Cost of Living

Check out this 9 minute long mini movie starring Brandon Routh. I quite enjoyed it.

102.1 the Edge - Fearless Fred

For those too lazy to check, it's basically about a military monster clean up crew in a laboratory.

I liked it. Routh can act if you give him a script that isn't crap.

Thanks for the link, that was pretty cool. Brett Harrison and Brandon Routh make a good double act.

I'm going to watch this again. I watched it once a few days ago. I thought it was so so. There were a ton of Alien/Aliens references. But they never showed a monster. Plus, I didn't get the whole setup. I assume this laboratory always has accidents. So, it's kind of like Umbrella from the Resident Evil games except the experiments never escape because of the assault teams.

Wakeem said:

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But they never showed a monster.

Wasn't that the best thing about it? I know far too many movies that go from "awesome" to "pfffttttttt" once the monster/alien is actually shown.

Watch The Fantastic Fest Fave Short Film COST OF LIVING!| Badass Digest
Yep, the mystery of the unknown really worked here. And director BenDavid Grabinski in the comments section of the above article mentioned that it was a artistic choice rather than for budgetary reasons. I am hoping he will follow it up with a Part 2.

aeonpulse said:

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Wasn't that the best thing about it? I know far too many movies that go from "awesome" to "pfffttttttt" once the monster/alien is actually shown.

I believe it's ok to draw a story out and show the monsters late in the movie. But eventually you should see the monster. Especially since the heroes see the monsters. You would think with all the Alien references that the director would understand that. But perhaps they were trying to be different.

Wakeem said:

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I believe it's ok to draw a story out and show the monsters late in the movie.

I totally agree, if it's done right. Alien is an example of it done right. Signs is an example of it done horribly.

aeonpulse said:

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I totally agree, if it's done right. Alien is an example of it done right. Signs is an example of it done horribly.

True. Signs was good right up to the last scenes. In fact, Signs has a really good scary moment. When the one character is watching TV in the closet. The TV is showing a recording of kids pointing out the alien. The alien knows they see him through the bushes and just walks out. It's a great scene. So, is the bit in the basement when the lights go out.

I watched Cost of Living again and they do show a quick frame or two of a werewolf. I was looking for other quick shots but I didn't see any. There was a scene where Superman (Brandon Routh) pulls his partner away. A mirror is in the shot but they only showed slime...I wish they were clever and showed a shot of a creature leaping before getting killed. Overall, this short feels very student film or like a DVD extra exploring characters in a movie.

BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!! That was GREAT! Anyone complaining about not seeing the monsters doesn't get it, it's not about the monsters, it's about the poor schleps the Security Guards.