Chomp

Director - Lynn Hansen
Starring - Susan O'Gara (Dead Pulse: A Cultural Phenomenon), Kyle Porter (Everyday Spooky), and Joel D. Wynkoop (Death-Scort Service)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Eat up, zombie boy!"
Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The other night I had a bit of a mini-movie marathon.  I checked out the flick Wasteland that was a full length film that follows a man trying to survive the zombie apocalypse while searching for his lost love.  The film offered up no originality but was a fun watch.  The second flick I watched was a short titled Chomp.  This was a short that I had heard several other reviewers mention through Facebook and Twitter so I was very curious about checking it out.  I reached out to the film's Facebook page and director Lynn Hansen was kind enough to send a link to an online screener my way.  Thank you Lynn for allowing Horror Society and myself the opportunity to check out your hard work!

     The short follows Kyle (Porter) who awakens with a pretty nasty cut on his head unaware of where he is and how he got there.  He is chained to a cedar block and is unable to leave.  Soon we meet Millie (O'Gara).  She is a sweet old bird that believes that zombies, or z's, are real due to the crazy talk show hosted by Dr. Jon Croft (Wynkoop).  Kyle dressed up as a zombie for a party and Millie believes that he is one and is going to use her new find to earn her a spot on Croft's show.  However, things go wrong for Millie when a small zombie girls finds her way through a hole in the wall and gets in where she bites her.  Now, Millie is a zombie earning Kyle a spot on the show.
     Shorts are a powerful form of film that are able to tell an entire story in a short amount of time.  If they do it right then a few minutes can feel like hours of entertainment.  Chomp had an interesting premise but I was worried that the short would not use it's time wisely.  Lucky for us, Lynn is a very wise filmmaker that made very good use of the film's running time and delivered one hell of a short.  The acting in this one is amazing.  The z, Kyle Porter, was excellent in his role.  His bewilderment was very convincing and he shows a tremendous amount of talent in front of the camera.  The elderly lady that has a hard time determining fiction from reality was played by Susan O'Gara and she was amazing.  Her performance single handedly made this short what it is.  She was funny, entertaining, and brought about an eerie charm that reminds me a lot of the children's oriented horror films that I watch every Halloween like Ernest Scared Stupid, The Worst Witch, and Mr. Boogedy.  The other major role belongs to b-movie legend Joel D. Wynkoop.  He once again brings the intensity and adds a few laughs to the film as well.  The story for this one is simple and fun as hell.  I can not recall a horror film, feature of short, that follows a young man that is believed to be a zombie and forced to act like one for fame.  I have, however, seen a film where people were zombies but were unaware of it (see AAAHH Zombies!).  The story was fun, original, and had a lot of personality.  It also used it's time very effectively which helped make this short feel much longer.  Finally, the film does not have any real on screen kills or gore.  I read several other people's reviews, which I rarely do, and they mentioned gore.  I have no idea what they were watching because the only "Gruesome" thing I saw was a fake brain in a bowl.  It looked cool but not much in the way of blood and gore in this one which is what I expected considering the zombie is not a real one.  Overall, Chomp is one extremely fun short that is unique and entertaining.  The short has an amazing cast and and a great sense of atmosphere.  I could easily see this one becoming a part of a horror fan's Halloween rotation with their children.  Check it out whenever you can!