I stumbled onto this gem after I discovered the existence of the upcoming movie "The ABCs of Death", and shortly afterward, discovered the film-maker's competition and call for submissions for being the "26th director of the movie". The other 25 letters of the alphabet were already set, the call for entries was for the letter T, with the winner being included in and getting credit for the segment in the movie, alongside directors of the movies "A Serbian Film," "House of the Devil", and "Tokyo Gore Police, among others. Unfortunately, the voting was closed by the time I found out the contest. I watched over two dozen entries in a row (binging out like I did, with a little marathon after dark, is NOT recommended if you need to get a nice peaceful night's rest) and I'm not even sure how the voting process worked, but this excellent and satisfying entry in the contest would have had my vote. Nothing at all I'd change about it.
It's really too bad they couldn't pick more than one entry. The Lee Hardcastle claymation horror short ended up winning, probably because Hardcastle has a big cult fan base (as well he should), his film "T is for Toilet" is pretty impressive (I'd put it up there in my top five entries) I decided that TIFT was the best live-action entry.
It was up against some strong competition, but writer/director Michael Foulke's entry has everything going for it. Obviously a lot of care and concern and craftsmanship went into creating this film. I don't have confirmation on this, but I'm pretty sure he's a horror movie fan, and any movie (short or not) made by horror fans, for horror fans (Spain's "REC" is a great example) turns out to be a fine work of film-making that REALLY knows what horror fan audiences want: story, scares, and some gore. A horror film can be pretty good when it contains 2 of the above (for example: good story, good scares, I can live w/the barest amount of gore possible). This entry has all three, though I'm pretty sure the gore level contained in this short is PG-13. Tops. I doubt they had a huge budget, but with the top-quality production values, it sure doesn't LOOK like there was anything low-budget about the movie.
The acting by the two main cast members is high-quality, and I was especially impressed by the talent of the actress--Ashley Lynn Switzer-- who plays the Girl Scout. She NAILED it, especially for an actress her young age. I don't see a lot of actors/actresses appearing in horror films under age 10 stealing the movie. I couldn't find her age on her IMDb page, but she looks to be about 11 at the very oldest, my guess is (at the time the movie was filmed, anyway) more like 8 or 9. She was so convincing that I wondered at first if she was one of those more experienced young actresses who they "age down" well, then use her because she can sell being that young. I doubt that was the case here.
I've seen so many horror movies, TV shows, graphic novels and even novels that I'm very good at guessing what happens next. TIFT was one I couldn't second guess, so that says quite a bit. Check this one out (use the link on the "external links- miscellaneous" to find the Vimeo page to watch). It's less than five minutes long, so why wait? Check it out ...now! Oh, and I guess I should state as a disclaimer I was NOT involved in the production in any way, nor did I sell out for personal gain or to get any perks for giving a 10/10 rating (not that I'm complaining, I didn't expect any). If you click the page that shows all my reviews, you'll see I write plenty and am not biased, and definitely not a 'plant.' Like I said, if you miss this, you're missing a treat!
