Review by Peter Syslo
FLUFFY (2006)/F2: FLUFFY STRIKES BACK (2008) are two short films from production company Righteous Insanity (www.righteousinsanity.com). In my opinion, I think that this company has a lot of potential. There are things about the films that I did not like, but I think that Righteous Insanity has displayed strong filmmaking skills and I would like to watch a full-length feature, from this crew.
FLUFFY is written and directed by John Cosper. The film stars Jamie Bratcher, Randy D. Pease, Katy Wheeler, and Paul Reynolds. F2: FLUFFY STRIKES BACK is written and directed by John Cosper and it stars Erica Goldsmith, Herschel Zahnd III, Corey Long, and Todd Zigler.
First, I’ll talk about FLUFFY. It is the story of an astronaut who brings back a cute, yet deadly, alien from Mars. Though docile at first (you don’t really see it – a point-of-view camera is the technique that they used), Fluffy begins eating meat at the astronaut’s home and soon, his wife demands that he get rid of it. After taking Fluffy to his mistress’ house, things quickly spiral out of control, as it starts reproducing and killing human beings. Our heroine is a fellow astronaut (Bratcher), who has a kung-fu/karate way about her; she and a group of others wind up shutting themselves in a barn to fend off the marauding Fluffies. The film climaxes as the group tries to stop the reproducing horde and tries to save earth in the process.
I liked the idea of FLUFFY; it was a sci-fi story told in a narrative fashion like, “Things weren’t always like this, all of a sudden they started reproducing…” The story wasn’t absolutely original (it was reminiscent of CRITTERS or the Star Trek episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles”) but it was an enjoyable short film, with a good sense of humor. I also liked the p.o.v. use of the camera for the Fluffy creature (and the green-tint for the kill scenes). I thought that the technique was better than directly showing Fluffy – they have definitely mastered the “less-is-more” approach. Regarding the sense of humor, it was sharply-witted and topical (at one point two guys in the barn go “rut-row” like Scooby Doo) and it was appropriate for the atmosphere of the film.
Moving on to F2, the film is along the lines of the first. This time around, a FLUFFY is loose in the woods and several people unfortunately happen upon it, before a guy captures it and takes it home (in order to get women, you know… that old trick). Once again, the thing starts reproducing and our heroine (Goldsmith) steps in one more time to save the day – or does she?
F2 was very similar to the first film but I did see some improvements in production quality. The sense of humor was present again and was very funny – like the humor of Troma or even a little “lighter” like Justus League Films COONS! For example, a medical examiner kept vomiting whenever he saw a Fluffy victim – almost like a parody of Matt Hooper, in JAWS. It wasn’t an overly obscene/perverse humor is basically what I am saying. They utilized the same p.o.v. camerawork for the Fluffy and it was just as effective as the last time. Overall, I thought that the script was a little tighter in this one and the acting was a little bit better; it seemed like everyone was a little more comfortable and it was more natural. The cinematography was great – each shot was framed nicely and the interspersion of the p.o.v didn’t loose the “larger s cene”. The story was pretty much the same as the first, but it was just as enjoyable and the final scene ties the sequel back to the original film (the line at the end).
My criticism of both films is fairly similar, so I will do it in one shot. The main problem that I had with both films is the concept of the gung-ho, ass-kicking female lead. I had no problem with the actresses, in either role, but I just felt that this type of character didn’t really fit in with the rest of the content. This is especially pertinent to F2, where the female lead really had a kung-fu/karate edge to her. While I enjoyed the overall sense of humor, the martial arts is just something that I have been seeing a lot of in independent horror films and quite honestly, I am getting a little tired of it (next in line to martial arts are the mafia side stories). In something like CHASING DARKNESS or PHANTASM III, the fighting style works and is enjoyable. In this case, I just thought that the whole fighting idea got in the way, and both films were interesting enough without it.
Also, I didn’t notice it as much as in the first film but the audio in F2 seemed a little unbalanced at times. Let me explain: I thought that the overall audio was great; sometimes you loose dialogue all over the place in an “indie” production and you’re constantly adjusting your volume control (all of the dialogue in F2 was audible and strong). However, when the screams came in, it seemed like the volume shot way up (I was afraid that I would wake up my neighbors). That was my only issue with the audio; it may have needed a little compression and balancing to control the volume of the screams. But, while I’m on it - man, can those girls scream!
Cutting to the chase: FLUFFY and F2: FLUFFY STRIKES BACK are two enjoyable short films. They display the skills of the filmmakers and there is a lot of potential there, for a full-length feature. I think that both films are worth checking out and despite my criticism, I did like the overall sci-fi story (and sense of humor). I give both FLUFFY and F2 a 6/10.