★★★★ Directed by: Franklin J Schaffner Written by: Michael Wilson, Rod Serling, Pierre Boulle Starring: Charlton Heston, Linda Harrison, Kim Hunter and Roddy Mcdowall Throwback Film Review by: Rachel Pullen Planet of the Apes (1968) Film Review I was watching The Simpsons the other day, old school Simpsons at that, and I got to the episode where Troy McClure brings back his career by marrying Selma, which assists in him getting the lead role in the musical of Planet of the Apes…whereby the apes breakdance around and sing the song about Dr Zaius…good times, and it made me long for the good old days of being in a land run by apes and humans being the underdogs. If you have never heard of Planet of the Apes then shame on you, but I shall explain it for you because I am nice like that, a bunch of astronauts are in space, of course, and they accidentally crash land on a strange planet while they were asleep, the woman is killed in her sleep so no need to worry about her, this is a bro challenge from now on. They faff around a lot and soon meet up with a bunch of other humans, who are a little slow it seems, so much so they cannot speak, I cannot decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, long story short some apes come, and they capture them because they are in charge! Egad. The apes are all super-advanced and have clothes and the humans are kept in the zoo or as slaves…oh the mirrored image of our lives, but some of the apes think the humans have potential and quickly learn that these spacemen can talk! Sadly, most of the spacemen are all dead or have had their brains touched and are now mute, so only Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) can defend the honour of his earth people. The apes are all like. Whoa you can talk and write and you fell from the sky, but thanks but no thanks…so Taylor is banished with only apes that believe him to be of value, but it’s not long until they tug the thread and discover old Dr Zaius has known all along that the humans were there first…..and they sucked. I won’t spoil the end because if you have not seen it, a lot of pop culture references are about to make sense, but I will tell you this, watching people in monkey costumes kiss is my fav thing ever, watching Dr Zaius waddle around in orange robes is my fav thing and watching Charlton Heston grit his teeth as some form of acting is …yeah, my fav thing ever. To be serious though, Planet of the Apes looks amazing for its time, the details and effort gone into the costumes is amazing, the storyline is unique and revolutionary, and even though at the start the pacing is a little slow, once you get to the monkey village, it is a wild ride. So… Apes are not to be trusted. Orange can be worn in all seasons. And my sense of grandeur when at the zoo has been dashed. #RachelPullen

★★★ Directed by: Joshua Pikovsky, Jordan Tetewsky Written by: Joshua Pikovsky, Jordan Tetewsky Starring: Hunter Zimny, Betsey Brown, Paul Kandarian Film Review by: Vikas Yadav As someone who deplores social gatherings (unless it involves friends), I identified with Joseph (Hunter Zimny) in Bergmensch. Don’t you hate it when you are forced to participate in a gathering where you don’t know anyone and would not talk to them after leaving the get-together? One of the worst memories of my childhood has my parents forcing me to attend parties hosted by their friends. All alone, I would stand in a corner or roam aimlessly around the room looking for someone to talk to. Needless to say, I didn’t fit in. There used to be hardly anyone present of my age. Today, I am not impelled to attend such parties. However, occasionally I am required to show up to a religious gathering, which I despise with the same intensity. It’s clear from Joseph’s expression that he is not having a good time at the sabbath dinner with his family. The dreariness from his face makes its way to the overly-lit candle lighting. Everything looks excessively bright and dreadfully dull. The image resembles hell, which is what Joseph considers this assembly to be. An ineffective attempt is made to get him talking by telling him to start a cousin’s club. This suggestion, though, is less inclusive and more a comment on his silence. It’s the kind of piffle someone tosses at you when they fall short of words or try to bring attention to your quietness at a chatty meeting. Joseph is not alone with his sombre sentiment. There is an old man who sits silently, very eager to detach himself from the noise. He takes off his hearing aid to save himself from the loud blather echoing in the room. Joseph, too, wants to get away from this setting, and so he escapes into the nearby woods. It’s here he encounters some series of scenes that may or may not have a deeper meaning embedded in them. From my limited understanding, I saw these scenes as a juxtaposition of the event happening inside the house. The people Joseph finds outside are close to one another, and not just physically. Two men - one holding the hand of another who has a lamp - walk past him as if they are guiding each other on the way. A man puts his shirt on another person to provide comfort from the cold atmosphere. Then there is a group that shares the same energy and walks in the same direction - it’s like everybody is mentally connected. Joseph, after returning to the house, finds no such attachment. He remains a stranger in front of his family members. The pleasant confines, for him, exist as a desolated prison. Bergmensch is like a nightmare that I don’t want to live in my real life.

