8/10
More unnerving than most horror movies
22 September 2022
Being at work can be a chore, especially if you're involved with the construction business. I knew that construction sites can be really dangerous, due to the numerous hazards that can be present at one, and this short from the early 80s shows traumatic events and how easily you can die if you don't pay attention to what you're doing. Because there's no actual storyline to speak of, the film is basically just a bunch of clips strung together, each one showing why emulating the behavior of the workers shown isn't a good idea. Some of these include a worker washing some small metal device in gasoline, and the narrator says that construction workers often think of gasoline as an ideal cleaning substance, so long as you remember to get rid of it when you're done. A large excavation vehicle pulls up, and the driver absentmindedly lights a cigarette, and then throws the match right into the area the other guy was cleaning in. A large area instantly becomes an inferno, and they even show a worker burning horribly to death. Another clip shows how even old and experienced workers can suffer lifechanging injuries, such as when a guy is using a mechanical wheel that spins at extremely high speeds to shorten a piece of metal. He makes a small mistake and doesn't account for the length of the piece he is grinding down properly, meaning his finger comes into contact with the wheel. As a result, he loses that finger. Probably the most egregious one is shown at around 15 minutes in. This clip involves a worker trying to change the frontal blade on a bulldozer, which is something he's done so many times that he decides to disregard safety and get careless. The dozer has a mechanical assembly on the front called an "arm", which has metal slots with holes in it. The bulldozer blade has matching holes, and in order to attach the blade to the vehicle, a metal pin needs to be slid in to connect them together when the holes are aligned. However, the pin is too dry and won't slide in. The worker decides to do something extremely risky and grease the hole himself by putting his entire arm through it. Concurrently, the operator of the dozer (who hasn't shut the engine off) tries to swat at an insect inside the vehicle's cabin. This leads to him accidentally bumping the control lever, which proceeds to make the arm move backwards while the guy's arm is still in the hole. Because of this, the moving machinery slices off his arm like a guillotine. It doesn't help that right after they show this, there's a creepy, low synthesizer note in the background. Throughout the rest of the horrible accidents depicted, they play a guitar riff which doesn't fit what's happening and actually makes them feel not that morbid. As strange as it is to say, it's actually not really a good thing that we don't have safety films this graphic anymore, since this film has the audacity to show horrible injuries in order to scare the audience into being safe. In other words, you're not going to learn anything if they coddle you. To summarize, this film is quite disturbing even to this day, and I felt pretty squeamish watching it. The fact that it looks much older than 1980 also gives it an eerie and grainy atmosphere, and this compliments the macabre clips a little too well. Then again, this was directed by the same person who did Carnival of Souls, so I can't say I'm surprised.
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