Beast (VHS)

 
(Helltimate) www.lindenmuth.com
Directed by Alexandre Michaud
Starring: Blair Thomas, Neil Napier, Anthony Pereira

Feral young Splatterpunk Alexandre Michaud (Urban Flesh) spits put a hairy tale of lycanthropic psychosis in this short originally intended for Kevin Lindenmuth's ever spiraling series of Werewolf flick compilations, now shorn free to run amuck in it's own moonlit kingdom. In "Beast", Anne's husband is mysteriously killed. After being bullied by the local fuzz over the where's and why's, she returns home to find that someone's shit all over her carpet and left a dead mouse in her bathtub. Then she starts get terrorized by some crazy fucker on the telephone, ranting to her about "The Beast Inside". Who's the murderer here, not to mention the scatological vandal and phone prankster? Could it be her estranged,drug addicted brother Frank? Or is it her sympathetic "friend" (wink, wink) Luis? Well, it's Frank, so stop wondering. That's not the mystery here, anyway. The real puzzler is whether Frank is really a werewolf, the hapless victim of a gypsy curse, or just a fucking nut. After all, he's shooting heroin into his neck as some kind of half-assed wolfman antidote, when he's not mauling his sister like some love sick, incestuous mutt, and begging her to kill him before the moon comes out. Guess they'll just have to wait it out to see what happens. It's gonna be a long night.

Although all the "Werewolf Chronicles" stories have their own gritty charms, most have so far relied on Twilight Zone plots and Halloween mask effects. Alexandre eschews all that monster mash stuff for a more high-brow (though no less bloody )psychological horror spin with this accomplished short. Brutal and extreme, but tempered in a bitter reality, "The Beast" is a tense little lupine psychodrama, and finds this up and coming mayhem visionary continuing to gather strength. Keep you eye on this cat, especially when the moon is full.  - Sleazegrinder