★★★★ Directed by: Howard-Smith Written by: Howard-Smith Starring: Sophie Bullock, Joanna Bentley, Paige Allen, Jacqui Ure Film Review by: Jason Knight There is something wrong with 12-year-old Freya. Freya (Bullock) has a friend, who she calls Toppy, to whom she speaks all the time. However, the strange thing is that Toppy exists only from her perspective. Apparently, she has an imaginary friend and that has been the case for two years, since her father passed away. She insists that Toppy is real and visible. Her mother Claire (Bentley) becomes increasingly concerned after her daughter commits bad deeds that involve breaking a frame containing her late father's photo and assaulting her friend Alice (Allen). Freya claims that Toppy is responsible. Things take a turn for the worst when Claire decides to take Freya to a psychologist. This dark and disturbing psychological thriller focuses on a troubled girl, who seems to be suffering from split personality disorder, which was probably caused by the death of her father, indicating that Freya also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The story takes the viewer into the mind of Freya and observes as she 'has conversations' with Toppy and generally behaves as if Toppy is an actual person. There is a pattern of behavior and that occurs whenever someone insults Toppy. When that happens, Freya turns into another person, becoming aggressive and violent. And she constantly blames Toppy when something bad happens. With that in mind, the character of Toppy might be representing the anger that she feels by the fact that her father was taken away from her. Bullock is the one who steals the show as a young girl who appears normal and loves dancing, but is ostensibly having psychological issues. One moment she is kind and cheerful, the next she is angry and menacing. And she performs the mood switch very effectively. She truly believes that Toppy is real. Bentley is her loving mother, who cares deeply about her daughter and wants to help her. Overall, the acting is convincing, even though at some points it disappoints. The film has an intriguing plot and it is interesting (and awkward) watching Freya interact with her imaginary friend and following her mother as she desperately tries to help the situation as things get more and more out of control. The creepy and sinister score helps create a menacing atmosphere and there appears to be a nod to a classic horror film when Freya utters a line similar to the famous one spoken by Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Children sometimes have imaginary friends and Toppy explores the dark side of that. It looks into the ways in which mental issues can affect children and the people around them. This is an unsettling but compelling short and deserves praise and recognition. #JasonKnight

★★ Directed by #AmeliaMoses Written by #WendyHillTout #Lowell Starring #LaurenBeatty #GregBryk Film Review by George Wolf For a while, less can be more in a monster movie (i.e. Jaws). Still, diving into a werewolf flick without the budget for showy CGI or well-crafted practicals is ambitious. While Dog Soldiers proved you can make an impression without breaking the bank, so much of werewolf lore is about transformation – both the literal and the metaphorical – that as much as one layer falters, the other needs to stand that much stronger. Unfortunately, Bloodthirsty is shaky on both grounds. Pop singer Grey (Lauren Beatty) became a sensation with her first album, and now she’s feeling the pressure to produce a blockbuster follow-up. Grey is plagued by nightmarish hallucinations about turning into an animal, so her doctor (Michael Ironside in a distracting cameo) has upped her meds. Plans for the second album look brighter when famed producer Vaughn Daniels (Greg Byrk) agrees to helm the project. He invites Grey and her girlfriend Charlie (Katherine King So) to stay at his lavish home/studio in the Canadian wilderness while they record, but Charlie is concerned about Vaughn’s unsavory past. Grey isn’t, but things get weird as soon as Vaughn’s creepy housekeeper (Judith Buchan) shows the ladies to their room. Music isn’t the only reason Vaughn volunteered to work with Grey, and director Amelia Moses (Bleed With Me, which also starred Beatty) attempts a tone of Gothic seduction as the mystery unfolds. But it’s not really much of a mystery. The script, from Wendy Hill-Tout and her daughter Lowell (who also contributes original songs), delivers pale imitations of the carnivorous temptations in Raw as their film builds to a reveal that is less than shocking. Bloodthirsty is a werewolf film that never really feels like one, which has both up and down sides. Ditching the focus on full moons for a lesbian artist at a creative crossroads has promise, but the characters lack the depth required for any effective metaphor to take root. Pair that with scant transformation scenes which impress more with sound than vision, and a horror fan’s thirst for blood will likely be left wanting.

