In 2003, a brilliant little two person Technicolor movie short, by Director/Editor Scott McCullough called God's Helper (2001) landed on my Twisted Sinema Fest submissions desk.
Early in the film-fest racket, after putting many out adverts and blogs; I initially received so many amateur looking movies, that I never really expected to see the quality of movies that were to follow later on (some already covered in this book).
God's Helper was one of these... The movie was so brilliantly directed, edited,shot, acted, scored, and written (by Fred Leadbetter) ; that I knew I had to showcase it, in my first screenings (I was very surprised that it ended up in my small, insignificant festival and not at The Toronto Film Festival or Sundance).
This 8 1/2 minute no-nonsense thriller had a simple, suspenseful plot about a life and death lesson, between two star-crossed lovers.
The film shows the darker side of love; where a deserted desert road, a spoiled, insecure ReAnne (J.C. Brandy) contemplates suicide while her boyfriend Dwight (Kevin Spirtas) tries to convince her to do it together with him.
The audience I saw the fest with & I wondered: 'Is the guy really helping his girlfriend?'...or ' Is he giving her a life-lesson?' or.... 'Is he going to murder her?'
In such a short period of time, one is left feeling that if Alfred Hitchcock himself were to make a short film; this would be it!
-Tony Watt (Chapter 9, "God's Helper"
