Following the recent post about my new short film The Suicide Shift (2026) – here I am so proud to now present the trailer for the film in the link.
THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026)
Tagline
Connect. Process. Record. Never intervene.
Pitch
Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.
Cast
Julia Florimo as Carmilla Ferry
Myles Horgan as Russell Schaeffer
Felicia Kaspar as Lucy Carpenter
Lost Souls (Voices) – Ashley Wong, Bai Ruiying, Bogdan Dima, Christina Leitner, Federica Ruggieri, Jyothi Gupta, Kay Abel, Maria Busz, Melissa Zajk, Paul Laight, Sanjay Batra, Szymon Bartoszek.
Crew
Director, Producer & Writer: Paul Laight
Cinematography: Petros Gioumpasis
Sound Recordist & Designer: Ali Kivanc
Camera Assistant: Ben Bogdan-Hodgson
Make-Up: Georgie Lang
Location Manager: Melissa Zajk
Editors: Oliver McGuirk & Petros Gioumpasis
Composer: Ben Randall
Poster designs: Jaffer Hashim & Gary O’Brien
Every 90 minutes in the UK, someone dies by suicide. But talking saves lives.
Last year I wrote and produced seven monologues inspired by the deadly sins. With careful planning, myself and a quality cast and crew shot them all in one day at Raindance Film School. I’m now releasing them online via YouTube. They are in essence a proof of concept project with an aim for myself to develop them into a feature film screenplay. Below are episodes 4 to 7!
PITCH
“Let those without sin cast the first stone.”
An anthology of 7 monologues based around the seven deadly sins. Moments, drama, humour, character studies and themes exploring the darker side of human nature. Influenced by: Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, Inside No. 9, Tales of the Unexpected and Amicus/Hammer horror film anthologies.
PRIDE starring Myles Horgan
Bishop, a retired spy with a gun in his face, delivers a powerful monologue as he attempts to deduce the identity of the assassin that faces him.
LUST starring Tom Cavendish
Danny, a police officer racked with guilt, confesses as to why he thinks he cheated on his beloved fiancé with her sister.
ENVY starring Malcolm Jeffries
Len, a covert photographer, reveals how his obsession with a client’s wife brings back haunting memories from his past.
WRATH starring Julia Florimo
Sadie describes in detail how and why she plotted revenge by poisoning her cheating ex-boyfriend, Stephen.
CREDITS
Writer and Producer: Paul Laight Camera and Post-Production: Gary O’Brien Sound: Ali Kivanc Camera Assistant: Maka Natsvlishvili Music by: Epic Violin Music NO Copyright royalty free music Special thanks: Raindance Film School and Universal Video
Produced by: Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver
Cast: Kristine Kujath Thorp , Eirik Sæther, Fanny Vaager, Henrik Mestad, Andrea Bræin Hovig, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Fredrik Stenberg, etc.
Cinematography by Benjamin Loeb
*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***
Human beings are capable of incredible acts of compassion, creativity, kindness, artistry, charity, care and beauty. But I have to admit there is a flaw, and in some people a sickness, which makes them narcissistic, selfish and image-obsessed with the constant need for attention. Indeed, with the advent of mobile phones and social media anyone with an internet connection can drop a video on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok or Instagram and get instant gratification. Not to mention the plague of TV talent and reality programming which showcase the epitome of this “me-me-me” generation.
Maybe society has always been like this, full of attention seekers desiring to become actors or singers or comedians or artists. But now there is a constant platform for the talented, untalented and arguably mentally unbalanced to post their wares online for an ego hit, likes and if they’re lucky, to “go viral.” But it’s just a bit entertainment isn’t it? A bit of a laugh? Getting a bit of attention and maybe even becoming famous. But there is a dark, horrific side to social media and reality show attention. The internet is replete with stories about people who have killed themselves having found “fame” this way. Sometimes too much attention becomes too much for some.
The Norwegian black comedy, Sick of Myself (2022) written and directed byKristoffer Borgli, darkly explores the themes of narcissism, art and attention-seeking through the twentysomething characters of Signe and Thomas. The couple live somewhat regular lives in Oslo. Signe is a coffee shop server, while Thomas is an aspiring artist. Two excellent scenes introduce their characters succinctly. Thomas, who it is revealed throughout to be a kleptomaniac, initially gets a hit stealing an expensive bottle of wine from a posh restaurant. While Signe gets a massive adrenaline punch from the attention she receives when assisting a bloodied customer savaged by a dog. These fascinating narrative strands are the foundation for a series of funny, cringeworthy and horrific scenes expertly developed by Borgli.