PEAKY BLINDERS’ JACK ROWAN AND DERRY GIRLS’ LOUISA HARLAND STAR IN VAMPIRE HORROR BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL 21st April 2021, London UK - Vertigo Releasing have announced that BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL, the ultimate Dracula ‘origin story', is releasing in UK cinemas on June 18th. Vertigo will also be partnering with Wildcard for the Irish theatrical release which is to be confirmed. Just when you thought the vampire film had been drained dry, along comes an unexpected and original spin on the genre from writer/director Chris Baugh, with the follow-up to his acclaimed crime thriller debut Bad Day For The Cut. With nods to Ireland’s formidable horror heritage (the local pub is called ‘The Stoker’ after the Dracula author), it follows recent Irish folklore horror hits The Hallow and The Hole in The Ground, whilst also injecting some surprisingly hysterical moments. It echoes Clive Barker’s Irish-set eighties creature feature Rawhead Rex, as well as a delectable sense of the backwoods dread present in 2019’s Scottish rural thriller Calibre. With a fantastic cast, including Jack Rowan (Peaky Blinders, Noughts + Crosses), Louisa Harland (Derry Girls), Nigel O’Neill(from Baugh’s debut), and John Lynch (The Banishing, Isolation),BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL is rich in Celtic atmosphere, drenched in gore, wildly funny and splendidly scary - the very definition of a crowd-pleaser. BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL received its World Premiere in Official Selection in the Midnight section at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, and played in the Panorama Fantastic section at Sitges. The film recently played at this year’s Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival. Endeavor Content is handling international sales. The film is a Six Mile Hill / Blinder Films Production, and a Northern Irish / Irish co-production. Endeavor Content is the studio, with support from Fís Eireann/ Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, in association with Automatik, Egg Studios and Inevitable Pictures. WATCH THE TRAILER HERE Synopsis: Welcome to Six Mile Hill, a sleepy Irish backwater whose only claim to fame is the somewhat dubious local legend that Bram Stoker once spent a night in the local pub. It’s home to Eugene Moffat, a young man who fills most of his days drinking pints with his friends and pranking tourists who come to visit the gravesite of Abhartach, a legendary Irish vampire some believe to have inspired ‘Dracula.’ When a personal tragedy forces Eugene to go and work for his gruff, no-nonsense father he finds himself on the site of a controversial new road development that threatens to destroy the town’s livelihood. But strange events unfold when Eugene and the crew tear down a famous cairn believed to be the final resting place of Abhartach and they soon come under attack from a sinister force that has infected one of their workmates. As the night closes in The Boys must fight for survival while discovering the true horror of a myth that hits much closer to home than any of them realise… BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL WILL BE RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS ON 18th JUNE

“A very cool movie... a fantastic yet plausible vision of a computer-dominated age.” - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE “The special effects are good in this movie - really good” - Roger Ebert To celebrate its 25th anniversary for the UK, the groundbreaking Keanu Reeves sci-fi JOHNNY MNEMONIC is getting a brand new Digital HD release on May 10th, from Vertigo Releasing. Hollywood action superstar Keanu Reeves stars in this ahead-of-its-time sci-fi thriller set in 2021(!); it predicted the use of the internet, and paved the way for mind-bending blockbusters such as The Matrix and Inception. Reeves plays a futuristic data carrier with a gobsmacking 80GB storage capacity in his brain!! An all-star cast