Redneck...and
horror.
Most
people wouldn't think of putting those two concepts together
in a film. Not David Lindabury. In this debut film of
Fearsome 4 Productions, Skankobite explores the hell that
breaks loose in a trailer park when a mysterious tin of
chewin' tobacco is opened.
It
all starts when Daddy sends Krystal, his stacked, blonde,
twentysomething daughter out to get him some pork rinds
and tobacco. Unable to find his regular brand of chew,
Krystal returns with a relic-like tin of Skull tobacco.
She opens it and gives it to Daddy, who enjoys a "dip"
while sitting in his recliner watching wrestling on the
static-infested television. No sooner does he partake
of his "Smokeless Configuration" than bloody,
disfigured ghouls appear from the shadows, presumably
from some condemned Netherworld.
They
tell Krystal to leave, as they intend to have their bloody
way with Daddy, who is, by now, hooked to his chair. After
a moment of indecision, Krystal refuses to leave, opting
instead to stay and become one of the demons. A few simple
gashes with a knife, and voila, she is transformed into
a grisly demon. The film ends as Krystal joins her companions
in front of Daddy, promising him, "Don't worry…
it only hurts for a little bit."
Content
There are pros and cons to making short films. On one
hand, they can take less time to shoot, and thus, cost
less money. On the other hand, however, it takes a fair
amount of creativity and planning to adequately tackle
your entire concept in less than 30 minutes. I felt that,
while the idea of Skankobite was intriguing, the
running time of 9 minutes wasn't enough to effectively
flesh out and explain it.
The
overall story was rather confusing and hard to follow,
leaving more questions by the end than answers. For example,
who are the demons and where did they come from? What
is their connection to the Skull tobacco tin? What is
their purpose? Why did Krystal choose to join the demons
when she could have simply left and started a new life
for herself? Because these questions are unanswered by
the end of the film, it leaves the viewer with a sense
of incompleteness, like they only saw part of a larger
project.
