Criticized

Oops, make that "DEFINITELY the greatest horror film ever made." Richard Gale is a filmmaker who excludes the sort of directorial genius that even Hitchcock couldn't match. His choice of actors is so precise, I don't think there's two other people in the world who could have filled the roles of our two characters as well. The lighting in Criticized is absolutely impeccable, and the dialog unmatched in any horror film I can think of.

Previously, I had called The Exorcist the greatest horror film of all time, but there's a new king to be crowned, and it's name is "Criticized."

FOUR STARS

I saw this at Fantasia last week and it was absolutely terrific. I think the whole audience loved it, and people were cringing a lot. One girl even got up and left the theater and didn't come back until the film was over. Not because she didn't like it, but because it scared her too much. The acting was really good, especially the film critic. It's not often you see genuine terror in films, especially shorts films, but this was very believable and exciting. There is a scene with a paper clip which really stands out, and every day in my office I tell people to beware the paper clip. Camera angles, music and everything was good. Overall I would certainly recommend this film and hope at some point it comes out on DVD somewhere.

This was simply a great short. There's really something for everyone in CRITICIZED: from the gruesome encounter with the paperclip for those gore-fanatics (which was especially well- filmed) to some great one-liners for those who want something with a little bit of personality. I was a little bit wary at the beginning (man gets abducted from a parking garage and ends up chained to a bathroom wall -- didn't we see this back in 2004?) but if you can get past the traditional premise, the film really has a neatly-packaged little punch.

And as other reviewers have mentioned, you will never look at a paperclip the same way again.