Short Film: Bar Talk

This was a short (under 9 minute) film directed by Lowell Northrop and released in 2014. I actually caught it on a short film series on Amazon Prime entitled Hollywood Horrorfest and as I watched it, and it suddenly became apparent that this was the tale of an alien vampire, I was struck by the connection this shared with War of the Worlds.

Now, it all starts innocuously enough as a man, credited as Redneck (Timothy Brennen), comes into a bar and orders a beer. A second man (Ian Gary) comes on over and offers to tell him a story that will leave him speechless. The Redneck isn’t interested but the man continues on and on and eventually tells him that he is a spy… But not just any spy, he is a Martian spy.

conversation

The Martians have managed to elude detection by us on their own planet, and have sent advance spies wearing human suits. They have a problem though. They can consume alcohol but not Earth food – it makes them sick but then they found a solution… human blood is just the ticket and as their true form is kind of jellyfish like they have tubes across their bodies that can be used to draw blood from their unsuspecting vicitms…

feeding

Why did this remind me of War of the Worlds… beyond being a Martian check the description of the aliens in H G Wells classic novel: “And this was the sum of the Martian organs. Strange as it may seem to a human being, all the complex apparatus of digestion, which makes up the bulk of our bodies, did not exist in the Martians. They were heads--merely heads. Entrails they had none. They did not eat, much less digest. Instead, they took the fresh, living blood of other creatures, and injected it into their own veins.” Not exactly the same but the resonance is there.

The imdb page is here.


On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK