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Vlindinhauer Haverhast

Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)

For years folks have debated, “Which is the best Extensions Film?” I think a safe bet is 3,4,5,6, and 7. After revisiting this work I’m now of the “6” camp. Wow. Using the flashback motif to tell a story, beginning with an in depth look at one of the most entertaining yet mysterious of the vignettes, makes the head not only spin … but get wiser. Riddled with powerhouse performances and several poignant scenes, The Wake is not to be taken lightly. The Storyteller at the Experimental Theatre Rehearsal may very well be the most entertaining scene of the entire œuvre. The Saint may have met his match in scene stealing by Loomis the funeral director. And the layers of meaning and complexity of the scene at the Log of Sanity will have scholars expounding for decades to come.

Haverhast? Yes, because of it’s slick new edit and the universal themes addressed. No, it is from … another time.

The Brisket

Vlindinhauer recruits a cast of some of the biggest names in the Now Today Film Society for this one. Returning are Mary Widow and Œther Derek (last seen in the poignant 2022 work “The Passage”), but also the return of Wilhelm Van Benkerstein who was last seen in a VH production of the devastating “The Final Conversation of Ford, Soames, and Barnabas”. Also, the first time we are graced with the acting chops of Augustus Palantine in a VH work. Inspired by a dream of a recently past friend and a wish to create of depository of disposable jokes we see a film with two very different tones. Even though we hear jokes as the primary dialogue, this may be VH’s most serious work to date.

Haverhast? Yes, because of the easy flow and brilliant acting chops of the ensemble. No? Too many jokes.

Spectaculum

Current Haverhast possessor, Wilhelm Van Benkerstein, presents his latest work of great atmosphere and near impenetrable mystery. As sonically beautiful as it is visually, is one posed the question: “maybe I don’t want the Haverhast?”. Fanastic shots throughout, and many from the height of the lockdown. The 8 bit graphic delighted the crowd as we began to perceive these characters drawing closer …. but to what? A showdown? A prison of vibrations? Powerful as mysterious.

Haverhast? Yes, due to it’s stunning sound, vision and near zen-like koan it appears to present. No, because, what the hell was I watching

Hey! Hello!

Reek returns with an entertaining romp of two potential energy vampires. I Loved hearing the snippets of dialogue …. metrics, what happens after we die, imperial on one side metric on the other side ruler. Another visual and sonic feast. Who was the more dull dullard?

Haverhast? Yes, the cameo of VH was a clear highlight, as well the other annoyed neighbors. The nighttime reference to questioning an afterlife with the moon was strangely touching. No, were there too many “hey” “hello’s”?

Two Presidents

Augustus Palantine’s debut on Extension’s was a welcome addition to the programme. A smart, and hilarious dalliance in political entertainment. No easy task to tread without being this or that and still entertaining, but with some provocation (I think). As a fellow Scorpio, I could easy relate to the popular content creator, oh, I mean Artist, Danky. Some grim moments with the less popular Rael Patriot led to a rather tense confrontation. “We are not hosting an intergalactic kegger!” – mayhaps line of the night.

Haverhast? Yes, in that it dared to smartly address the elephant in the room of the world. No, because it may not have been as much fun as some of the other features of the evening. The soundtrack may have violations … I recommend folks recording their own versions of tunes to pass the Haverhast test.

The Tale of the Red Net Rab

Frank returns after a couple years “off” with perhaps his most entertaining, and terrifying work to date! Always brilliant with ambiance and score, the bud sign (from The King) perfectly illuminated this weird and horrible tale. So many horrors at once! Car breaks down! The wait for AAA! Then the doom of the “house standard” courtesy of some sort of hillbilly-ish Bar Ten Der. Another quote of the night in this one: “Good thing I have AAA on speed dial!”

Haverhast? Yes, mayhaps the most entertaining of the evening. Frank as the baR teN deR was brillliant as he stoically stood by as the guests gave way to the house standard. No, although all the victims were well done, perhaps one less or one with something not quite the exact same way (then again, that was part of the fun/horror).