The film is very much delivered in a believable and realistic style as, Sick of Myself (2022), develops its character and thematic analysis with understated direction. But the actions of the characters are anything but understated. Signe diverts attention away from Thomas’ growing fame in the art world by resorting to more extreme ways to get people to notice to her. The initial comedic situations, such as Signe faking a nut allergy to interrupt Thomas’ speech in a restaurant, give way to constant lying and actual self-harm, as her personality is blighted by undiagnosed Munchausen’s syndrome. With echoes of DeNiro’s and Scorsese’s The King of Comedy (1983), Signe is a grotesque creation reflecting a dangerous side within our society. But whereas Rupert Pupkin had a goal to become a famous stand-up comedian, Signe, as portrayed with muted and natural brilliance by Kristine Kujath Thorp, has no such career desire other than to just be constantly noticed. She is a tragic character, like many in society, who desperately need psychological help.
Produced by: Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Robert Salerno, Gabby Olivera
Cast: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan, etc.
Cinematography: Charlie Sarroff
If you search YouTube by typing ‘short horror film’ you will find hundreds of really good and often scary, surprisingly enough, short horror films. A great majority of them will have a lengthy suspenseful set-up, before ending on a startling jump scare. The model itself is arguably overdone, however, it is an excellent set-up-punchline structure for new filmmakers to learn film techniques and scare the viewers. Many such short videos go viral and, in the case of Laura Hasn’t Slept by Parker Finn, get picked up for feature development. Hence, we have Parker Finn’s film debut, Smile (2022).
Smile (2022) opens with a suggestion of childhood trauma for lead protagonist, psychiatrist Doctor Rose Cotter when a child. The action then moves to the present day and brings us Rose’s confrontation with the disturbed patient, Laura. What follows is an expertly crafted and incredibly disturbing sequence, which plunges Rose into major threat from a nefarious force. Parker Finn then slowly builds Rose’s psychological breakdown as she experiences hallucinations, frights and memory loss as her partner, family and friends find her behaviour to be disturbing to say the least. A particularly grisly scene at a child’s birthday party was especially deadly and memorable.
As the film continues, I could not help but be reminded of both The Ring (1998/2002) andIt Follows (2014) in terms of the story beats. Rose, while being pursued by some unknown demon, faces a race against time to avoid death. Both the aforementioned films are far superior as they have more plot and characterisation to propel the running time. Indeed, one of the major issues with Smile (2022) is that 115 minutes are too long for the character arc Rose Cotter is given. By the time her character revelation is complete it has taken an eternity to get there. Moreover, I was suffering jump-scare fatigue by the end, thus rendering the scarily horrific monster reveal to feel fearfully redundant.
Yet, Smile (2022) has an impactful thematic spine. While It Follows (2014) dealt with the threat of sexual disease within the subtext, Parker Finn’s debut powerfully delves into the impact of grief, guilt and mental health. Having said that, the narrative could have dug more into Rose’s past to really reveal the trauma she suffered as a child. Personally, I think a longer set-up of her character while growing up would have increased the drama. But Parker Finn gets an excellent performance from Sosie Bacon throughout, even if her perpetual appearance on screen as the harassed and troubled victim eventually promotes further fatigue. A scene-stealing exchange between Bacon and the electric Rob Morgan suggests his character should be lead in the inevitable horror sequel.
Cast: Felissa Rose, Katherine Kamhi, Paul DeAngelo, Mike Kellin, Karen Fields, Desiree Gould, etc.
Music by: Edward Bilous
Cinematography: Benjamin Davis, David M. Walsh
***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Whatever you do please do not read anything about this cult classic horror film from 1983. It has one of the most shocking twists at the end and even on second watch my jaw dropped when I witnessed the final scene. You’ll be tempted to find out but just watch the whole film. It is on YouTube here!
So, if you’re NOT a fan of B-movies horror exploitation films then Sleepaway Camp (1983) will not be for you! A lot of the acting is by first-timers and the director, Robert Hiltzik, is also making his debut here. In fact, he didn’t make another film after this until many years later because he became a lawyer. But the film gained a cult following among horror fans and certainly deserves cult status. It may be badly acted in many scenes and verging on the hysterical, yet it is well filmed and edited on a meagre budget of $300,000. There’s also some fantastically imaginative murder set-pieces, with excellent make-up and prosthetics work employed.
The story centres on the vulnerable teenager, Angela (Felissa Rose), who, having lost her father in an accident when younger, now lives with her Aunt Martha (Desiree Gould) and cousin, Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten). Her Aunt sends Angela and Ricky to Camp Arawak for the summer and due to her quiet demeanour she soon becomes a target for bullies. Ricky attempts to protect her, however, other than a budding romance with another teenager, Paul, Angela finds it very difficult to fit in. When dead bodies begin to turn up due to a number of grisly “accidents”, the kids and counsellors soon find themselves all in danger.
Amidst all the over-the-top acting, Felissa Rose gives a brilliant wide-eyed and subtle performance as Angela. For a film that could be classed as aFriday the 13th (1980) rip-off, her character arc throughout is both fascinating and quite unsettling. Indeed the film veers between being a strange hybrid of summer camp slice-of-life, rites-of-passage and slasher genre films. Yet despite all the uneven tone there is a decent story here with much emotional impact. Amidst all the death the film finds time to address bullying, sexual abuse and adult neglect to minors. Ultimately though, Sleepaway Camp (1983), has some fantastic gore and THAT quite astounding ending!
