Tapes

Super exciting news, I was sent a new short horror film to review, for my eyes only and it hasn't even been released yet!  See, told you, super exciting, right?!  It's also a short horror film and you know how much I love those!
The short horror film is called Tapes, "4 people are playing a antic and deadly game. Greedy for money, they're playing one by one the cards who can realise their dreams true or stealing their future".

---

Tapes is directed and written by two very talented people, Nelson Luppi and Mathias Roch; Nelson Luppi being who sent me the film in the first place.  Damn, these two are good together, like Cannon and Ball, or Chip and Dale.  I always feel short horror films are tricky to make to start with, due to the time limit and just that you can't drag them out as much as you would a normal horror film, but that did not stop Tapes.  Tapes has pretty much no speaking in it at all, and hardly any music, it is also all filmed in the same location the whole time, round a table and only has three characters.  Know the saying less is more? This film has that to a T.

---

The lack of sound in this film is actually really inviting, the game they are playing uses dice and they play it on a big thick wooden table.  Little things that don't normally mean much or that you wouldn't really take much notice of - in this film, you take notice.  The dice on the table as they are rolled make this great sound, and you can hear so clearly the clicking of the wooden cards on the table - don't even get me started on the creepy sound of the unknown being in the dark when a player seems to lose.  Similar to the sound out of The Grudge but more subtle I would say, I cleared my whole living room out and paused everything to listen and you need to too.  The sounds in this movie make it, you can feel them down your spine, you could say it makes your spine-tingle...  Get it...?  He, he....

---

I know I mentioned a lot about the sound, but obviously what you're watching too means a lot, and it works well.  There are only three actors, all brilliant, all very good with long shots, (there are a few long shots, with no cuts - that I feel should be used in horror movies more often.), and the location never changes.  The whole nine minutes you are watching the table, in a pitch black room, and a few shots are just staring ahead, never moving - the dark background is a killer too, no idea what is hiding in it.  Tapes uses a few close ups too, showing just the eyes and you have to make up what you think will happen through the actors eyes and the sound - damn I made up a lot of monsters that I thought would appear in this and that was just from sound and expressions - impressive!

I really did like how Tapes ends, but I don't want to say it as I don't want to ruin it, so I am just going to say, it ties it up in a nice little bow but also leaves you in the dark...  Pretty good if you're like my mum who likes an ending that just ends and is tied up neatly, Tapes kind of covers all endings really.
Tapes is a great little film, it's thought out really well, it uses all your senses while taking part of one away, and it's scary - it leaves you in the unknown.  It's a very clever gem and one that I am so happy will hopefully be getting the recognition it deserves.  Check it out when it's out!

Tapes is produced by Highelvetia and (hopefully I have), if I have sold it to you and you want more, go check their Facebook for more information: facebook.com/highelvetia or their website, www.highelvetia.ch and www.nelsonluppi.com for more on the directors.

---