includes Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables), Udo Kier (Blade), Henry Rollins (Lost Highway), Takeshi Kitano (Violent Cop) and Ice-T (New Jack City). JOHNNY MNEMONIC was also the first film adaptation of the work of legendary cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson. Packed with slam-bang action, dazzling visuals, and wild, prophetic technical innovations, and with a pulsing score by Brad Fiedel (The Terminator), it’s a hugely enjoyable, unforgettable slice of 90s sci-fi cinema that bridged the gap between Bladerunner and Christopher Nolan. Fans of head-trip films like Possessor and Tenet, who cannot wait for Keanu in The Matrix 4, will want to upload JOHNNY MNEMONIC into their cerebral cortex right now! “Everybody and his mother wants to kill me!” Synopsis: In the 21st century the information superhighway has developed so far that cyberspace is the norm for all business and personal dealings. Information has become so important that to shield the most delicate files from cyberspace hackers, the data is transported in the heads of Mnemonic couriers. Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is the best of the bunch, but this time the raw data he carries is so sensitive that he is being pursued by many interested parties, and his failure to deliver the information will hand him the ultimate lateness penalty. JOHNNY MNEMONIC WILL BE RELEASED ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS IN HD ON 10TH MAY 2021

Grimmfest announces May Madness, a startling selection of double bills for the late May Bank Holiday Weekend. May is on the way. A month with not one, but two Bank Holidays. The Maypoles are going up, the wells are being dressed. Summer is ycumen in. Or it would be, were the UK not still largely under lockdown. Yet let's not forget that “Mayday” is also the international codeword for trouble. It's a warning of threat, of danger and distress. What could be more appropriate to the season, then, particularly in such uncertain and stressful times, than some cinematic forays into fear and uncertainty, some authentic movie madness, delivered right into the relative safety of your home? Three double bills, guaranteed to challenge perception, practice deception, and banish dejection. We've a surreal and slyly satiric stab at the gig economy and the underhand exploitative methodology of New Age Capitalism in the UK Premiere of Noah Hutton's quirky low-fi sci-fi gem, LAPSIS. And an award-winning architect finds himself caught up in the mind games of an eccentric young woman with a pathological love of storytelling, in Kike Maíllo's slippery, disorientating psychological thriller, A PERFECT ENEMY, also a UK premiere. Grimmfest favourite Cody Calahan returns, with the English Premiere of the all too appropriately named bloody black comedy, VICIOUS FUN - about as sharp a change in direction from Grimmfest 2020 Audience Award Winner, THE OAK ROOM, as could possibly be imagined. And Daniel de la Vega fuses full-blooded Latin American Catholic Gothic with a sly homage to classic 70s Italian shockers, in the delirious and demented European premiere of ON THE THIRD DAY. There's sibling rivalry, Daddy issues galore, and pan-dimensional beings tampering with reality, in the North West premiere of Jason Axinn's gaudy, gory, action-packed animated comic-book TO YOUR LAST DEATH. Pan-dimensional gamers on the rampage, too, in the UK Premiere of Scott Conditt and Jeremy Tremp's pitch-perfect retro-80s tongue-in-cheek teen horror actioner, MAX RELOAD AND THE NETHER BLASTERS, in which video games prove to be even more of a gateway to hell than Harlan Ellison once feared. Simeon Halligan, festival director said: This is likely to be our last fully online gig as UK cinemas begin to open this summer. We wanted to welcome brighter times into our lives and say goodbye to darkness through a mix of fun, crazy, scary and downright weird movies for you all to enjoy on the cusp of summer.’ Grimmfest presents MAY MADNESS ‘Online’ tickets and passes are available now, from www.grimmfest.com.

