Remote (Short, 2009)
Morgan Elektra
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Reviewed by Morgan Elektra
Written and directed by Marc Roussel
Starring Ron Basch, Sarah Silverthorne, George Komorowski, Julie McCarthy, Peter Racanelli
20 Minutes
Like most people these days, I’ve got over a thousand channels… and sometimes I still can’t find anything interesting to watch. Matt Reid (Basch) doesn’t have that problem. Divorced and coming up on a deadline for work, he holes himself up at home to put his nose to the grindstone during a big snowstorm. When he awakens to the power coming back on, his TV is on the fritz. While switching through channels, he stumbles across what appears to be a mirror image of his apartment … only it’s inhabited by a young woman named Justine (Silverthorne) in the year 1978.
Matt learns that Justine is a student and offers to look her up online to see what she’s doing now and makes a grisly discovery. Thirty years ago on that very night, Justine was murdered, and the killer was never caught. Now Matt can either try to save her or watch her die.
Not a complex storyline, to be honest. And as usual when that’s the case, it’s all about delivery. Lucky for us writer/director Marc Roussel put a lot of thought and time into this, and the end product shows it. The film looks good, and the script is pleasingly solid with no tedious or expositional dialogue. Roussel slowly leads you into the story and then plays it out steady enough to reel you in nice and tight at the end – which, while there isn’t a big “twist”, still doesn’t happen exactly the way you’d expect. Without giving too much away, it must be noted that obvious care was taken when selecting actors to portray characters 30 years aged.
“Remote” is an entertaining, tense, and enjoyable short film. It seems to me that Roussel must be a horror fan because his reverence for the genre is clear. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
The film recently screened at several festivals, notably Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors. If you didn’t manage to catch it there, keep an eye out to see if it’s coming to a fest near you. If it is, don’t miss it!
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5 out of 5
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