Short Film: This Mortal Coil

With a running time around 17.5-minutes, and directed by Sean King, This Mortal Coil carries the conceit that it was based on a true story. Given the lack of supernatural aspect to this I could believe it may be, however remotely, though couldn’t find detail of the original story the filmmakers refer to.

It starts, for a moment, in black and white and we see a figure, Matthew (Drew Moore), walking down the street away from the camera. The photography moves into (a deliberately washed out) colour as he opens a gate to deliver a paper. He is leaving but just hears Maybel (Eileen Lacy) call him (he’s wearing head phones). She gives him a cuddly toy she’d bought him.

toy

As he continues down the street, we see that the toy panda has fangs. He sees a bird dead on the road with blood sprayed from it. When he gets home, we see he is immersed in the vampire genre – be it film posters or watching Nosferatu on TV. Eventually he leaves the house.

Emily Wallace as Alice

In the woods is a party. He watches a Goth, Alex (Emily Wallace), dancing and is informed that she is a German exchange student and she claims to be a vampire. As he watches, she looks at him, smiles and she reveals fangs. At home he cuts his finger on a dagger and tastes the blood and then, doing his paper round, he checks to see no one is around, stabs the bird’s carcass and dips his finger into the wound to taste it. Eventually he goes to see Alex and, after she says she came to the town because the old make for prey that the killing of won’t arouse suspicion of foul play, he asks her to turn him.

Drew Moore as Matthew

The way she freaks out, intimates that she was role playing and he has gone too far for her but just how far would he go to impress her? The answer was broadcast ahead, though that is unsurprising in a film so short. The direction keeps the atmosphere of this one purposely dour. The imdb page is here.

This Mortal Coil- short film from Clean Rocket Films LLC on Vimeo.