Welcome to Hoxford (Short)
Matt Molgaard
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Starring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Arben Bajraktaraj
Directed by Julien Mokrani
The short film has been calling to me often as of late, and that’s got me not only tuning in to brand new features, it also has me returning to some of my personal favorites. Sitting perched atop my list of must-see short films is Julien Mokrani’s absolutely stunning fan film, Welcome to Hoxford. It’s been five years since this beauty was released, but you can bet Ben Templesmith keeps a little slice of pride tucked away in his psyche knowing this treasure exists.
Julien Mokrani’s visually stimulating adaptation of Ben Templesmith’s terrific werewolf tale far surpasses magnetic. It’s an insanely infectious film that burrows in the psyche of the viewer and offers payoff after payoff in the brief confines of a 21-minute runtime. It isn’t easy making an engaging short film that delivers one big moment, let alone a handful of them, but that’s precisely what Mokrani’s movie manages.
It’s important to note that Mokrani isn’t the sole participant of this project that warrants praise. Jason Flemyng (you’ve seen him in films like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell and Clash of the Titans), who portrays Ray Delgado, a convict who essentially transcends mortality and humanity by overthrowing and slaughtering a gang of flesh-eating werewolves, does a bang up job while fronting the film. Flemyng’s work is a brilliant reflection of Templesmith’s on-page character. The film doesn’t afford us the time to get to know the insane murderer (and does admittedly chop some details of the source) as well as Templesmith’s book does, but for a picture that runs well under a half an hour, Mokrani does a masterful job of delivering us a Delgado that we already know from print.
Others who shine onscreen include Dexter Fletcher (Doom, Kick-Ass and Cockneys vs. Zombies) and Arben Bajraktaraj (Taken, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1), who play a twisted child abuser and a demented prison warden, respectively. These guys are great, and they were perfectly cast in this particular instance.
The visuals of Welcome to Hoxford are mind-blowing, as Mokrani blends jaw-dropping visual effects and bleak live-action shots to create what feels like a high-end cartoon colliding with a certified feature film. The contrast between both is genius, and the vibrant colors of the film will have you hooked in an instant. The sound is also quite sharp, often eerie and poignant. Technically speaking, Welcome to Hoxford is a very refined film. The fact that we get some elite performers handling the focal characters is really just the icing on the cake.
Whether you’re a fan of the fan film or not, Welcome to Hoxford will impress. It’s a piece of work that outshines the vast majority of fan films in existence, and it feels as though it was designed to cater to fans of IDW’s successful mini-series. If you’ve got 20 minutes to spare, look into the film – you can thank us later.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