★★★ Directed by: #GisliDarriHalldorsson Written by: #GisliDarriHalldorsson Starring: #HelgaBragaJonsdottir, #IlmurKristjansdottir, #JonGnarr Film review by William Hemingway Not to be confused with the Jim Carrey vehicle Yes Man (2008) in which he optimistically says 'Yes' to every opportunity that comes his way, resulting in 'hilarious' consequences and potent life lessons, Yes People is an Icelandic animated short written and directed by Gisli Darri Halldorsson. Here the premise is simple: people living in the same apartment block go about their daily lives and daily routines whilst only uttering the word 'Yes' in several different iterations. We follow three families – an older couple, a middle aged couple and a single mother with her teenage son – as they show us continually just how conditioned they have become at being 'Yes People' in their everyday lives. However, everything is not quite what it seems, and as we follow each character and come to know their habits and surroundings a little bit better, we find that these 'Yeses' (it is a word, honestly, I looked it up) are used to cover up a multitude of emotions and motivations that are being hidden just beneath the surface. We also witness a series of situations in which it would be better for the characters to just say 'No', particularly when their own desires and weaknesses are involved. The obvious vices of excess food and drink (alcohol) are exposed alongside the addiction of screen-time for the younger generation, and we watch as the constant saying of 'Yes' to these affects each individual. Most of the characters seem to be trapped in the same vicious cycle, saying 'Yes' to things they don't want, like or agree with in order to keep cutting into the groove of an easy life, no matter that it hurts themselves or those around them the more they say 'Yes' to it. That's not to say that this short film is depressing, merely realistic, and there are points of relief and good humour to punctuate and contrast with the mundane; the illustration of a repetitive 'Yes, yes, yes' scenario, in which two of the characters get it on, being the most obvious example. Much like the multitude of Pixar shorts that it resembles, Yes People seems a jolly little diversion on the surface but hides a more reasoned and thoughtful heart within its layers. There are large comparisons to be made between it and other dialogue light animations such as Belleville Rondez-vous (2003) and The Illusionist (2010) but the strongest link seems to be with the works of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, particularly Delicatessen (1991) and Amelie (2001), where the visuals and the sound design mesh with each other seamlessly to provide an all encompassing feel to the proceedings. Whilst the story doesn't really go anywhere and the characters aren't explored much outside of their blinkered provincial existence, Yes People still manages to capture and hold the viewer while also having plenty to pick apart and pore over with repeat viewings. It is a charming little film that deserves to have plenty of people saying 'Yes' to it, even if these people aren't on the Academy Awards selection committee.

