Seize the Night

Seize The Night gives us a satisfying glimpse into the fantastical world of vampires and werewolves. This short film offers extremely strong production values and a fast-paced story in a fleshed-out world that leaves you wanting more.

What’s It All About?

Eva is a renegade vampire assassin who has recently escaped from a secret bio-research compound and is out looking for revenge. Eva hears about a pack of werewolves led by alpha Tobias who is out looking for her and decides to bring the fight to them. However, Tobias has information that could change the future for all werewolves and vampires and he needs Eva’s help.

My Opinion

I really enjoyed this short film. It is clear that this movie has been inspired, at least in part, by the Underworld and Blade movies, the weapons are high-tech and we have an abundance of black leather. This is no bad thing, and rather than duplicate, this short manages to use it’s inspiration to create something new with their own unique twist on it. We are presented with an energetic story that is set in a world full of depth and history. We don’t spend time introducing the audience to this world, setting the scene, we are dropped right in the middle of it and taken on a rollercoaster ride to its conclusion. This is a great way to tell an action-packed story. We are never stood still for too long, constantly driving the plot forward and at only 12 minutes long, this movie does a great job of story-telling.

This was certainly a passion project for Emma Dark who wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in the film. Emma has given us a brilliant story and I feel we are only getting a glimpse into a much bigger world. The short is tightly edited and well put together. The scenes flowing nicely together with some quick cuts pushing the story forward at a great pace. Emma plays the title character of Eva in the film, a role that I feel is important she plays so that it allows her to portray the character she has been visualising while writing to ensure she does the character justice. Emma was not alone when she wrote the short, also participating in the writing duties were Richard Humphries and Merlyn Roberts. The trio have done a fantastic job of developing a story rich in history, it would be criminal not to re-visit this world at some point if the trio can get back together, I am sure they have plenty of stories to tell in this universe.

Another ace in the hand of this film is the effects. Visual effects being a rarity when it comes to short film, Seize The Night has pulled a trump card thanks to Davy Simmons. The explosion at the finale was extremely impressive and well put together, giving this more of a big budget feel rather than a small independent production. Another great effect was a flash grenade used early in the film, although this effect looked simple it was very well done and looked great on screen. As for vampires and werewolves, there is not much in the way of practical effects for these but we have some very nice loong fangs on display and we have a well placed werewolf shadow which was a very nice touch.

The film seemed to be shot in black and white with a blue hue creating a very dark and gloomy setting reflecting the grim story being told. I thought this dark lighting really helped to create atmosphere. This was made even more effective when we were treated to a flashback scene and the screen changed to a sepia tone along with some excellent screen effects. This flashback scene was another highlight for me and I thought it was very well put together.

The action throughout the short was to a very high standard, thanks to fight coordinator Roy Scammell. Film buffs may recognise his name as the man behind the stunts on movies such as Alien, Rollerball and A Clockwork Orange. His quality shines through with some solid work playing to the actors strengths. I have a feeling these actors have had limited experience when it comes to fight scenes but it doesn’t show here thanks to the excellent work of Roy who gives us some entertaining and solid action.

Something that always helps create the atmosphere is the soundtrack that runs alongside it and Seize The Night has managed to deliver an extremely impressive and atmospheric soundtrack that compliments this story very nicely. Erick Elick was in charge of the original score and gave us something special that was very well suited to the film and helped to build the tension and set the scene nicely.

Notable Performances

Emma Dark played Eva, the renegade vampire assassin and the star of this short. I thought Eva was an excellent character, she was a vampire and a real bad-ass that clearly had a lot of history behind her. Emma seemed to really embody the character, she was at her best when she was throwing attitude in every direction, she portrayed a character not to be messed around with. Emma did a great job in the roll capturing the inner conflict of working with Tobias to battle Cable 9. I thought Emma also breezed through the action sequences, making those fight scenes look easy.

Carey Thring played Tobias, a werewolf alpha. I liked the character of Tobias, he displayed his dominance over the rest of the pack well and came across as a rather mysterious character. His dialogue with Eva seemed full of reluctance which reflected the friction between werewolves and vampires. A fine performance by Carey who seemed to handle the role and delivered a very tormented performance.

Paul Ewen played Joe. Although this character was only a minor one, I thought Paul did a great job and was worthy of a mention. He came across as a natural and gave and good, solid performance.

Joel Brown gave us a very brooding performance as the werewolf elder. This was another small part that was incredibly well done with a lot of intensity.

My Verdict

I thought this was a solid entry into the sci-fi and action genre. With short films budget problems normally restrict productions of science fiction and action shorts, but this showed no signs of any restraints with some brilliant visual effects and strong performances. Emma Dark and her team have produced an exciting short that manages to hit all the right notes. The overall production of the short was very impressive and helped us explore a world that clearly has lots more tales to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and the ending left me wanting more. Hopefully we will get to see more in the near future.

Seize the Night

Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 7, 2016

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