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Review by Screaming Stoner


MY SKIN/ SCREAM FOR ME Double Feature DVD
Written and Directed by Christopher Alan Broadstone.

MY SKIN! comes from Los Angeles film director Christopher Alan Broadstone and centers around Death and shows his cruel tactics towards murderers. Professionally done from start to finish and accented by a strong musical score by Brian Sussman, this is one short film to check out. Being rather simple but elegant in its execution, this film by Black Cab Productions relies on a strong set and perfectly structured shots to tell the gloomy tale transpiring.

This cool little flick really centers around Death (played by Tony Simmons) who is dispatched to collect the soul of a ruthlessly murdered young woman named Cindy (Lisa Montague). Soon after arriving and finding her cold body, Death takes the time to play with the incriminating evidence and write a full-scale confession in the handwriting of her killer George (played in picture by assistant director Rick Wildridge and in voice by Cole Adam Buisson) by taking a poem her murdering husband wrote her and mimicking the style.

The first 41&Mac218;2 minutes of the film has no spoken dialogue and is carried out entirely by actions. That is until Death replaces the smoking gun, the bullets and even George's own fingerprints and then calls the cops to report the crime. He also takes the time to call George himself and explain to him what's going on and reveals himself to be The Reaper.
My Skin! by Christopher Alan Broadstone #2 "Killing Isn't Death, George - I AM Death."

This begins a long series of dialogues in which the viewer discovers that Cindy cheated on George so he killed her. Death kicks some logic and even loses his temper during the dispute (don't argue with death) but in the end it becomes apparent that poor George never had a chance to begin with. Death keeps a book of extensive vital records on mankind and when a murderer has the misfortune to cross over into his line of work (that being the craft of death) he has the ability to give them eternal life in jail. It seems George's skin was always his.

Life in prison, life half dead - what's the difference? In the end Death comes to you anyway.

For running at a mere 13 minutes we found this to be a highly enjoyable short film. Somewhat reminiscent of the old-school Film Noir classics with a subtle horror twist this professional horror offering should not be missed. Hands down the coolest aspect of this motion picture is the astounding and very memorable song In The Moonlight by Brian Sussman. This melancholy and somewhat depressing song plays during the end credits and you just might find yourself humming it for days afterwards. Word on the streets says there's also a soundtrack available and it would be a wise asset for fans of this flick.

The acting is all done by Tony Simmons and he executes his role as Death perfectly. His scratchy voice and strange mannerisms make him a truly memorable character and My Skin! is a movie that will not be forgotten easily.
Death Comes Ripping, So They Say.

Both My Skin! and Scream For Me are featured on a double feature DVD direct from Black Cab Productions with several extra features. There's Promotional Trailers and fully-scored Photo Galleries for both films and an additional 8 minute Behind-The-Scenes for Scream For Me called "A Tragic Comedy Of Errors."

My Skin! and Scream For Me are both presented in a crystal-clear 1:85 widescreen format with ECM stereo sound.

Smoker's Soapbox:
Having found little worth in Scream For Me by the same director, we can't help but suggest My Skin! to our readers. The DVD package itself is impressive and well-assembled with adequate extras. Considering the disc itself is a double feature that also includes Scream For Me the viewer will be able to compare the two shorts and come away with their own conclusions. Simply put, we feel that My Skin! is well worth obtaining by itself so it's a good investment overall.

Simple But Clever!

[ 4 puffs! ] 80%

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SCREAM FOR ME

From the Los Angeles based Black Cab Productions comes Scream For Me by film director Christopher Alan Broadstone. Added as a bonus to the remarkable My Skin! DVD this strange short film is a brutal look into the underbelly of life and somewhat focuses of the theme of sarcastic fate. Even highlighting Tony Simmons (who would later play the role of Death in My Skin!) as a crazed and over-sexual screwball billed as just "Madman" we found this to be a rather distasteful and somewhat futile movie. Even winning "Best Short Film" at last year's New York City Horror Film Festival, we found it hard to digest.

Something for everybody they say...

The story is extremely simple and begins with maniacal killer Garrott Druck (perfectly played by Gabriel Sigal) strangling a stripper named Irene in a shoddy motel room. While he's beating the life out of poor Irene (Lora Cunningham) he switches back and forth from completely insane to semi-apathetic logic and attempts to tell a story about his parents "screaming" at one another during sexual intercourse. Why is he telling her? Is she his sister?

One thing's for certain - she's his victim.

Garrott continues to confuse the audience with his ramblings well after the so-called comic relief arrives...
Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #2 Garrott Druck is just about to get f**ked!

As soon as "Sweet Irene" gives up the ghost the door busts open and a crazy redneck psycho killer (Tony Simmons) enters the confusing drama and drags the entire situation even further into debauchery. It seems that the effeminate man came to the hotel room for some luvin' and he'd bound to get some one way or another. So, seeing that the whore Irene is dead he quickly grabs the duct tape and goes to work on Garrott making him scream for himself. Yeah, but not before putting on a wig and dancing around the shabby suite to the latest The Judas Engine CD (blatant plug).

Make any sense? Not to us.

Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #3

This film features a lot of colored lights and great attention has been paid to every shot even though the whole short takes place inside one small room. Perfectly edited and admitably tense we found this to be a film effective in inducing emotion in us while viewing, even making us feel sickened at the whole mess. In this 22 minute film Christopher throws the viewer headlong into a murder gone mad and doesn't let up for a minute building to a awful climax (pardon the pun). That's was it's downfall for us.

Billed as a black comedy of sorts we found nothing comical about Scream For Me except for one feeble blowjob joke. Other than that, it plays just like a perverted student film that attempts to take some of the most abominable subject matter known to man and sum it all up at the end with a weak poetical "message." Rather meaningless.
Looks like Madman struck a nerve, huh?

Both Scream For Me and My Skin! are featured on a double feature DVD direct from Black Cab Productions with several extra features. There's Promotional Trailers and fully-scored Photo Galleries for both films and an additional 8 minute Behind-The-Scenes for Scream For Me called "A Tragic Comedy Of Errors."

Scream For Me and My Skin! are both presented in a crystal-clear 1:85 widescreen format with ECM stereo sound.

Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #4 Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #5 Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #6 Scream For Me by Christopher Alan Broadstone #7

Smoker's Soapbox:
Certainly Scream For Me is a well-done short film on all accounts but we actually felt stupid after seeing it. We suppose somewhere deep inside this film is a moral about irony and justice but we were too sickened by the entire mess to care. This entire movie could easily be summed up like thus; boy kills girl, man catches boy, man rapes boy instead. WTF? The audience is supposed to feel exactly what for which idiot and why?

Stay Away!

[ 2 puffs! ] 40%

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