Still Life (III) (2005) User Reviews

Looks can be deceiving

[nickenchuggets · 9/10 · 6 October 2023]

Being a video that has been in my subconscious for years now, I was surprised to learn that this short film has a page on this website. Still Life is not so much a creepy film as it is unusual, although the way it ends is pretty disturbing. The plot in this follows a guy (named Nathan in the credits) who is driving while taking pills and coffee. He eventually drives into a small town and hits something. Exiting his car, he finds it to be a mannequin. He tries to yell to someone on a bench to come help, but finds they're also a mannequin. Going into a diner, he finds the exact same thing. Strangely, all the "people" in the diner have their eyes on him, but only move their heads when his back is turned. Nathan attempts to restart his car but finds he's out of gas. Meanwhile, an ambulance is already outside for the mannequin he hit. Mannequins all around Nathan seem to glare angrily at him as he walks down the street, whether they're in their front yards, on a patio, or on the sidewalk. He soon comes to a house and goes inside in order to escape what sounds like police sirens in the distance. Inside, he finds a female mannequin, a male one, and a child mannequin. When Nathan looks behind him, he sees one of the mannequins is suddenly holding a bat. Knowing he'll probably die if he takes his eyes off him, Nathan takes the bat and proceeds to smash all 3 of the mannequins to pieces. Going upstairs to get ahold of himself and try to understand what he just witnessed, Nathan looks into the bathroom mirror, and finds to his horror his face is covered in blood. Two cops break into the house and arrest Nathan. As he's led outside, he looks at the corpses of the innocent family he killed for no reason other than being paranoid. Basically akin to a modern Twilight Zone installment, Still Life tells an interesting but macabre story of something that is entirely feasible in reality, and even has a bit of a moral lesson in it. The short can almost be viewed as an anti drug movie due to how it shows the main character's perception of real life being skewed after he's seen taking pills in the beginning. Because you're seeing the story happen from his perspective, there's a big sense of confusion in regards to what is going on in this town where all the residents are inanimate objects that only move when you aren't looking. It might seem not that important, but the decision to make the film take place in the winter was a smart move. It's almost like the inhabitants of the town are doing all they can to get Nathan to go away by starving it of light, warmth and everything good. The twist at the end is deeply ironic considering you're just as clueless about what's happening throughout the film as Nathan is up until this point. When he finally realizes what he's done, he knows he's the danger to everyone else. Previously, he thought everyone in the town was dangerous to him. Things are not always what they appear to be.

The definition of "simple, but effective".

[ashturner-79373 · 9/10 · 13 February 2019]

I'm a little bit in love with this short, which proves that short films can be just as cinematic as features. The first thing we see is a dozy-looking driver sipping coffee and knocking back pills while sleepy country music plays on his car radio - an efficient way of indicating this character's fatigued state of mind early on.

I really like the way this character responds to the events in the town, like he's scared but also puzzled and a little unsure of himself. The climax in the family home is great, and the final twist might be predictable, but it's still somehow shocking on repeat viewings.

The score effortlessly reflects the protagonist's state of mind throughout - tense and scared at first, then baffled and bemused as the situation becomes more absurd, then finally shocked at what's really been happening. I love the sound design too, where despite never seeing the mannequins actually move, we can always hear what they're doing just before we see the new positions they're in. Even the camerawork is lovely, with broad day-lighting adding to the discomfort and some really nice pans (like when the car first drives into town).

The whole thing is incredibly simple and even obvious, but what really matters is just how well it's all executed.

9/10.

Great setting and eerie premise make for a superb short film!

[mikepal99 · 10/10 · 1 July 2006]

This great short film has left me wanting more. I would love to see Rod Serling introduce this film and in turn learn a bit more about the main character and how he feels about his experiences in that small town. This movie is built around an interesting concept which is delivered very effectively as a psychological thriller. The idea of a sparsely populated small town works very well as the setting here and the winter season only adds to the setting and tone of the movie.