The Last Day of Winter

This year one of the obvious themes was my brother, Jim, AKA: The King. This document was an account of one of the last better times we had together. Always good to see “Brother Jerome” joining in on the Good Times. A brief slide show of some later day pics, and a few new-to-me ones helped round it out with out becoming maudlin or sentimental. A brief moment with Frank at the Lodge from a later trip seemed to indicate an understated understanding of what would lie ahead very soon.

Haverhast? Yes, for that marvelous story The King told at the Lodge. No, soundtrack violations.

ReCap 2023-24

Always a nice way to end the evening. Good to see a few more moments with Jim as well as the usual suspects as we endure some of the good and poignant moments of the year. Some nice concert footage too!

Haverhast? Yes, because of the beauty and power of the times, and the story of the blue heron as told by Persephone. No, soundtrack violation.

Daga

Extensions – 

Extensions VI – I think every funeral parlour should operate like that. I enjoyed the interjections from the upper level. Some thrilling stunt-work at the log of sanity. 

Haverhast? Sure? Is it allowed? No, is it allowed?

The Brisket – As hilarious as the first half is, the second turns equally melancholy. A spectral presence appearing in a jukebox, cleaning a tree in a dream, floating down the beach; all transcendent imagery. Constant hoots and hollers elicited by the rapid fire japes and quips that flew at us like the pages of a tear-away “Joke of the Day” calendar.

Haverhast? Yes, for pulling off the tonal shift. No, the second half may have been more impactful if it was from the foreman’s perspective who feels guilty over sending her to the fateful side job. 

Spectaculum – The lore of the Haverhast is one I am admittedly a bit ignorant of, so I appreciated this multimedia adventure surrounding its mystery (?). Some truly aesthetically pleasing shots in this one; the yellow rotary phone stands in contrast to its surroundings, but is inextricably linked to the Hero clade in yellow and blue (great wardrobe). I think that was perhaps the best imagery of the evening. 

Haverhast? Yes, I mean it was about the Haverhast. Also the imagery. Also the 8bit. No, I am not really sure what was going on.

Hey! Hello! – I lived many lifetimes during this film. We’ve all been caught in conversations like this (with the two leads, no less), so right away the audience felt connected to the surreal premise despite the abstract/artsy way it was presented. Kudos to the editing on this one, on paper this shouldn’t be longer than 2 minutes but I actually felt the runtime breezed by.

Haverhast? Yes, for Hoffmanity’s fancy footwork, Reek’s editing and music, Daga’s camerwork, and the overall creativity pulled from such a simple premise. No, I didn’t buy that Pumpkin fellow ever being angry. 

Two Presidents – I loath works that feature social media heavily, comment on obvious current political discourse, or force intertextuality (I don’t even like MIB), and yet… here we are. 

Haverhast? Yes, because it is an undeniable masterpiece from an assured creator of content. No, because I didn’t realize public domain tunes were apparently frowned upon.

The Tale of Red Net Rab – What a fantastic premise and hilariously acted short. The first time Frank opened his mouth and we heard his accent, we knew we were in for a real treat. The repeated imagery was hypnotic and affecting. The reveal at the end was well staged and deliciously Goofy Macabre™. 

Haverhast? Yes, for Frank’s accent alone. No, I do wish either there were two more victims to really sell the redundancy, or perhaps a quick prologue with one victim, then a more drawn out sequence with a second victim who we got to know a little better.

The Last Day of Winter – It is incredibly valuable to have documentation of time spent with loved ones who have passed. Memories, messages, and pictures can be great, but nothing beats video. 

