Indie
[Review] Cupid Is a Coke-Snorting S.O.B. in Short Film ‘Q’
The Roman god Cupid had a tough gig. That pudgy, beneficent winged infant zipped around all day, playing matchmaker with his love arrows. What was in it for him? When did he get laid? And when he finally did get a ride-or-die girl of his own, the mortal Pysche, it was sort of a forced marriage. A violent seduction. They say love is hell, and nobody knows that better than ol’ Cupid.
This mythological character takes a mean turn in director Tom Vujcic’s new short film Q. In this relentlessly cynical 20-minute film, Cupid, or just “Q,” is a coke-snorting, double-barreled gutter mouth who only does his love arrow thing if the money is right. Cross his palms with silver and get the woman of your dreams. Ain’t no adorable little tyke in a diaper neither. He’s a bald-headed, tattooed S.O.B. played by Stewart Downs.
His latest assignment is for a sheepish young professional named Jason (Zak Longo). Desperate to win back the woman he loves, Jason hires Q to do his thing. In the myth, Cupid has a quiver of arrows. In Vujcic’s film, Q uses darts dipped in blood and some love potion #9 chemical. There’s a great little scene where Q is mixing up his sweetheart syrup in a makeshift laboratory. At this point you’re not really sure if he’s an assassin or a private dick or what. The reveal is really fun and nicely flips expectations.
Everything is going smooth for Jason until Q arrives on the job after one too many pulls from the whiskey bottle. Unable to focus, Q accidentally shoots the wrong girl. Things get a bit complicated from there. The “love spell gone horribly wrong” has been done many times before. From Love Potion #9 to The Craft and even that Tales From the Crypt episode with Andrew McCarthy. But Vujcic and co-writer Kyle Bodanis’ film takes some interesting turns with the concept and throws in a myriad of interesting characters into the mix, including a hooker and her pimp, played by Jamaican dancehall legend Louie Rankin (Belly).
Filmed in Toronto, Q has a consistently gritty edge. You can practically smell Q’s squalid apartment. A few of the shots could use tighter editing to rev the pacing up a bit, but other than that Q is an entertaining short that takes a ridiculous concept and runs with it all the way to it dreadfully ironic final shot.
Q played the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival in Phoenix, Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Horror Film Festival, and the 2016 Toronto Short Film Festival last month. Check out Reel Wolf’s website for more info.
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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