Editorials
[Short Film Spotlight] You’ve Got a Mystery Date with Terror in “Your Date is Here”
There are tons of bite-sized horror films popping up online everyday…each a potential quick fix for your fear addiction. Here at BD, we’re happy to show some love to the good ones. We even have our own show dedicated to just that! “World of Death” exposes some of the best up and coming talent in the horror world. But, even beyond our weekly anthology of underground goodies, there’s a bevy of films deserving of a few minutes time with your eyeballs. We hope to shed some light on the hidden corners and dark shadows of the internet where the most gruesome shorts may lurk with “Short Film Spotlight.”
It’s amazing what can be accomplished with a free weekend and a strong concept. Just take a look at David Sandberg. His itsy-bitsy short, “Lights Out,” not only scored himself a Hollywood feature based on the same material but an upcoming mega budget DC flick (Shazam!). The truth is, it’s hard, especially within the horror genre, to cram a miniature dose of terror within a coherent package in just under 10 minutes, let alone craft a story worthy of the big screen treatment. Filmmakers Todd Spence and Zak White have certainly cracked the code with “Your Date is Here.” The six minute spooker produced for the duo’s Midnight Video outlet tells the story of a mother and daughter sitting down for a girls night in with a delivery pizza and an old school board game.
The game, aptly titled Your Date is Here, is a clear takeoff on the classic gender stereotype enforcing Mystery Date. A game in which players have to collect cards in order to build the perfect outfit to match the possible dream boat lurking behind a little plastic door affixed to the game board, likely wouldn’t fly off shelves today. Oh, and you also had to ensure you avoided winding up with “The Dud,” a nerdy zero who was sure to be the death of your social life. Spence and White use the dated concept and retool it to feature a telephone for communicating with the mystery man. Suffice to say, this is a horror film, and what ‘s behind the door and on the other end of the line is far from a pretty sight.
I had the chance to chat with the writer/directors about “Your Date is Here,” and I’ll be sharing that convo below. However, you should totally check the short out first to avoid spoilers! So…here ya’ go.
Still here? Great! Hopefully you enjoyed that as much as I did. I wanted to pick their brains about their inspirations and find out just what led them to make “Your Date is Here.”
Todd Spence: Growing up in a small town, there’s not a whole lot to do beyond getting into trouble or going to the movie theater and video store. I chose the latter. Horror/Comedy might be my favorite subgenre. Movies like American Werewolf and Innocent Blood have always been great. I grew up loving John Landis movies and can thank “The Making of Thriller” for peaking my interest in filmmaking and possibly horror movies overall. I think that’s where Zak and I connected in our writing. I’ve known Zak since college when we went to Webster University and joined the film program there. Actually a lot of those guys that we became friends with worked on this short and our other horror short“Where is It”. I have to say, I didn’t learn a ton of technical skill in college but you meet some really great people.
Zak White: You learn the most in film school by just going out and making something and we were both very lucky to meet a group of really talented people who had similar tastes and goals. We spent most of our time focused on comedy, but when we started to focus more on horror, things began to click.
While I’ve never actually played Mystery Date, I did (unknowingly) wind up with a “Saved by the Bell” board game as a kid that was practically a rip off. I had no idea that when I asked for a game based on one of my favorite shows that I would be playing to win a date with either Zack, Slater, or, heaven forbid, Screech (“The Dud”…or in this film’s case, “The Dweeb”). So, had Spence or White ever played the game themselves, and what drew them to this particular concept?
TS: We never played Mystery Date but we vaguely remembered the commercials growing up. The game was released in the 50’s but then they reproduced it in the 90’s and when we were thinking of an idea we hadn’t really seen before, that game entered the conversation. It’s already creepy without meaning to be creepy. There’s some dude behind the door, you don’t know who it is, you don’t know what he looks like but you’re about to go on a date with him and trust this guy? Yeah, that’s scary.
ZW: A horror Jumanji seemed like too much fun to pass up. Plus, blind dates might’ve seemed fun and exciting a half century ago when the game first came around, but in this day and age that concept is straight terrifying.
Of course, I had to know about the actual board game design used in the short. It was so authentic that I forgot while watching that the original game was called Mystery Date and not Your Date is Here. I just assumed they found this in a thrift store somewhere and decided to use it in their short. I should’ve known better.
TS: We took a Mystery Date board and put our own logos, aged the board a bit and added the phone and call button. The phone isn’t a part of the original Mystery Date design, but we liked that extra level of contact within the game. Tate Marshall designed the logo and box art. Incredibly talented artist.
ZW: It was a lot of fun taking the existing design and seeing what we could warp and change to fit our needs. Obscuring faces and aging corners, it really gave an eerie feel to just an ordinary piece of cardboard. I would absolutely play this game.
The Dweeb feels like a piece of a much larger story. Did you know the backstory for the spirit (or demon) going into the film? If there were interest, is there potential to see this expanded into a feature?
TS: Going into the completed short script, we didn’t know what the back story would be, but we actually just completed a feature script we’re shopping around, which explains not only who this guy is, but all of his friends. In the game, you have a few date options so it’s the Dweeb times five. The script also has a lot to do with today’s social commentary in regards to male and female roles and what’s going on with abuse.
ZW: We really enjoyed taking this monster and digging into the “how and why” of him. He’s not just popping out and doing this thing, he’s having fun with it. Teasing his victim, toying with them, it really says a lot about him and not to spoil anything, but turns out… he’s a big creep.
I, for one, would be all over that. Let’s get a Dweeb movie, people! The shoot itself was filled with the typical foibles of indie production: hot lights, no AC, angry neighbors making noise complaints. It’s a testament to anyone out there who wants to get behind the camera. Just do it! Plan it out, be smart, and get creative. If you have a roof over your head, you already have you location. Of course, if you keep this up you might find yourself in the same position as Spence and White.
ZF: We shot our first short in Todd’s apartment, our second short in mine. We’ve run out of free apartments!
If you or someone you know has an awesome short worthy of the Short Film Spotlight, hit me up on Twitter. Until next time, later, fiends!
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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