ReCap –  Always a pleasure to have a reminder that there are still good times to be had and they aren’t all trapped away back in our childhood. 

~~~~

Colin

Reviews  by COLIN ( in desending order of appreciation  ) !           

1 ) The brisket  — nice to have some  comedy. “Chunks is  my dog” kept me laughing  for A while ( cliche  joke, but welldone ). 

2) Extensions 6 —- I’ve  never  seen  an Extensions  film, that wasn’t  enjoyable. & the vignette   tie in, brought in more joy.  & it featured  Pat C. Playing guitar,  & Steve.  Oh, forget to point out the beauty, of Dave being told, about the Storyteller,s demise, by A dead guy

3) hey, hello — those 2 ( annoying  ) guys,  are like  almost everybody  who tries to talk to me.

4 )  The tale oof red net nab — good concept, but went on too long. If the final scene  came after the second  “victim”, it would be perfect

~~~~

Frank

Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)

One of the better of the extensions films, the story is well told and the characters reflecting on the past horrors were quite fun to watch. I love the idea of offering meat at a wake, it would be a much better event if they did that. Also notably this movie doesn’t have a drab moment, it’s 100% entertainment the whole time. Truly wonderful pacing for an extensions film!

The Brisket

One of my favorite acting moments of the night was Wilhelm as the foreman, truly liked his character arc and development, from stiff foreman to a jokester himself. He felt like a real character that we all met at sometime. The rest of the gang only spoke in jokes! Some funny some not as funny, but I think the stark change in tone of the film is why it’s such a strong film. The horror, was there but also a true sadness when the jokes just don’t land…..we’ve all had this nightmare right? Yeah yup yeah right?

Honorable mention Wilhelm!

Spectaculum

It was exactly as advertised, a beautiful film sonically and visually, but that’s the whole film, it’s like a painting, or a fireplace it enhances your life to be around it, but in the end it’s just there to look at and enjoy.

Hey! Hello!

We’ve all been there around these types of people, redundancy seems to be the theme I picked up on this year, and this film completely pushes the envelope on it. Love the filming quality and editing, the skeletons walking was quite impressive one of the top picks of the night for sure!

Saints choice for being so polished

Two Presidents

Great acting, really great acting! I feel portraying such drastically different characters but weirdly so self absorbed in there own way would be hard to pull off, but it really works here! Also my favorite moment of the night was when the proud American pretended to slit his throat (again with moments of repetition and redundancy)

The Tale of the Red Net Rab

Some say too much of the same thing but that’s the horror! Like a spider the story isn’t hard to understand, the trap is made and the flies get consumed. Is it a cosmic trap is it a supernatural trap, who is Red who is tripple A Eddie, why are they in cahoots and why can the consume the house standard but others cannot. These questions were left open ended as maybe an on ramp to a new world to explore. And because it’s my movie it should win the haverhast!!!

The Last Day of Winter

Poignant and wonderfully touching, I’m personally thrilled I got to have such good times with the king and this was a great hats off to him! Films like this are the best but I want a real documentary about the king now, a feature length film should be in order ! There’s more to be told about his story and let’s hope we get to hear it all someday

ReCap 2023-24

Recaps are always a delight of the night. The desert we need after watching such horror. The spectrum of clips in this years film really helped me check in and realize how many good times, DAMN good times were had. Let’s hope many more to come and I already have great footage for next years recap!!

~~~

Wilhelm Van Benkerstein

Extensions VI: The Wake

The Experimental Theatre was among the best vignettes of the Extensions catalogue I’ve seen to date. With the added bonus of the Storyteller, recontextualized, ‘The Wake’ serves as a high water mark in the pantheon of the series.

The Brisket

A solemn meditation on the brevity of a great cosmic joke. The subtle effect work in The Brisket really fashioned this witticism with an added visual aesthetic to compliment the rather dawdling but existential plot line. A visual feast!

Spectaculum

This was an odd bit of footage to reanimate, considering the atmosphere we were in at the time. Notice the forest gremlin wears a mask. The uncomfortable phone calls and the awkward helplessness of the pandemic. 

Hey! Hello!

What a delight. This worked for a lot of reasons. The music especially draws the picture along, with a powerhouse performance by Other Derek and Z – Ray. I dare say these two could be the next Frank Squared. Besides the great work behind the camera, this lost Twilight Zone vignette really landed for me. It’s a nightmare we’ve all suffered through.

Two Presidents

A grand debut for Daga that declares he’s willing to tackle our complex society head first. It can’t be easy playing two characters in the same story, but he pulls it off with aplomb. I imagine going forward, this is the least amount of body horror we’ll see from him. 

The Tale of Red Net Rab

Frank’s back! It was a great return to form as we get a peculiar folk tale on the horrors of car troubles and downfalls of the drink. The pied piper Red Net Rab gives this story a neon soaked glow and I look forward to seeing the filmmaker further explore the potential of lighting and color.

The Last Day of Winter 2024

A fortunate catalogue of memories to keep.

Recap 2024

I appeared in the recap! City antics at the Charnel house. A year of good times.

