All one has to do is turn on the TV or login to Facebook to understand that we now live in the effing Twilight Zone. I feel like at any moment Rod Serling will show up one morning next to my coffee pot and give me some chilling and cryptic introduction to the day. I believe that what makes Devil Town, a short film by Nick Barrett, so relevant. It’s hard to tell which way is up these days and even the person in the seat next to you could be tweeting the most horridly racist neo-nazi bullshit, but you wouldn’t know, would you!?
(Just a sec, I have to explain to my 12 year why he shouldn’t tell his classmate Yusuf, to, “go back to his own country” )
Devil Town is about a man who I assume is one of those bull headed real estate guys who values money and success over anything else. He gets confronted by a homeless guy who threatens to turn his whole world upside down. It all sounds like the beginning of an episode of the Twilight Zone. In fact it turns out that this comparison was intended and they wanted a Twilight Zone and Invasion of the Body Snatchers type homage.
(The clean looking homeless guy steals the other man’s iphone… when it’s unlocked! THE HORROR!)
Written and directed by Nick Barrett and shot with a wintery palette by Marcos Avlonitis; Devil Town features Johnny Vivash (The Creature Below, Big Bird, Perdition County) Matthew Hebden (Cartwheels, Wasted) and Elina Alminas (Cinderella, Ex Machina). Devil Town is making its rounds in LA and London Film festivals, the best part is that it is safe for work so you can even watch it in your office on your lunch break.
The film is only 16 or so minutes long, but it packs a lot into those minutes and it leaves us wondering about the people around us. Is the friend or family member sitting next to you trustworthy, or could they be a demon waiting to barbecue you, or worse… a Trump supporter?
(Pictured: A wild alt-right white nationalist in its natural habitat)
Devil Town is available for download on itunes or you can take a look at ShortsTV. I recommend taking the time to watch this short and I look forward to seeing more from Nick Barrett and Corporeal Films.
Check them out at: https://www.facebook.com/CorporealFilmsDevilTown/
or you can tweet at them: https://twitter.com/Corporeal_Films
