Friday Horror Short 9, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow

BLOT: (07 Feb 2014 - 11:53:54 PM)

Friday Horror Short 9, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow

The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow, written by Rodrigo Gudino and directed by him and Vincent Marcone, is a little different than the other shorts I have covered. It is largely about a single photograph, used as evidence about a case in which over 100 babies have been taken, and what happens when the photograph is examined more closely. Except, rather than it merely zooming in on different sections of the photograph, it zooms into the photograph, around certain objects, exposing hidden truths, and then the picture itself starts warping and things that looked happy—a waving man waiting while a friend starts a fire—becomes worse and worse as little details turn sinister. It maybe loses points by actually altering the photograph rather than using clever reveals to bring out hidden details, and it feels like it could have gone a couple of steps further, but overall it is gorgeously done, creative, and fairly unique.

Now, I have a copy via DVD, and I'm not sure which copy online would be the most legit, but it has been posted, below, for a couple of years so I am going to assume that it is at least semi-ok to link to it. If it disappears, the official site at Rue Morgue has some more information but the DVD that it was part seems to have vanished. Alas.

As a final aside, the short references Keres early on. However, the Keres fed on the dead of the battlefield. Since babies disappearing does not seem to match this description, it is possible that something akin to allegory is going on, here.

Friday Horror Short