~~~

Kathy and Brian

The Haverhast (film of the night): The Tale of the Red Net Rab

The Saint (a favorite film): The Brisket

Honorable Mention: Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)

The Brisket-Many funny jokes.

Hey! Hello!-Interesting concept of daily life.

Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)- Always great to see familiar faces and places!

Spectaculum-Loved the waterfall and graphics.

The Tale of the Red Net Rab-The bell ringing was beautifully done.

The Last Day of Winter-The King!

Two Presidents-Rhyming was epic. 

ReCap 2023-24- Great Blue Heron

~~~

Herr O

Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)

The new edits now seem essential,  cutting the film down has proven glorious in the recreation of this proud terror drama which feature some of the most beloved of the Horror Vignettes cast.The most coherent story  of the Extensions series with the best acting – it’s all in this film. In this era, DJM / Mr Y / JB and the troupe were pursuing acting , film making, musicianship and performance art at a high level. As such, guerrilla film making with a VHS camcorder demanded one take performances. Having Steve Dooner on set, certainly rang the dinner bell for a feast at the all you can eat ham buffet. Huzzah old boys!

 Now, As we can see in certain scenes, In that era of film making, and in life itself – tragedy and comedy were always and seemingly are always in coexistence. This may be for DJM, the ultimate sleeper – his Meisterwerk, where it all comes together – and marks the end of an era. 

If an “older” film ever deserved The Haverhast™️, it’s this one.

The Brisket

Did someone peruse the giant book of jokes and riddles? The Brisket deserves credit for bringing some levity into the mix. 

Spectaculum

Wilhelm Van Benkerstein’s DIY ethic and creativity continues in this quick gem. Graphics, costumes and set were very intriguing.

Hey! Hello!

Movies with idiots doing and saying idiotic things has always been in the wheelhouse of classic extensions offerings. This offering didn’t disappoint. Great special effects. 

Two Presidents

A study in self-absorbed social media archetypes run amok in troubled times. The acting, of course, was top notch. A great first offering from Mr Daga, a perfect entry into the milieu of horror art.

The Tale of the Red Net Rab

A beautifully shot film that honors the conservation of labor using repetition.  Who is Red – is he the analog for the Grim Reaper? What about AAA Eddie? Whats his story? 

Lots of questions are evoked but few are answered. 

The Last Day of Winter

For me, this twas The most emotional film of the night. So many memories and damn good times. Viva The King !

ReCap 2023-24

I will admit The Taylor Swift adventure to Wembly, has left me with a rare feeling of Damn Good Times envy. 

Haverhast:

Understated and sparse but beautiful

Spectaculum

Saint’s Choice:

Nick Daga, dual acting in 

Two Presidents

~~~~

Öther Derek

Extensions VI: The Wake

Well, I’ve certainly been to a few wakes in my time, certainly not all of them pretty. And neither was this one, even if it was a ∋>|∀M  >|ე∀7ପBLACK WAKE. While ‘not pretty’ may sound like a critique, I found this film’s unpolished grit to be more than just endearing… vibe-tastic even! (this has been the case for me for every proper Extensions film shown over the years). I know much of this is due to the technology available at the time (1990), but this handheld VHS-quality aesthetic paired with intentionally self-aware performances has made a return in popular film modalities, and I think it’s worth mentioning that these films were there first. 

On to the content: this hilarious and horrific meta-fictional foray was nothing short of a delight. The story layers are pretty complex and well executed for a bunch of young people in 1990. I appreciated how the meta-textual aspects made for a film that was not explicitly spelled out to the audience; we were given just enough to suss out exactly what’s going on (who’s a character in which story?).The sequence for the night for me was at the black box theater, where the Storyteller was admonished by his acting team– this almost felt like something out of Altman or Herzog or Truffaut. All told, this film worked for me on a lot of levels, and for me was the film of the night which best exemplified the ethos of Horror Art.

