SNOWMANIAC (2023)

 

(Director/screenwriter/editor/co-star: H. Owen Richardson)

Review

Two drunk guys, Robert and Eric, are outside a house in what seems to be the middle of a wind- or freeway-loud nowhere late at night. While one of them uses the telephone booth to call a cab, the other smokes a cigarette. The one using the telephone booth makes his call, steps out of the phone booth, and sees his friend is gone, somewhere in the oh-so-dark night (smoker is being killed by a knife-wielding person wearing a snowman mask). When the telephone rings—a callback from the cab company, likely—the Snowmaniac turns his attention to the phone guy.

Posted on Youtube and viewable for free, the nine-minute SNOWMANIAC feels like a proof-of-concept short film. While it runs like a series of scenes (not a story), it’s an effective, well-shot stalk-and-slay work, from its use of spare, spooky music to its muddy-dark background night (courtesy of cinematographer/co-producer Kai Hall), which makes it almost feel like a 1970s flick. The sound effects are crisp and ickalicious (e.g., when smoking guy’s tongue is ripped off the road sign), the acting is solid for its concept, and its creepy piano tune is a mood-effective capper for SNOWMANIAC.

H. Owen Richardson, who also wrote, directed, edited and co-produced it, played Robert. Ryan Skates played Eric. Tom Rockell played the Snowmaniac.