Directed by: Chris K. Daniels Written by: Chris K. Daniels Genre: Thriller |
Squeeze Toy
Seemingly on the run, Adrian (Christian Tabb) narrates his journey to his audience as he traverses a maze of corridors in search of his sleeper agents, and never standing still because he's not alone. His greatest nemesis Halloran (Samuel Caswell) is also within these sickly walls, with his minions in tow. As Adrian attempts to fill us in on the details, it's clear something just doesn't fit; his squeeze toy tends to lend credibility to that notion.
One murky hallway after another, Adrian runs, searches and gets his shoes covered in goo. All the while Halloran closes in until finally, Adrian ends up in some woman's apartment. A woman who he finally identifies as another sleeper agent, and attempts to activate her using his trigger sequence. A sequence that doesn't work, setting in motion a potential final showdown. Squeeze Toy is an interesting short film. It's an adventure that for a few different reasons reminded me of the second Hellraiser film. In no small part because of the endless hallways and very nature of the character Adrian himself. This isn't a horror film or anything like that, I'm simply writing of the general feel of the title. Very quickly Chris K. Daniels lays the breadcrumbs of what's actually happening in this film, all leading up to what should have been a great ending. But was simply meh. However, the way the film delivers its story is all aces. This is a story, in my opinion, of mental illness. That said, the way it's visually presented was handled expertly. I can't write that I've never seen diseases of the mind done better, but Daniels does add a fresh spin on things and I did enjoy the comic superhero aspect. The same can be said about the visuals, atmosphere and sound/music design. For what it is, there's no real glaring issues I had with this title. Squeeze Toy is different enough to be notable. It's a well acted spectacle with elements of multiple genres stitched within. The ending was a little anticlimactic, but the tension and even tiny bits of comedy were well placed and received well on my end. Since it's such a short title, you never feel as if your time was wasted. A decent film through and through. |
