Gorehounds Unite!

TOM SAVINI'S CHILL FACTOR: Episode 1 Housecall Overview:

Premiere Episode: House Call
Directed by Tom Savini.

Starring Bingo O'Malley (CREEPSHOW, TWO EVIL EYES)
Maryanne Nagel (WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD) and introducing Jason Hoehnen.

It's 1936, a dark and stormy night in poor and lonely farm country. A woman calls the old town doctor out to make a house call on her ailing son. The boy is suffering with a strange malady, an illness that can't really exist... or can it? Maybe the patient is just... crazy. And what of the mother? Widowed a year earlier and left alone to care for her son, has she become unhinged? There've been a number of disappearances and strange happenings in the local orchards lately. What will the old doc find when he examines the case? Tune in and find out.

 This is a hard one for me to review as it is only 25 minuted long and impossible to describe at any length without giving away critical plot points. I first heard about this project a couple of years back from Savini himself at a convention he was at, I waited for it and never was able to find much info on it after that and it kind of slipped off my radar.

 When I did happen to see it for sale at Savini's booth at a recent convention,I jumped at the chance to pick it up.Basically the idea behind these short films is to do a series of them in episodes, this being the first. The episodes will all be introduced by Savini and in most he will take up either directing or acting duties....in this one he directed it.Bingo O'Malley (CREEPSHOW, TWO EVIL EYES)
Maryanne Nagel and  Jason Hoehnen star in this episode.

 Horror fans this is what weve all been waiting to for! This short is about as near perfection as you can get in the genre, everything from the acting to the direction to even the set design is spot on perfect! I cant stress this enough, If you are a horror fan this is a MUST SEE and if your an independent filmmaker this is your guidebook to how to do things the right way. I dont know how to explain it but the episode has a very classic feel to it and the way its shot (lighting maybe?).

 This short will immediatly remind you of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone, Tales From The Darkside, Tales From The Crypt, The outer Limits except this somehow surpasses all of those and shows you what a bunch of people who love the genre can do with a minimal budget.This is what Masters Of Horror was supposed to be and has barely managed to deliver. This really shows Savini's skills in the directors chair and makes me wonder just how good his Night Of The Living Dead remake(and Im a fan of that film as it is) would have been without all the studios meddeling.

 The time period this piece is supposed to take place in is perfectly recreated, The effects are top notch and done by students in his school, the acting is simply amazing....Bingo deserves some sort of award for his portrayal in this film and the camera work is done so well its like looking at fine art. I hate to say it but to see what Tom Savini has done with so little really makes you wonder just how screwed up the hollywood scene is that they cant make a film with this much respect for the audience with the tons of money they put into these so called hollywood blockbuster films when savini did it with so little!

 What I find so interesting as well is the fact that the film is all about misdirection and the story is so finely crafted it doesnt need the hollywood staple jump scares. I hate to gush but I was really that impressed with this film. I only have one gripe with the whole thing and thats the 25 minute run time....It was over so soon and I didnt want it to end! Maybe this is why it works so well though, Id love to see it at feature length but as I said before its near perfect the way it stands right now.

 It would be a grave injustice if we dont get to see the rest of the episodes savini has in his head for this series! I for one will be the first in line to buy any further episodes that come out. I can only hope to see one day Tom take the reigns of the effects one last time if only for just one episode! I know this sounds really cliched but if you are only able to pick up one genre film this year then this has to be it!

 To order this masterpiece go to the official website: http://www.tomsavinischillfactor.com/index.asp?bws=high

 Or go to the Tom's website to see what else he's doing now or drop him a line. http://www.savini.com/

 Rating:

5 out of 5 severed heads

Special Features:

The making of Housecall: A informative making of documentary that really shows you how much love was put into this as well as a look at the people who made it happen!

An Interview with Tom Savini:This is possibly the best interview Ive seen with Tom....he's excited about the project and is really informative as far as what makes him tick.This is a must see as well!

Interview with Tony Timpone:I didnt like this quite as much...I liked the look into savini's career but felt more like a tony timpone and fangoria infomercial. It felt tacked on to me.

Trailer:Trailer for Chill factor: Housecall

 Special Features Rating:

4 out of 5 severed heads!