IT CAME FROM YOUTUBE! – Humbug (2016)
Hey there everyone! Brian here to bring you all a new segment for the blog from The Cinema Psychos Show. We call it “IT CAME FROM YOUTUBE! A segment devoted to reviews of indie horror films available only on youtube. The idea is that this special blog post can not only give you all a taste for some of the great talent in indie horror but also help the filmmakers drive audiences to their work.
This week’s pick comes from SiniSisters Productions. A group of female filmmakers that add their own unique spin to classic horror conventions. Right now they have about 4 films on their youtube page but this one particular film stuck out to me. That film of course is the Christmas horror-comedy, “Humbug”.
Synopsis
The film starts off with a young goth woman drawing a very detailed drawing of a decapitated Santa Claus which she anoints with her own blood. Great start already. The young woman is interrupted by haunting sound of Christmas music from her saccharine sweet neighbor who quite literally is the poster child for Christmas and repressed memories.
Our gothic hero moves to confront her and her obnoxious music but is ultimately tazed and tied to a chair with Christmas lights. Like a crazed evangelical, the neighbor tells our hero that she is in fact infected by a “Humbug”, a creature that is preventing her from enjoying the Christmas spirit and through torture she will be able to remove that humbug from within her.
Review
This movie was a lot of fun to watch. The performances by Jessee Foudray and Milly Sanders were top notch. Sanders does an excellent job in crafting a demented character that is part 50’s house wife and part Norman Bates. What I found refreshing was that there was never a time that her performance went to a darker more sinister place, as most films of this type would have done. She never let the visage of the “sweet psychopath” slip to just a typical horror villain. She compliments the foul mouthed performance of Foudray who plays the goth neighbor.
In terms of production, this was an extremely well crafted production. Cinematography and sound design were spot on. But for me the real star of the production was the art direction and production design. The inside of Sanders’ house looks as if Christmas vomited all over the place with christmas lights, nutcrackers, snow men paintings, and Santa figurines all over the place. This type of attention to detail gives the audience a real peak inside the mind of this Christmas obsessed woman.
While not very gory, the film does give us some great special effects that harken back to the practical gore effects of the 1980’s. I see a lot of Evil Dead II influences in the effects, especially in the design of The Humbug itself.
If you are a fan of holiday themed horror films, as I am, definitely check Humbug out. It clocks in at a little over 6 minutes so it isn’t too bad of a watch between the barrage of cat and Let’s Play videos.
You can check out SinSisters Productions at their Youtube Channel or on Instagram
Is there a indie horror film on youtube that you want a review of for IT CAME FROM YOUTUBE!? Contact us at cinemapsychosshow@gmail.com or by going over to our Contact Page and drop us a line.
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