Missing

Mike Storch has pretty much proven to me that he is, in fact, the master of horror in 3dmm- and after only two movies, not bad! His first horror movie, "Gnomes", was one of those movies that was great when it, by all rights, shouldn't have been. I mean...it was a horror/drama about flesh eating garden gnomes, yet somehow it managed to be not only interesting but genuinely creepy at times! His newest short horror, "Missing", is also surprisingly well done, and even more surprisingly, it manages to have some moments that are seriously tense.

The storyline isn't much, but it's all the mystery it's shrouded in that makes it truly interesting. The movie continuously cuts between a man being tormented by an insane kidnapper and a desperate wife searching for her missing husband. The ending is the best part, as you see all of the pieces falling into place. That said, I kind of figured out “the big twist” early on- though that’s mostly because I had read that there was a twist near the end, and went the whole movie making up crazy theories about what it could be, one of which ended up being right. Next time I watch a movie I hear has a twist ending, I’m completely shutting my brain off until it’s over. Either way, the whole movie left me feeling really uneasy, which isn’t easy to do in 3dmm (and might be partly because Mike Storch avoids showing the 3dmm characters goofy painted on expressions as much as possible- which helps when trying to take a movie seriously).

Mike Storch has really seemed to master animating in 3dmm. The movie looks great, even without a bunch of “Holy crap, HOW THE HELL DID HE DO THAT IN 3DMM?” moments. Everything looks believable (or at least as believable as 3dmm can look), and the attention to detail is excellent, even managing to add to the creepiness in some scenes (is that a bloody plastic bag I see in the trash in the killers house?). The gore is especially well done. Even though you know it’s just a bunch of red colored 3d text, it looks truly sickening at times. One especially gruesome scene near the end actually made me cringe slightly- who knew a bunch of asterisks clumped together could have that effect? Also, the director shows his knack for making his movies extremely cinematic, with well placed camera angles and mostly well chosen camera movements (though he doesn’t so much show his knack for realizing when the camera works best perfectly still as he did in “Gnomes”- someone gave the camera man a bit too much caffeine this time around).

So this brings us to the sound category. Basically, high marks here once again! The movie has some really well acted voiceovers and some “eeeewww” inducing sound effects for the torture scenes. That Justin Wawrzonek guy who always hijacks every other scene in my “Who’s the Director Anyway” series while I’m not looking, I have to admit, does a damn good job playing the movie’s bad guy- proving he can play a seriously evil guy, and not just the campy type of movie villain he played as “Boundless Ben”. One thing about Justin though…he just can’t seem to escape the Timothy character. One day he’s going to wake up screaming as he realizes that his nose has grown five times as big and he has a stupid grin permanently etched onto his face….poor bastard.

All in all, “Missing” is an excellent addition to a genre that few people dare to tread in, in 3dmm. Creating a thriller that actually manages some tense moments and honestly leaves you feeling uneasy isn’t the easiest thing to do when all you have to work with is a bunch of neon colored shapes, 3d letters, and 30 goofy looking characters. It just goes to show you that when you infuse enough creativity into something, anything is possible (* in best Mr. Rogers voice * That’s right kids, wontcha’ be my neighbor?). I still think Mike’s best movie so far is “Gnomes”, but this definitely merits a download for anyone who enjoys the horror/thriller genre. Overall, I’d give it a 90% out of 100%.