XX

Four short horror films, no linking narrative, although there is some decent Svankmajeresque stop-motion animation serving as transition:

A boy loses his appetite after getting a glimpse of something mysterious; a woman discovers her husband's corpse on the day of her daughter's birthday; four attractive young people discover an Ancient Evil (TM) in the wilderness; and a mother deals with the discovery that her nearly adult son is disturbingly violent and yet everybody worships the ground he walks on.

Production values tend to adequate-high, and effects are acceptable, but there are small issues with each section that leave the overall film feeling amateurish. They're generally small issues, and I expect the filmmakers to work them out for their next projects.

Narratives are disappointing, generally from the lack of resolution-- although inconsistent characterization and unimaginable motives plague the second, making it the weakest. I can enjoy unresolved horror shorts in general, but it doesn't work here, not with the way these films are implemented; there's too much dragging along at each end, suggesting a reveal that never materializes.

The first was my favorite, and I found it generally creepy, although, again, the resolution was handled poorly; there were also some instances of poor acting, and too much voice-over exposition.

The "theme" of XX is apparently that all four films were directed by women, but there's not really any significance to that. If the title wasn't so eager to let me know, I wouldn't have realized it, and it kind of feels like painting a handgun pink for marketing purposes, a little dubious. Still, it's not a big deal to me, just a title. But after knowing, a few things stand out: the inversion of stereotypes for the parents in the first film; the unwillingness to commit to any crazy-lady characterization in the second, even though that's the only thing that would give the story even a lick of sense; the self-important and overly long soliloquy in the final film. (The only thing that maybe stands out in the third is that none of the attractive young people decide to disrobe, as they do so often in similar films.)

I'd say that the first film is probably worth watching, but I wouldn't bother watching past that. Not worth paying money for. Still, there's no reason not to expect good things from the filmmakers in the future, as they find some better scripts and improve their techniques.

Well that was quite a waste of time. To be honest I wished they had focused on a full length feature of The Box and just forgotten about the other 3 stories. The Box was so mysterious and intriguing, I really didn't want it to end. The other 3 were tedious, and badly acted.

When the very poster draws heavy focus to the fact that the shorts are directed by women, one assumes that you will finally be able to see film through a female lens. Those in the film industry are frequently excited by the prospect of having the stories and viewpoints of women shown as it opens up stories that previously have been masked. Female characters frequently are left underdeveloped and masked in the backgrounds of features. You can imagine my disappointment to read that tag line on the poster, just to find that 3 of the 4 shorts are as generic and soulless as the dregs of the horror industry.

The first 3 shorts are as uninspired, uninteresting and cliché as imaginable. 3 of the 4 stories feature white, middle-aged stay-at-home mothers, of which are the manifestation of what most people complain about when a female character is given minimal attention and effort from a male director.

The 1st and 3rd short offer absolutely nothing we haven't seen before, and the 2nd short isn't even remotely within the horror genre. The director of the 2nd short has somehow managed to convince herself that adding loud, eerie music to a regular scene creates a horror short.

The 2nd of the 4 shorts is vastly the worst, followed by the 3rd and then the 1st. The 4th short however is an interesting, if not still un-creative piece of horror. Whilst the 4th short feels reminiscent of films like The Babadook, it still manages to differentiate itself enough to warrant at least a 7/10.

Ultimately generic, uninspired and frustrating. The intermission, stop motion segments are the pinnacle of this feature. 3/10

Proposing a collection of original shorts in a horror landscape over-saturated with remakes and old recipes is a daring proposition, with or without gender twist. XX delivers four 20 minutes works with an episodic animated sequence as interlude. While the animated part is simply masterful, the quality of the shorts varies.

1st Short: The Box. This short seems to draw an illustration of how a dysfunctional family would end up if closeted drama and shouting exchanges were replaced by a supernatural element. Rather ambient, it lets you wonder what to expect. Unfortunately, the conclusion misses the target and leaves you wanting something more elaborate.

2nd Short: The Birthday party. Expedited premise and hardly believable character behavior make this short rather weak. It seems to be intended as a joke and it sort of, kind of work if you're a good audience. Good material for fan theory, but nothing memorable.

3rd Short: Don't fall. Typical monster story, with all the clichés of the genre packed into way too little time to deliver any kind of tension. A success if you want to watch absolutely every (bad) monster film in 20 minutes, a failure if you're looking for anything else.

4rh Short: Her only living son. The best of the lot, with a tense ambiance from early on, and the only one with enough background to establish a more solid story line. The female lead knows how to act, and the dramatic arc is built better than in the 3 other shorts. Nonetheless, some of the narrative is expedited and make the story fall a bit flat.

Ultimately, the bundle gives the impression that none of the stories were meant for the short format to begin with, and try to follow the same formula as full feature films while condensing it in 20 minutes. As a result most of the shorts rest on interesting ideas but none seems to know whether to be a trailer or a feature film, to the detriment of tension and narrative.

It remains that there are far worse movies around. "The box" and "Her only living son" have a compelling second level of reading and can push your empathy buttons just right, and "The Birthday Party" might make you smile ("Don't Fall", though is a total miss). Funnily enough the 20 minutes format, as ambiguous as it is, also makes sure that no story overstays its welcome.

I'll give it a 5 for effort and for the animation. Watch it if you want something a bit different, and for some good starting ideas if you're a fiction writer. Give it a rain check if you're looking for a mind-blowing work.

The good: Interesting ideas + Good metaphors + Refreshing formula + Masterful animated intermezzos

The meh: - Average acting - Narrative doesn't fit the format well - Soundtrack could be more subtle

The bad: - The whole 3rd short (Don't fall). - The mood lapse between the 1rst and 2nd short.

The dolls and walking boxes inbetween the stories were much more unsettling than any of the four bland stories. I would rate the doll segments as a 6 and the stories as a 2 so overall a 4.