Small can sometimes be big and beautiful. PACK OF PAIN is a short film with plenty of both. Displaying enough talent to burn the minds eye this is a short film with big ideas ( corrupt politicians in league with an extermination programme) and the guts to display this with visual and aural panache. The soundtrack is awesome with a moment or two of silence that underlines a wonderful assault on the ears. The look of the film,evokes a mix of Asian/Italian cinema with washing blowing in the wind on top of buildings which feels like Bangkok while long coats and brooding looks suggest Leone in spaghetti mode. Even more remarkable is the influence of German expressionism with the main character acting as if he too is as haunted as Nosferatu. This is the cue for the extreme sense of blood that permeates the film. The use of red as a visual motif is strong and vivid ,suggesting the link of blood with life and death. The ending has a stunning visual concept that recalls the type of effect Terence Fisher employed in his B crime thrillers of the late 40s /early 50s. . What is finally remarkable about this stunning looking short with Science Fiction city landscapes right out of Blade Runner is that its tall buildings, victorian gas holders and cranes in the sky and waterway canal are from a barely recognisable London. Using a fraction of the budget of Ridley Scott, the result feels more Polish than English but that is no bad thing.