“He was hanging out with the Wrong People!”

The Brisket

VH brings the Next Gen Crew together (well, all save a few select others) for this repository of bad jokes tinged with an exploration of grief and loss. This film works best when its cast of blue-collared characters freely exchange with one another, and in bringing some gravitas to what would otherwise be a display of slacker buffoonery. The ‘punchline’ (or anti-punchline) at the end serves the audience up with a nice old helping of bittersweet sorrow, but in my opinion, it takes too long to get there. While this film does stick the landing (and I mean really sticks the landing– the end sequence with Widow & the cover of “I Started a Joke” is very well crafted), the at-times uneven editing, inconsistent sound, and less-than-well-designed camera work leave some to be desired. It’s clear to me that this was ‘painted with broad strokes’ – a theme, a vibe, and a path from A-Z are apparent- but a tightening of the screws (or, to not mix metaphors, a paint-by-numbers kit) would have made for a more affecting piece. Ultimately, it shows that this was shot in under an hour. With a fleeter script, more carefully designed camera work, and more time for rehearsal, “The Brisket” could become a film for the ages. For now, it’s a well-enough made Extensions Saturday piece. Kudos to Willhelm, Daga, and Mary Widow for their performances. I thought my acting was just fine, but those folks deliver the goods, I tell ya!

“Is this a joke? I don’t do those anymore.”

Spectaculum

Wilhelm’s follow-up to last year’s Haverhast-winning hit “Feldgeist” is a quiet and introspective tonal piece featuring rich costumes, enigmatic performances, and beautiful imagery. What I wish it contained was some semblance of sense. Composed of heretofore unseen sequences from an unfinished pandemic project cobbled together with new audio, this film offered a bit of a reprieve from the too-easy, too-fast storytelling of contemporary Hollywood schlock, but left me wondering “what was that all about?” With some effort, I was initially able to glean some plot (this is like a ‘second-life’ thing where the azure glasses transport one into a computerized version of nature?), but that read was trounced once VH & the blue-costumed entity of the woods met (in an otherwise really cool sequence where VH plays the strings between those trees). I liked the 8-bit drawings, and I don’t know what the deal was with the grate/prison bars, but it was somehow wordlessly evocative. With more time to develop and edit, this could be something with real substance. As has become tradition for one of Wilhem’s films, I was left with more questions than answers- a worthy contribution nonetheless, and one which is rather enjoyable despite its seeming impenetrability.

“No one really knows what the Haverhast is. But I consider it a technology, a means of viewing our prisons thru azure glasses.”

Hey! Hello!

I owe the inspiration for this project to Gus_M_R & Pumpkin Boy, two friends of the Now Today! Society (each of whom have provided creative performances in past films), who proposed a short based on, dare I say, my own sometimes overly gregarious interactions with strangers. Their original idea (first called “The Final Conversation” as an homage to VH’s film from a few years ago) was to have someone walking Winthrop Shore Drive caught in an endless conversation with me until we both turned into skeletons. With little deviation, that basic idea was brought to life with the immense talent and support of Z-Ray & Daga. 

As Bresson’s adage goes, a film is born three times: first in the writing of the script, once again in the shooting, and finally in the editing. Never before have I really re-written a film in the edit stage as much as I did this one. We had about 30 minutes of raw footage that needed to be compiled sensibly and efficiently (lest the viewing audience be turned to bones themselves), and I tuned and twisted and experimented with different iterations and techniques before landing on what became this ~6 minute piece. The script I had written was completely ignored in the shooting stage, so that many of the words heard were compiled from various different takes, much of them from off-piste parts of the recorded video (ie from us talking before or after officially calling action or cut), and slotted into appropriate positions, which in my mind makes the way this came out even more hilarious, knowing that about 90% of the dialog is completely improvised, and 40% of that is moved around and slotted into different spots than originally delivered– for instance, Z-Ray’s “That was aggressive” response to Neighbor Haverhast’s “Go Fuck Yourself” was originally in response to a hefty gust of wind, and had nothing to do with someone’s less-than-neighborly admonishment. I re-used and re-mixed a couple of music pieces from “La Mer de Dieu”, and added a counterpoint marimba to one of The Professor’s classic Now Today pieces, in addition to several brand new original songs, to create the soundtrack. 

