Rancour

Dane Hallett's 'Rancour' (2019) concerns a junky named Dale whose mom pays a visit to his dilapidated pit of despair. Things get sloppy wet ... with tentacles. Full vid on @watch_alter on YouTube!

The short conflates Dale's house with his body, which is overrun by a gruesome alien force that takes takes takes in order to feed its ravenous hunger. We usually get the house-as-body trope with haunted house flicks where different rooms represent different parts of the mind. Less frequently do we see it used in service of body horror ('Girl on the Third Floor' springs to mind, but not much else). The concept works well with this material since addiction is a slimy gross business (both literally with all the needles and bodily fluids and breaking down of the body, and figuratively with all the damage it causes to self and loved ones).

Bottom Line: It's a good short that deserves more than its current rating.

Additional Fun Facts: Odd Studio who did the creature FX for 'Alien: Covenant' (which Hallett also worked on) helped with the creature FX for this short. It won awards at both FilmQuest and Hollywood Horrorfest. 95% of the effects are practical, with some light vfx touchups but nothing major. Travis Jeffrey who plays Dale is featured in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes so make sure to check that as well.

A mother. Her son. A monster. And a story far to be clear, having as axis special effects, about family , about love and a form of captivity.

Its good part is the sketch of connection between mother and son.

The bad part remains ambiguity , like a huge ladder to nowhere.

But, sure, a nice try and reasonable acting.

This straightforward short comes to us from conceptual artist and spfx master Dane Hallett. The plot: a concerned mum pays a visit to her junky son Dale (Travis Jeffrey from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes). Mum wants Dale to visit his ailing dad while there's still time. Things get slimy and gross with the quickness. With tentacles! This short may not be subtle, but ... does it need to be? I like that it's easy to follow. The way Hallett merges body horror & addiction is cool. And, the monster design (brought to life by Odd Studio who worked on Alien Covenant with Hallett) is top shelf. Eager to see what Hallet does next.