CLASSIC FILM REVIEW – SCARFACE (1983) – YOUTUBE VIDEO
The Cinema Fix is a website for all film and TV lovers everywhere. It’s a mix of reviews, articles, essays, news and thoughts on new and classic releases. It is intended to be honest, irreverent, funny and hopefully intelligent. I also have a YouTube channel with loads of short films and video articles. Check it out here.
I have just created a new video article. It’s a review of the classic gangster film, Scarface (1983). You can read it here or check out the video below.
CREDITS
This video article is a fun and educational piece reviewing one of our favourite gangster films ever.
Written by: Paul Laight Narrated by: Melissa Zajk Music Produced by : Aries Beats Promoted by : CRFC
The copyright of the images and trailers are those of the film studio. I do not own any of the images or films.
Film/Trailer clips credits:
Scarface (1983) Directed: by Brian DePalma Produced by: Martin Bregman Written by: Oliver Stone. Distributed by: Universal Pictures
THANKS TO UNRESTRICTED VIEW HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2020!
Just a quick post to say thank you to the Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival for screening my short film You Have A New Follower (2020). They screened it online as part of their Little Terrors programme on Tuesday 27th October 2020. Loads of great shorts and features were screened in an amazing programme. Further, in this period of COVID-19, it is a testament to their talents and enthusiasm they continue to support independent filmmakers.
If you didn’t know, Unrestricted View was set up in 1997 by Felicity & James Wren in order to produce exciting and innovative new theatre, comedy & film. In 1999 UV became the resident company at The Hen & Chickens Theatre and remains so to this day. UV was also resident company at Lowdown at The Albany on Great Portland Street 2003-2011 and The Vandella in Shepherds Bush in 2012. Subsequently, they continue to run the Unrestricted View Film Festival and a separate Horror Festival too. This year’s event ran online from 26-10-20 to 1st November 2020. Check out their website here.
Here is the brochure for the festival at this link.
You Have a New Follower (2020) is a psychological thriller/horror. The story concerns Astrid Nilsson, whose life begins to unravel when she is stalked by a mysterious hooded figure. It combines mystery, suspense and science fiction genres, while exploring themes of paranoia, anxiety and identity.
I’ve been busy trying to avoid the booze in the fridge most days, although I did fail miserably on Saturday. But I was kind of celebrating fifteen years of low budget short filmmaking. If you didn’t know my production company is called Fix Films Ltd. Here is my latest showreel video. It’s basically a look back at all the films we have made. Also, it’s a tribute to all of the talented people we have worked with.
Fix Films are a filmmaking collective. Since 2005 they have been involved in the creation of many, many short films and promos. They self-produce, write, direct, edit and score their own films to a very high standard despite the low budgets. They are true independent filmmakers.
This showreel features images, clips and music from most of our major short films productions.
Fix Films Ltd are:
Paul Laight, Gary O’Brien and all the amazing people we have worked with.
MEMORABLE FILM CHARACTERS – SARAH CONNOR – VIDEO ARTICLE
I have already written a text article regarding this subject and that can be read here. However, I am trying to promote my YouTube site too, and thus have been busy creating short online video content which may interest some cineastes. So here is a tribute to one of the most memorable film characters of all time – SARAH CONNOR.
CREDITS
This video article is a fun and educational piece highlighting our one of our favourite film characters – SARAH CONNOR.
Written by: Paul Laight
Narrated by: Melissa Zajk
Music: Sci Fi – Bensound | Royalty Free Music – No Copyright Music | Bensound Music
The copyright of the images and trailers are those of the film studios. I do not own any of the images or films.
Film/Trailer clips credits:
1) The Terminator (1984) – Orion Pictures 2) Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) – TriStar Pictures 3) Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – Paramount Pictures / 20th Century Fox
As you know The Cinema Fix is a website for all film and TV lovers everywhere. It’s a mix of reviews, articles, essays, news and thoughts on new and classic releases. It is intended to be honest, irreverent, funny and hopefully intelligent.
In this period of social distancing I have now found the time to make some short video film review content. This video article is a fun piece highlighting our favourite films set on a train.
Written by: Paul Laight Narrated by: Melissa Zajk Music: Classic Train – Simple Sound – No Copyright Check out our YouTube site: www.youtube.com/c/FixFilmsLtd
Film/Trailer credits:
1) The Cassandra Crossing (1976) – AVCO Embassy Pictures
2) The Lady Vanishes (1938) – United Artists
3) Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – EMI Film/Paramount Pictures
4) Snowpiercer (2013) – Radius TWC/CJ Entertainment
5) The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) – United Artists
6) Train to Busan(2016) – Next Entertainment World
The Cinema Fix presents 