12 Kilometers

I feel I have not seen enough Russian language movies, but with a horror edge to it, this was really engaging all the way to the end. By the time I was finished, i was completely sucked in and wanted to know how the rest of the story plays out. Sadly this is only a short a this stage, but I would be very intrigued to watch the feature length version!

The sound design was very effective to allow that sense of disorientation of what was occuring, and married up well with the implementation of body horror towards the end. However, there is a slight drawback with that, as it wasn't entirely clear if what I was hearing (as the characters were) was part of the soundtrack or diagetic sound in line with the narrative.

Promising work from the director Mike Pecci, and glad I got the opportunity to watch this. Just left me wanting more, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

It all starts with my cousin sending me a link to a video where a guy talks about the movie 12 Kilometers, a film you need to contact the director by private message and list your 3 favorite horror movies, if you pass the test... You are allowed to watch 12 Kilometers. Right from the start I think it's a pretty cool concept that makes sure the preferred audience watch your movie.

I was also really surprised by the short film, it was actually a lot of fun, Mike Pecci seems to be a director with good instincts and solid cinematic knowledge, 12KM is a weird sci-fi/horror mindtrip with great sound design and editing. Give this man an episode of Cabinet Of Curiosities, because this was very promising!

I mention Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities because this is something that could very well exist in the anthology that was released this October, it's like an attack to the senses and the brain. He uses some inventive imagery and editing tricks to melt your brain and I was all-in for that. The actors in the short are all very competent, I feel like Mike Pecci made the best use of its budget this is why I'm curious to see what he could do with a bigger budget and creative freedom.

Strongly recommend trying out this experience.

Ok it might not be up to the standards of a "normal" horror movie which plays at your instinctual fear like a jump scare or some gory sequences. But Mike here is playing at something else. The fear of being a disappointment, claustrophobia, anxiety and failure. What I mean by that is, if you took a 12 year old for instance and showed him/her this movie, they would make a remark along the lines of "I've seen worse" or "too short". On the other hand if we took another person with a pretty decent life experience.. they would be recalled of some of the worse things in they've went through, at least that was the case with me. It might not be something that'll keep me up at night but as the title said it did make my skin crawl for the 26 minutes of screen time. Mike does a really good job of keeping one's eyes on the screen here.

1. The concept of "sound of the earth" is really cool and interesting, a tv series could definitely be based off this. It's a shame, but also an opportunity, that the viewer is left wanting more of it. It's a bit like the old myth of the sirens/mermaids luring sailors to their death with their singing. In 12KM's case this idea is brought to the next level, not only this sound can influence people's will-power, but it can mutate their cells genetically and it also has a physical manifestation: a black liquid/goo.

2. Which leads me to point 2. I have been extremely frustrated by the 2 recent Venom movies. They could have benefitted so much from a similar cosmic horror perspective! As some fans might remember, venom symbiotes react to sound as well. Unlike the black goo from 12KM they are afraid of certain frequencies; but if that is the case, wouldn't it be possible that there could be a sound that might empower them? 12KM would make such a thrilling origin story tv series for Venom. Not only it would sell a lot, but it would become a psychological and cosmic horror classic!

I'm sorry Mike if this review sounds in any way superficial, but I did really enjoy your work and I'm sure it can e developed in so many creative and amazing ways.

First off, the marketing was amazing. I am not big on short films but this was perfect. No fluff. Lite backstory...really wild. Usually a movie is 50% Bs and this jumped right into it. The visuals were crazy. The fact that is was in subtitles and the character sounded and spoke a foreign Eastern Block language....it gave me the feel that it was some backwoods griming Russian basement which was very wild. The filmmaker sucked me right in and I couldn't wait to see what the heck was going on. Not only that but the way you had to search and hear from the filmmaker to watch the movie was really cool. I feel like I am invested. I really enjoyed it.