This WoD episode serves up two shorts wildly different in tone and theme before bringing in the body count. Meanwhile, your reviewer talks way too much about the audio design.
“Mutation” from Writer/Director Patrick Langille is a slice-of-life segment gone wrong. Cool purple-ish outdoor tone and warm orange indoor tones, and a restraint in showing the titular mutation are very effective in framing what turns out to be a darkly comic little slice of horror – think “Creepshow” for a comparison of how a little humor can help the terror along. For two of the characters, it just goes to show how some mornings you really should stay in bed. The color work and simple edits nicely move the story along. The audio design here is very sparse, and, on first viewing seemed a little thin. On second viewing it’s actually quite effective. Audio is often underrated and overlooked in film and “Mutation” starts with a more dense layering of background and foreground audio elements with layers fading out as the film progresses. The increasing minimal nature of the sound mix really does end up pointing focus where needed.
Add in a couple of chuckles, and “Mutation,” is a nice warm entry into the World of Death before the next segment.
“Molting,” from Writer/Director Seungmin Cho is a whole different beastie. For some in the audience, well, you may have had a Friday night start like this short, (I’ve been there, man…) hopefully with a better resolution. There are some very nice editing tricks in here; color shifts, echoed images, and very nice use of depth of field. These effects give the movie a very gritty and realistic feel to the events in the story. The middle is, for this reviewer, truly horrific, (As stated, I’ve been there, man…) while the ending is a nice twist, and certainly not where I’d anticipated the scene going at the beginning. More kudos to audio design, a relentless ticking clock drives the pacing of the scene, but this clock becomes… something entirely different. It’s quite seamlessly mixed, and aids in a little bit of misdirection before the resolution of the action. The audio is also a fairly close representation of the reality of the situation (I did say I’ve been there, man, right?). Overall, a low-key, but disturbing entry into our World of Death.
– Michael M. Miller
World of Death is the web series that fans of independent horror have been waiting for. Featuring short horror films from all over the globe created by the largest variety of talent that a collection has ever been able to boast, WOD provides plenty of blood, guts, screams and laughs for all fans of the macabre. And with episodes averaging around eight minutes in length, WOD is the perfect entertainment for a fan base constantly on the go. Watch it anywhere, at any time, for FREE! New episodes premiere every Monday and Thursday at 10am CST.
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