★★★ Directed by: #EricSwinderman Written by: #EricSwinderman & #CarmenDeFranco Starring: #BreckinMeyer, #EmilyKinney, #GiselleEisenberg, #DebraHerzog, #RickMontgomeryJr. Film Review by Taryll Baker After a failed suicide attempt, a man receives a substantial inheritance from a long lost relative and meets a struggling single mom with an eccentric young daughter. Together they embark on a journey of self discovery and healing. Casey (Breckin Meyer) is a man struggling with the tightening noose around his neck when he meets Jess (Emily Kinney), a waitress at a diner with a daughter who copes with PTSD. After a situation between Jess’ boss and Casey, Jess loses her job. Casey reflects on his actions that ended up affecting the lives of Jess and her troubled daughter, so he gets her job back using a bribe from some of the inheritance of his late aunt. The three explore themselves from within, using the new-found connection to assist in rehabilitation. After a shaky start, The Enormity of Life begins to accelerate into its quirky but subtly serious journey of self-healing. There’s no shortage of questionable choices made in the script, but the acting duo of Meyer and Kinney seem to make it work for the most part. Their chemistry is convincing; a blossoming friendship that presents itself as unable to work initially, but quickly forms a wonderful mould. The two meet in an unfortunate situation, but then they connect and bond over their own experiences of trauma and family issues. The story is fairly simple and spread thin, but the complexities of the characters is admirable. Though it isn’t something fresh that we’ve never seen before — a few films of this nature have come out in recent years — it tackles the topic of suicide and PTSD quite well. There’s a subtle darkness in the humour that doesn’t feel forced, though it could be seen as sharp and a little unfocused. That said, all the little details in the performances and the story itself become quite enjoyable once you adjust to the absurdity. The Enormity of Life focuses on trauma, yes, but it also strives to shine a light on the little things in life that can bring happiness or at least a smile from the most unexpected of places. Swinderman’s direction is fittingly quaint for the smaller scale of this story. There are problems in the script, without a doubt, but the pin-point accuracy in the execution from both cast and crew makes The Enormity of Life a fairly enjoyable and somewhat relatable watch. This is a film that tells us it’s okay not to be okay, and that sometimes the things we need are right under our nose without ever realising it. Watch the trailer for The Enormity of Life below. - #TaryllBaker

★★★ Directed by: #NeilCorbould Written by: #NeilCorbould Starring: #KarolinaBurek, #MariuszGalilejczyk, #MartinMcLaughlin Film review by Lucy Clarke There’s admittedly something in the human psyche that pulls us towards bloodthirsty individuals on screen. Although killers picking up naïve tourists is arguably far-fetched, we’re fascinated with their motives and their intricate plots to rid the world of anyone unfortunate to come across them. Neil Corbould’s short film Sid is no different. Sara (Karolina Burek) and Tom (Mariusz Galilejczyk), are a young couple, deeply in love. They’re wandering about the countryside, their packs full of camping gear and their minds on the three months of exploring and opportunities before their new jobs start. Their attacker, Sid (Martin McLaughlin), is a smiling family man who drives a VW people carrier. His children, Katie (Lola McLaughlin) and Billy (Cole McLaughlin), read Wonder Woman comics in the backseat while Sid listens to classical music. Sara and Tom break through the trail to an empty road. Suddenly, we are on the edge of our seats. It seems as though Sid will plough right into them, but he slows down by the hikers and asks them if they want to go to a place where he and his children stay. It has excellent spots for fishing, and it’s secluded, the hikers are told. They hesitate at first until they see that Sid has two children with him, and reason that they can’t be at risk. Stranger danger doesn’t quite apply here. Killers on screen tend to have two sides of their personality – the pleasant, innocent façade and the psychopathic killer trapped underneath. Unfortunately, in Sid, the two sides of his character are fractured and don’t connect together into a believable hidden monster. The man who offers to show Tom and Sara his secluded spot is the same one who gets disgracefully drunk and threatens his children, yet these two sides to his personality remain so separate, it seems as though Martin McLaughlin is playing two different roles. This lack of cohesion and nuance is frustrating. It doesn’t illuminate the viewer on any inside detail on this killer’s psyche, and all there is to learn is surface-level personality quirks. Sid hinges on the believability and the draw of the eponymous main character, but his story follows the worn track of picking up tourists for some bloodthirsty terror. Sid does not have the same pull that fascinating killers of the same ilk do, like Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler. Sid might be a family man with a murderous secret, but his motives behind his trail of victims remain unconvincing and weak.

