitchell is a freaking genius, i can't wait to see more from him. H.E.R.D makes the kind of sense that's pretty much inexplicable in terms of verbosity... you really just have to see it.

My roommate's an assistant on "Deuce", the new Rob Schneider vehicle over at Touchstone. He was telling me that the film's director is just a few years older than we are. So when he brought home the guy's short film, "Herd", I had high expectations.

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. This film is a work of genius. Instead of being restrained by budget limitations, Mitchell utilizes them for humorous effect. The result is hilarious. The bookmark sequences are beautifully crafted as well, leaving the viewer with a calm sense of awe. All in all, a wonderfully spectacular effort.

I now see why he got the job.

I saw this film at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, where my film "The Meeting" was screening. Of all the shorts at the festival, it was the one that most stuck with me, mostly because of its twisted sense of humor and cinematic inventiveness.

My film played again at the Florida Film Festival in June, and so did "Herd." I made a point of catching it again, and with a totally fresh audience. It received (easily) the best response of all the films in that particular shorts program.

If you have a local film festival, keep an eye open for this low-tech classic. Often filmmakers (myself included) dwell too long on trying to get Hollywood-like production values. Mike Mitchell eschews all that, knowing the low-tech shortcuts to communicate the same ideas in much funnier ways.