Angler

Director - William Frankenstein

Starring - Amy Puente (Better Call Saul, Open Range), Evelyn Coffing (Wretched, The Night Shift), and Gavin Bohn

Release Date - 2024

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Keep the lights on"

Format - Streaming (online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've found myself in the middle of a Dark Red Film Festival marathon and I'm honestly enjoying it.  I just finished watching and reviewing the fantastic 1 Star Review and kept the marathon going with the second film send to me from Dark Red.  This film is a mystery to me as I can't find any info on it outside of what the poster had to say.  Apparently, it's directed by William Frankenstein for Video Vermin along with the cast listed.  That's all I can find on this which made me even more interested in it.  I want to once again thank Dark Red for sending this one over.

     The film follows a young woman who is cleaning up the belongings of a loved one when she comes across some old recordings.  She watches them and learns that her disappearance may be something nefarious and sets out to find her.

     I went into this one knowing absolutely nothing about it aside from the director being a Mary Shelley fan.  However, the short wasn't for me.  I loved the look of the short and the cast but the story itself just didn't cut it.  It was missing something that maybe a feature length film could have given us.  The acting in this one is very well done.  The cast is extremely small and has no weak links.  They do a great job creating characters that don't blend into the background while carrying the story.  The dialogue feels natural and not stiff which makes it so much easier to follow.  The story for this one is where the film lost me. The basic premise follows a young woman looking into the disappearance of a loved one.  It's somewhat unclear as to the relationship of the two but it's clear they loved each other.  Some random home videos gives her a glimpse into her disappearance and when she finds her she realizes they both are in danger.  What we have is a story that has a lot of potential but doesn't give it enough time to fully tell the story.  It doesn't really work as a short as I had more questions than answers.  Finally, it's not a short with a body count or gore.  However, if you are looking for something that is beautifully shot then you are in luck.  Overall, Angler just didn't do it for me.  I wanted to like it but it but it failed to find it's traction.  Given a longer run time then we may have been onto something.