All told I’m fairly happy with how it ended up coming out, and hope that “Hey! Hello!” enters the common vernacular as a label for the long-winded and unnecessary conversations that arise when encountering these types of outrageously insensible creatures in the wild. (I now realize this review, and my reviews in general, may fall into this tradition of overly verbose and annoyingly energy-wasting sinkholes of conversation to which “Hey! Hello!” itself refers. I’m neither remorseful nor sufficiently self-aware enough to re-edit these reviews into succinct paragraphs, so I might as well just keep typing in the hopes that someone will continue on reading. I wonder who else has stayed this far? Our host VH, for one, who I hope reads thru each review before posting on the website may14th.org. I assume Frank will read this whole thing too, as will Willhelm and Daga, just to see what I have to say about their own films. Bob, I can see you sticking it out, because for some reason you might think I have something interesting or worthwhile to say; sadly, mostly not the case. Herr O and Blim- you two seem smarter than that, and likely bowed out until your eyes caught your names in this paragraph and continued on until now, and are presently regretting it. Kit, you probably read just so we can talk about this at work; I’m sorry I spelled your name Kip in the credits. I hope others, like the Y cousins, Kathy and Brian, and maybe even this strange entity known as Colin, are able to forgive me if you all stuck it out this long. And to any strangers who may have stumbled onto this blog, Hey! Hello!).

“Hey isn’t this your street up here?”

“It is, but that’s okay. I can keep walking. I can keep walking. Ī ĉȧņ ᶄဧɘꝓ ẅåℓꞣߒꞡ…”

Two Presidents 

Augustus Palantine’s foray into ESaturday mayhem was a triumph! A not so subtle commentary on contemporary un-real politik, AP pulls double duties as a tik tok wannabe heiress and an unhinged right wing psychopathic fan of Barry Sonnenfeld’s all-time classic “Men in Black.” There were some really funny and clever moments– the misdirection of the man rubbing his knee; connecting the police to ‘czhina’; the triple neck-slit threats– that made for some hefty laughs. The filmmaker’s talents are on display here, as well crafted shots tee-up the tension that is eventually played out by two ridiculous performances, each well well executed by AP himself. The eventual appearance of the poetically inclined “President Me” brought it all together with one final foray into fuckery. It should also be noted the extremely well done acting job by the incomparable Bronson as “Marcus.” Gotta say, despite the goatee, AP dont look so bad as a chick. 

“The precedent that this president is setting with this degree is unprecedented.”

The Tale of Red Net Rab

Frank’s latest film is a return to form for this artist prolifique. The form here, however, nearly becomes too rigid. As a member of the viewing public, I found this film to be rather entertaining– it was the film from this year’s new batch that I was most eager to return to after ESaturday– and upon review still possessed the same vigor and joie de mourir that it had upon initial watch. The energy implicit in the performances is contagious, all led by Frank’s wonderfully deranged turn as Red, the sinister bartender. The color- while oversaturated and burnt out at times- created an atmosphere that felt somewhere between a cartoon and a nightmare. With that said, I thought the editing and composition felt rushed (as is often the case with an Extensions film), and these issues for me became too noticeable, enough so that it began to distract me at times from the film as a whole. I would’ve liked to see a little bit more care shown in editing & shot composition, along with some more clever characterizations of Red’s victims. With a proper script, this could be made into something of a feature!

“I aint know nothing about no goods. I know good drinks and good bad drinks. Uh but I always give the best drinks. So uh I recommend ya probably gotta get yourself the house standard.”

The Last Day of Winter 2024

This film, paired with choice scenes from the last few ReCaps + last year’s McClellan Bros’ “Broadway Bound,” would make for a heartfelt and harrowing documentary on the trajectory of two brothers dealing with various degrees of the ‘lism. No, not cannibalism, unfortunately.  

