It's difficult to create a good story with only 15 minutes of time, but this draws so heavily from other works in a way which feels like a cheap collage rather than an homage.
The practical effects and puppetry were very competent though. The creatures looked like they were actually in the film and moved believably, which is more than I can say for major Hollywood productions.
Plot summary
Monstrous creatures leap from a magical storybook and unleash mayhem and mischief for Auntie Opal and her tween niece Nina in this spooky short film.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
January 09, 2023 at 05:01 PM
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB.x265Movie Reviews
A Real Mixed Bag.
Kind of Pointless
Erax is definitely a horror short designed for kids, right?
It has that 'Nickelodeon' or 'Disney' style cover image, and it's about a young girl reading a new storybook.
The monsters (the best thing about this whole thing) are creepy and could be scary for some children, but they don't provide too much menace and almost come across as endearing. One of them chooses to eat a big bucket of popcorn rather than attacking the two protagonists, for example.
But then as someone else has already mentioned the only music listed for the whole thing has a rather interesting name, shall we say. And someone mentioned use of the F Word but I didn't hear that so maybe it's been cut.
The writing is terrible in places (You want to get fictional? Let's get fictional!) and trite in others (some nonsense gets crowbarred in about the auntie not having time for her niece when there really isn't the time to flesh it out) and the acting isn't much better, although Genesis White does what she can with it and comes across more believable than her on screen aunt.
Definitely one to miss.