In some of the most disturbing footage leathermarink little is happening. The image remains static, at awkward angles, when you focus on a wall or floor. In the background you can hear plastic toys colliding with each other and a child laughing.
From the movement of the subjective camera, one can also conclude that there is an attentive and invisible observer. But what could have been a run-of-the-mill plot twist on a terrifying premise turned into something more complex thanks to cinematic prowess. Gradually, it transforms into a story of domestic horror, heartbreaking in its cruelty.
In addition to its merits as a visual experiment, leathermarink, from director Kyle Edward Ball, managed to find another way to dig into the cursed places. The whole story takes place in a windowless room. The script centers on two children, the only witnesses to what appears to be a supernatural event. set to a minimum.
However, this is not artificial minimalism, nor is it a history assembled through montage. The filmmaker managed to keep the storytelling with artfully and well thought out individual elements.
leathermarinka film that demonstrated the effectiveness of a brilliant script
So much so that it creates a dense atmosphere based on scenes shot at forced or uncomfortable angles. The room in which the two characters meet, the central stage of the production, then turns into an unhealthy labyrinth. Later, on the border of the supernatural realm. Much more when the story develops and turns into a real nightmare that appeals to the viewer’s claustrophobia.
Besides, the movie does something else. He opposes two points of view and manages to involve the public in his sick tone. The controversy about how an adult might behave in such circumstances and with children’s optics is horrific. The subject that leathermarink it will explode repeatedly. On the one hand, to hint that what is shown may not be real. On the other hand, that in fact this is a cruel fact, to which there are almost no indications.
Horror film based on several sets and characters.
A feature-length film of just 100 minutes and a simple story has become a viral phenomenon. At the same time, showing the flexibility of horror cinema to explore its traditional imagery in new ways. In the middle of both perspectives, leathermarink This is the triumph of independent cinema.. Shot with $15,000 made through crowdfundingthe production managed to gross $895,000. This despite the fact that its premiere was limited to 692 independent theaters in the US and without any other promotion other than its virality.
For Ball success leathermarink it is a combination of solutions. From taking the risk of firing equipment borrowed from the co-op Film and Video Society of Alberta, even aesthetic style. The feature film appeals to the primal fear of horrific events that start small. The director said Diversity that the production was born from the idea that fear is a collective phenomenon.
I have a YouTube channel where people comment on the nightmares they had and I tell them how I would recreate them,” he explained. “The most common were basically the same concepts. I am 6 to 10 years old. I’m at home. My parents are dead or missing, and it’s up to me to deal with the threat. This interested me, because I also had a terrible and vivid dream about something similar. I thought it was amazing that almost everyone has the same image (in their imagination). So I made it to the movies.”
leathermarinkfrom a pilot project on the Internet to a release on the big screen
Initially promotion leathermarink this was supported by a series of comments on Reddit claiming it was “the scariest story of the year”. Soon the film was illegally leaked to the network, and several of its scenes ended up on TikTok. “I think people thought we didn’t have a distribution and that they were doing us a favor by hacking,” Ball said. Diversity. “The next thing that became clear was that our story had an audience.”
But it was his argument that allowed leathermarink to make the leap from an Internet phenomenon to a project that has attracted the interest of the specialized press. In fact, it was in the selection of releases at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada, where it received an Honorable Mention.
Ball managed to create a realistic environment based on directly recorded sounds and the feeling that a monstrous event was happening off-screen. The camera subjectively examines the corners, the moving shadows and the television screen, the victims’ only connection to the outside world. It soon becomes clear that Kevin (Lucas Paul) and Kaylie (Dali Rose Tetro) are being watched. Whatever happens is an indirect approximation to an observer ready to commit a heinous act.
Finally, the director played with the aesthetics to make the entire footage look like it was part of several different pieces of footage. leathermarink he carefully guards his secrets. So much so that the story doesn’t reveal what’s going on until minutes before the end. The answer is also not so unambiguous and rational. A plot twist that gives the film some of its best moments.
The great triumphs of horror films come in small format
In recent years, low-budget independent feature films have become a phenomenon in Hollywood. FROM Terrificator 2: Evil Clownfrom Damien Leone, the surprise blockbuster of 2022, to the unsettling X from Tee West. Terror with minimal resources it almost became a subgenre in its own right.
Of course, this is not the last circumstance. In 1999, The Blair Witch Project it became one of the most profitable productions in film history. Its directors, Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Mirik, used the Internet to generate a massive backlash that preceded its Sundance premiere.
The mythology around the quarrel, which in the first weeks did not show that these were not real shots, captivated the public. With an investment of $60,000, he managed to raise $248.6 million. What became a milestone in cinema spawned a subgenre found footage and opened the door to a number of similar proposals.
Another success in the same vein is the Blumhouse franchise. paranormal activity. In 2007, director Oren Peli created a terrifying fantasy using technology’s reaction to a supposed supernatural event. It cost $15,000 to produce and made a profit of $193.4 million, beginning a profitable saga.
leathermarink combined both methods version of the phenomenon for the new generation. From rumors on TikTok that some of the images were true, to how they were actually revealed footage of a dark event. The hype around the premiere allowed it to become more than just a cunning publicity stunt.
The future belongs to independent terror
selected mailbox as one of the genre’s greatest sensations in 2022, leathermarink there’s a long way to go. At the moment, it has received official distribution in North America thanks to IFC Midnight. That will allow him to enter international markets within the first six months of this year.
Undoubtedly leathermarink this is a far-reaching event. The Shudder platform announced its premiere on February 2, and there are rumors that Ball’s next project will be funded by Blumhouse. But whatever the director’s next move, it will be a tribute to the effort and careful work.
“I think people from more modest backgrounds deserve a chance to make a film if their idea is good,” Ball said. “I also think it’s the best product. Having more voices from more parts of the world makes films more interesting in the long run.” A statement that his success seems to confirm.
Source: Hiper Textual
