Indie
[Review] We’ve Kicked Ass With ‘Kung Fury’!
From Kickstarter to the Croisette at Cannes Film Festival – it’s almost a scenario as outlandish as the plot of the retro mythical mash-up. This past weekend Laser Unicorn’s Kung Fury premiered in The Directors’ Fortnight shorts programme.
The VHS was loaded and the 30 minutes of pure nostalgia porn raised the roof with the crowd-funded final film.
Cast and crew attended as the humble director and star took to the stage and read from prompt cards to steady his nerves.
Read no further if you want to remain pure and spoiler free for the online release on May 28th. I’ll leave you by saying Kung Fury is the Avengers Assemble if it had been made in the 90’s. It’s great and I hope it beats Gangnam style as the most watched YouTube video of all time.
The short utilizes the iconic shots from the trailer while expanding on the narrative. From the douche villain skateboard flipping car moment we cut to an arcade machine where some bros get sad at ending their game. Their game is ended when the arcade cabinet transforms more realistically than anything Michael Bay has done before erupting on to the street, flipping people the bird while delivering deadly laser blows to all and sundry. With the disturbance being reported, the police send their best man to diffuse the emergency – Enter Kung Fury!
Arriving on the scene KF takes on the corrupt console in ever outlandish montage moments perforated with tracking & static VHS breaks. After giving him a game over screen we learn about KF’s origin & powers. Through being struck by lightning & bitten a cobra he was born, naturally.
Losing his buddy in a grizzly ninja slice we learn of his reluctance to take on a new team mate in the form of Tricera-cop – a Jurassic partner in fighting crime with an inexplicable British accent & crotch homing bullets.
Hitler & Hackerman are introduced through a hilarious cell phone scene which sets into motion the events that transport KF back to the era of Vikings & dinosaurs.
Making friends through history Kung Fury eventually makes it to Nazi Germany to face off against Kung Führer & his legion of SS Soldiers.
Faux product placement & hand drawn animation connect the other events of the film before a team up across time & the Hoff sung closing credits.
There’s a lot of style, epic one liners & heart but ultimately it’s been seen before through the work of Astron-6 or more recently in Turbo Kid. With a feature in the works it’s hard to tell if the material can stretch out to a full length version or if the thirst for the absurd throwback culture would have quenched by that point of delivery.
If Jurassic World sucks & when Terminator Genisys inevitably does, turn to Kung Fury on repeat to make everything better in the world.
Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.
The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:
“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.
“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.
“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.
“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”
Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.
WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.
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