“Don’t Despair” is a 2015 short film starring Erin Etheridge, Kevin Reed and Bec Fordyce. Written and Directed by Alfred Giancarli. Photographed, Edited and Produced by Michael Hall.
There are a lot of films out there dedicated to people’s morbid curiosity and utter love of psychotic serial killers, but rarely do you run into one that’s about their fans.
“Don’t Despair” is a short film about two such fanatical serial killer followers. They collect his memorabilia, and one of them has taken the vicarious experience of owning the serial killer’s belongings to new heights. When she meets another obsessed collector, it’s obvious that both of them find discussing the murders and how the killer pulled them off to be exciting, in more ways than one.
“Can you feel it? Can you feel him too?”
“Yes, I believe I do.”
The actors of this movie manage to bring serious sexual undertones to the dialogue, in an artistic, thoughtful way. The dialogue and visual subtext reminds me of how some serial killers only find the act of murder to be sexually stimulating and is the only thing that brings them to climax. Yeah. They’re that messed up.
It’s insane. Or they’re insane. Whatever.
This short film is visually arresting, with amazing cinematography, fantastic set pieces, and an artistic flair showing the viewer images that bring to mind loss, hopelessness, and a desperate need to fill a hole in one’s life.
This is a fleeting image, but a haunting one.
Three pairs of empty chairs: two stacked on the side, two as the focal point (one with a suggestive wooden drawer on the seat sticking up and out) and two upside down with the legs and feet up in the air. All of this represents the sexual thoughts that are going through the minds of the two characters.
This is another brilliant, subtle image.
An old, empty apple juice glass jar; the rotten forbidden fruit that the characters are about to taste first hand.
This type of clever, artistic imagery is sorely lacking in most modern mainstream horror films. It makes me look forward to what Alfred Giancarli and Michael Hall will made next.
Even the score by Pablo Martínez is subtle and haunting. It set the perfect tone, and seeps into your subconsciousness to bring up mixed feelings of emptiness, loneliness and dread.
If you love serial killer movies, or are one of those crazy wacky fans of serial killers (hey, we’re not judging anyone here), then you’ll love “Don’t Despair.”
Guess what? You can watch it here! For Free! How cool is that?
