Film Review: Voyeur (short film) (2017)

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REVIEW:

More short films, kiddies! Today we have VOYEUR, written and directed by Dakota Thomas.

Ok, so this is a little different from what a lot of you may normally get into as far as a horror shorts go. This is a music video about a serial killer.

Maybe I should explain a bit more…

So first of all, there is no dialogue. We meet our creep (Joshua Calderon) as he starts his “day”. It’s obvious from the beginning that something isn’t right with this guy.

Off he goes into the night to seek his next unsuspecting target (Leslie Gonzalez) as she enjoys a leisurely night swim in the (alleged) safety of her own home.

All of this plays out to a wonderfully ambient score by Lito Velasco, the music carrying the story forward as we watch the events unfold.

This film is very old school, reflecting a different aesthetic in filmmaking. Think about the music video sequences from MIAMI VICE, for instance. Ground breaking for the times, and set the precedent for television and movies to follow for decades.

Well, I am old enough to remember this sort of music video horror style. And I gotta tell you…Mr. Thomas hit the nail on the head. It’s perfect, from the VHS style production company logo at the beginning all the way through the costume choices, make up, special effects, and closing credit sequence.

Writer/director Dakota Thomas was born in 1991. That makes him way too young to have been there when the genre he is recreating here was all the rage. This is how it was done when us old timers were young. There’s still a lot to be learned from this simple yet complex style.

I’m not sure how I feel about 80s nostalgia stuff – does that mean it’s all cool again, or that I’m older than dirt? Either way, this is good stuff, folks.

Using my special short scale of one to five, five being awesome, I’m giving this film 5 creeps.