HORRORHOUND SHORT, "ESCALATION", DEBUTS DIRECTOR'S CUT AT RHODE ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL

When it comes to independent horror, lots of folks are still missing the boat on short films. Not only are these bite-size morsels of the macabre full of creative new ideas, they also demonstrate what the future of the genre holds, and whose hands will be holding it. This is why we are excited about filmmakers like Christian ‘Kang” Bachini. Not that long ago we reviewed his short film from the 2022 Horrorhound Film Festival, Escalation (see our previous review here) and we were floored by the brutality and creativity on display.

Now, the filmmaker is premiering this exclusive “Director’s Cut” this weekend at the Flicker’s Rhode Island Film Festival! Christian was kind enough to share a copy of this cut with us ahead of this weekend’s premiere, and we have to say it is not only more of what made the short great, but it also feels like the penultimate version of the film.

This roughly 28 minute cut of the film has a lot more tension and heaps more blood as some scenes are extended while others felt like they were unused in the previous cut. A few notable scenes included an extremely tense moment involving celery alongside a scene that will have you looking at tenderizers in a whole new light. There is also more elaboration on the meta “film within the film” which is welcomed with open arms as the slasher design is unique and creepy as hell.

It still remains unclear when Escalation will get wider distribution, or what plans lay ahead for the film in it’s current format, but if you’re in the area and close to the festival this is certainly worth the price of admission….and then some!

Stay up to date with “The Dark Side Of Pop Culture” by following MacabreDaily on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.