★★★ Directed by #ChrisBaugh Written by #ChrisBaugh #BrendanMullin Starring #JackRowan #NigelONeill Film Review by Hope Madden Lend me ten pounds and I’ll buy you a drink. That’s Eugene’s (Jack Rowan) line. He’s done working for his Dad (Nigel O ‘Neill), the meanest bastard ever to run a construction crew. Eugene’s happy to waste his youth drinking with his mates in The Stoker and ushering naive tourists to that pile of stones they come out to see – not that there’s really a vampire under there. Certainly not the one, true vampire that inspired Bram Stoker in the first place. Right! So, many pints and backhoes and buddies later we find out whether ol’ Abhartach under those stones is a myth or not. As writer/director Chris Baugh adapts his 2013 short into a fun, effective monster flick, he begins by tossing out vampire tradition. Ireland’s own Bram Stoker had written a piece of fiction, after all, and this is reality. The new mythology is a little muddier and more monstrous than Dracula, but never less than fun. Baugh taps into the same kind of smalltown boredom that situates the nation’s most memorable monster movies, from Grabbers to Rawhead Rex. He does a lot with a small budget, suggesting the monster more than showing it until the final act, but there’s plenty of blood to make up for the subtlety. A couple of veterans (O’Neill, as well as John Lynch, also on Shudder right now in Christopher Smith’s The Banishing) give the cast a strong backbone. A solid group of young ne’er do wells (Louise Harland, Michael Hough and Fra Fee joining Rowan) create a lived-in camaraderie. The charm and familiarity among the ensemble are undoubtedly the reasons the film works as well as it does. Boys from County Hell is a horror/comedy, but it’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny. It’s actually a good deal more tender in its own endearingly bull-headed way, with a narrative more focused on the father/son dynamic than on coming of age or bloodshed. Baugh’s deep sense of these characters and this terrain benefit the relationship building and give the film a nice throughline. This is a “what are you going to do with your life” film, and for some people, it takes a good, old-fashioned bloodletting to help them make up their minds. #HopeMadden

★★★ Directed by: #PeterCalvin Written by: #BrentCrable Starring: #BrentCrable, #WesDavis, #JeffGarlish Film Review by: Patrick Foley Given the response to pubs opening this past week, we can all understand how someone could consider risking it all for a fresh pint. That is the quandary at the heart of No Dayz Off, a wicked black comedy featuring two very parched Nazis. Hanz (Brent Crable) and Friedrich (Wes Davis) are two soldiers out on their daily patrol. As their car breaks down, they sense an opportunity to play truant and quench their thirsts at the nearest pub they can find. But the pair are well aware of the dire risks of going AWOL. As they take turns weighing their fears of the consequences and their desperation for a drink, they stumble upon what looks like the perfect establishment they’ve been craving… For an edgy short film, No Dayz Off is a well-performed and well-produced jaunt that is a little too one-note to be really memorable. The film’s central premise of two over-worked regular guys who just happen to be Nazi troopers is entertaining if hardly original, but the film’s short runtime is entirely dominated by back-and-forths of them describing the brutal fates that await them if they follow their innocent urges. Whilst comic, it does wear a little thin by the end – though the almost cartoonish acts they describe never lose their edge. The performances of Brent Crable and Wes Davis as Hanz and Friedrich are stupendously flamboyant and add much-needed zing to the debacle the characters find themselves in. Their ‘Zee Germans!’ accents are possibly the most over-the-top since the days of Dad’s Army, but this works to add to the ridiculousness of the film. The pair have a genuine chemistry and their friendship is believable. The film feels sharp and well-designed, working within its limits to deliver an authentic WW2 feel to the events. Director Peter Calvin adds a lot of little touches that add to the viewers’ enjoyment of the film, from the characters’ uniforms to the eery forest sets. The rapport between the pair is charming and the brutal and gory details they delve into to talk themselves out of a potentially fatal beer or 3 is complimented well by the camerawork. Ultimately the film sustains itself nicely throughout its five-minute runtime, but beyond that there is not much else to sink your teeth into. The central gag powers the movie, but the eventual payoff actually feels a little anti-climactic given the build-up. Perhaps that is in fact the point, but without a more substantial punchline, the film feels lacking. No Dayz Off is a charming enough short with a dark heart that is well worth a watch. But there’s little more to the film than this that will resonate with audiences.