It’s apparent how much Derek cared for his brother, as well as his friends, by how much care and attention he puts into editing. It looks like this was a fun trip thru the Passage to the various clubs in the south shore. Would that I had been more available to be there myself. 

“How was that? Not intense enough? Getting chased by fucking cops in fucking three different towns? Yeah, sure, not a problem.”

“We are in the Shadow of the King”

“Are there any revelations? Anything we should be thinking about going forward?”
“No.”

“It’s a done deal.”

ReCap 2024

The fan favorite film of the night is usually the ReCap film. It’s always good to reflect upon the last year, and VH always delivers opportunities, sometimes even surprise opportunities, to see one’s self. This year’s ReCap was no different. I loved seeing scenes from last year’s Extensions Saturday, it lent a meta-air to the whole affair. Wilhelm & Herr O’s “Lobster Sauce Attendant” mini-feature had me in stitches. “The Captain Attacks” was a harrowing reminder not to get too close to The Captain, especially if he’s high upon his perch. “Notto Baddo Falafel & Blim’s Hologram” contained a surprising twist. “The Charnel House” was perhaps a more appropriate short followup for winning Haverhast the Fourteenth than “Spectaculum” proved to be, and now Wilhelm must go on an adventure within the charnel house of his own interior!

“I’m really gonna miss him. He was a swell kid. Damn shame. Damn shame.”

“Once a king, always a king. But once a night is enough.” 

Visitor Blim

In the interest of brevity as I face a deadline and I’m up against it, challenged by time constraints this year, here is my brief commentary. 

My top 5 picks:

1) “The Tale of Red Net Rab!” hypnotic surrealist horror by Frank Mulone.

Great all around film from beginning to end. Great acting from the “Eddie” character. Remind me to cancel my AAA membership!

2) “Hey! Hello!” A psychological exploration by Reek Crudely

I loved the sort of surreal, dreamy nature of this film. It was well conceived and edited. Good job.

 3) “The Brisket” new horror-art by Vlindinhauer Haverhast

Poignant film touched with a tinge of sadness. I quite enjoyed this one. Well done.

4) “Spectaculum” by Wilhelm
 Nice follow up to last year’s Haverhast winner.  Best sound engineering and cinematography.

5) “Two Presidents” a dystopian drama by Augustus Palantine.

Keeping things light while also making a statement about the current times. I laughed, then I cried. Well done.

Mr Y

Extensions VI: The Wake (2024 Director’s Cut)

A surprisingly cohesive script, along with a tight editing job turned this chapter into a very watchable and entertaining film with some fine performances all around combined with some very eerie portends…

The Brisket

I’m all for dad jokes but frankly this onslaught pushed me to the threshold. A creepy and cinematic denouement was a welcome respite. 

Spectaculum

Loved the nature scenes, 8 bit art and sound editing.

Hey! Hello!

Some of the best editing work I’ve seen in E works, and the tale of what happens beyond “small talk” was ultimately terrifying.

Two Presidents

A tense tale with some fine performances.

The Tale Of Red Net Rab

Enjoyed the excellent lighting and the climax was highly disturbing.

The Last Day Of Winter

A gift to be able to spend time with Jim.

Recap 2024

Looks like you fellas had fun.

My nomination for The Haverhast: 

Hey! Hello!

Joe and Selene

Selene: “Hey! Hello!”

Joe: “The Brisket”

The Professor

The Haverhast:

“Hey! Hello!”

Energetic performances, and great editing and sound design. Perhaps the most lighthearted work of e40, but with a satisfyingly grim denouement.

Saint’s Choice:

“The Brisket”

It’s all fun and games until someone falls into a cement mixer. Some excellent groan-worthy jokes with a sobering conclusion. R.I.P. “King James”

Honorable Mention:

“The Tale of Red Net Rab”

This could easily have been the Haverhast winner, but it went on too long. The Rule of Three works best when telling a story. Still, it’s a good horror film with innovative lighting and sound.

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