I am left to wonder where the lead character comes from and the series of events that lead him to this small town. As stated earlier I would love to see this as a longer feature to get some of these questions answered. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future BrookStreet productions.

Awesome short

[Ocrisia · 10/10 · 11 May 2014]

I absolutely adored this short. It was one of the first I'd seen (since then I've been watching shorts a lot) and yet it remains one of the best. Probably, for me, the best. I had to go back and watch again, just because I wanted to look for clues. The actor does a very good job, an the ending is just brilliant I thought. You can kind of imagine what is coming, but still, the way it's done is just eerie. The director creates a great sense of tension, and it reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. Check it out, especially if you like psychological horror. This is absolutely worth watching, and even if you don't like it (although I can't imagine anyone not liking it) it's only 5 minutes of your life.

Surreal nightmare

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 25 December 2014]

"Still Life" (not to be mistaken for the 2013 Marsan movie) is a short film directed by Jon Knautz, written by Charles Johnston and starring Trevor Matthews from roughly 10 years ago. Nother of the trio is very famous, although you may have come across the director or star if you have seen the Robert Englund horror comedy "Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer".

Anyway, in this short movie we see a man driving for a bit until he hits somebody with his car, probably because he was very sleep and took some pills. He gets out right away to see what happened when he realizes the victim is a dummy. When he gets in a nearby shop or café to ask for help, it is full with dummies sitting there anyway. When he looks away for a second and looks back, he sees the dummies have moved and are all looking at him now. This I found the most intense moment of the film, more intense than the violence afterward, as for the first time we realize something is very wrong in a truly spooky manner. The snowy weather and barren landscape helps the atmosphere.

Later on, he gets in a fight and kills a couple dummies with a baseball bat. Now, I am not sure I entirely understood this short film. I thought the protagonist was hallucinating from the medication, which would explain the dummies, but does not explain why they stand still every time he looks at them, especially the family father when he is in motion with the baseball bat. Maybe there is something more to it. In the end, probably with the effects of the drugs slowly fading, everything becomes real again. The blood is the first indicator, the cops are the second and the corpses are the final one. Man, is he in trouble now.

What I liked about these 9 minutes was the clever way they packed brutal violence in it, but still made it watchable for younger audiences. Another thing I thought about was the idea that every time we look somewhere, everything happens where we don't look. For example, the very second you read my review, probably somebody gets beaten up with a baseball bat and you don't see it. Anyway, I enjoyed this short film. it is far from perfect, but makes for a good watch. Recommended.

A man apparently on a road trip, has been popping pills and driving fast for many miles. He eventually stops in a town where time stands still.

[wnouse · 16 September 2011]

Being told this was a horror film, I was a bit skeptical as to how this film would play out in the opening scene. When our main character hit what appeared to be a mannequin and tried to get help with the results only making the man seem even crazier, the man's pill popping in the car finally made sense. By the end of it all, it ended up being a brutal depiction of what some sort of fictional drugs can do to people. I like some aspects of the screenplay such as the fact that it kept you guessing what would happen to the main character next in the creepy town of moving mannequins. This really kept my interest which most dialogue-less movies don't do. Overall, this was a good short film, but it wasn't exactly the greatest thing I've ever seen so I give it an 8 out of 10.

Excellent Horror Short

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 10 May 2019]

A young guy is driving, on the verge of sleep. He keeps popping pills and drinking coffee. As he is about to run out of gas, he pulls into a town. Looking away, he feels a crash and a woman lies behind the car--only she is not human. She is a mannequin. As he runs through the town, everyone he sees is a mannequin. They pose themselves in mundane routine actions but do not actually move. Is he delusional or is this really happening? What happens next made me think of the 'Twilight Zone."

maybe, parable

[Kirpianuscus · 26 February 2018]

...about the perception of the other. about the stranger in a foreign small town. about the responsability. about the relation with the other. significant - the feeling after its end. not just surprising. but different by what you could expect. and, after the last scene, all becomes coherent. the baredom, the pills, the accident. and that does it remarkable. as show. as warning. so,, maybe, a parable.