CHEMICAL 12-D has garnered plenty of accolades, as the Audience Choice from 2009′s Chicago Citywide Film Maker’s Film Festival, to most recently the distinction of Best Short at this year’s Hudson Horror Show. It will be screening July 24th at the 2010 Fantasia Film Festival as the opener for HUMAN CENTIPEDE.
Enrolled at De Paul University in Chicago, Writer/Director Mac Eldridge establishes quite a lot in the short time he asks for our attention with his short film. A lonely doctor, Frank, spends his time trying to find a cure for the zombie outbreak that has overtaken his suburban landscape. He searches for the perfect specimens for his experimentations with a serum called Chemical 12-D. Frank’s subject of choice; an abducted pre-teen boy infected with the zombie virus. The experiment doesn’t quite yield the results Frank was hoping for, but the unexpected outcome is one consequence he never would’ve seen coming.
Writer/Director Mac Eldridge
Mac gives horror fans what they crave with shots of unsettling and unflinching special effects. The unease that permeates from medical experimentation on children is the brass knuckles that this little film uses to face punch the audience. Suburbia is properly utilized as the setting of community and safety are supremely kick-flipped on its ear. The short film works because is establishes its mood and tone of horror, and does so without skimping on the effects make-up or practical effects that more and more young filmmakers are beginning to embrace. The story also plays with the notions of right and wrong, and how the those fundamentals are tested when the dead rise to walk again. It’s almost like Todd Solondz’s HAPPINESS swirled with George Romero’s DAY OF THE DEAD and served in one of those Baskin Robin’s tasting spoons. There’s plenty of complex flavor, and you will only want more of it.
At only 20 years old at the time of filming, Mac hopes to establish himself in the genre of horror by moving further into feature films. Mac’s efforts with Water Cooler Productions have helped to establish an impressive series of projects that go beyond that of a normal demo reel. This company was founded with writer Robert Sandoval and is co-owned with David Wagenaar, Mac’s D.P. and Producer. Look for Chemical 12-D on the festival circuit as it raises the awareness of Mac’s abilities and hopefully your attention. I look forward to the day when this film comes screaming at me as a full blown feature.
**UPDATE:
CHEMICAL 12-D has officially gone live on the Interwebs. Be sure to watch!