Mr. Bubbs

I saw this last month at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. This is a story of a young girl named Samantha (Kendall Ganey) who is chalk drawing images of a fierce monster she has named Mr. Bubbs on the sidewalk in front of her suburban home. A stranger (Alan Lilly) approaches her to come with him in his car and she reluctantly agrees if only Mr. Bubbs can come along. Making a dark comedy/horror spoof out of a disturbing subject like child abduction is in itself disturbing and the comedic payoff falls flat. Todd Thompson directs and wrote the screenplay based on a story by Peter Raymundo. Raymundo is a film animator who worked on such notable films as Beauty & The Beast, Tarzan, Mulan and Lilo & Stitch but there is no animation in this film. Faye Novick rounds out the small cast as Samantha's mother. I would give this a 5.5 out of 10.

Mr. Bubbs (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very good horror short has a little girl playing on the side of her street with her imaginary friend, Mr. Bubbs. A child molester comes along and lures the girl into his car but Mr. Bubbs is there to protect her. I think it's important to have an imagination whenever you're doing a short today and director Thompson certainly has one. The story could have been simple and predictable, and it is to a point but there's another side of the film that pushes it over the line and makes the movie highly entertaining. The dark subject matter has a decent amount of humor thrown in and this makes the film very memorable. The movie goes by very fast and has a great pace but the director really takes the film to another level. There's some small blood but the revenge aspect of the film goes for smiles and gets them. Kendall Ganey is very good as the girl and Alan Lilly is also fine as the predator.

I met Todd at Valencia Community College and I greatly respect how hard he works on his films like Mr. Bubbs. Character wise it is terrible, the girl would have continued banging on the door and have been freaked out in the end. Todd, did you squirt the blood with Ketchup? Wouldn't Mr. Bubbs have bumped the man while getting into the car? Wouldn't the car have been in motion when the kidnapper gave his creepy speech? Todd, it is time to grow up. I have been to the Stars North Website and seen your "Producer, Director, Writer " business cards. I have written a scene with you Todd and you need to perfect your craft more before calling yourself a writer. Todd, go to college and actually major in film. Stop playing "house" like children and actually study and grow. I am sure you think it is cool to hand people a business card that says, "Producer, Director, Writer" on it but actually do it. Stop playing house! Stop submitting yourself and pictures to the IMDb. This is why I never submitted my screenplays to you. Todd I wish you luck and I sincerely hope you take this criticism as constructive. You are a creative person and I hope you choose to study and refine your skill.