Biscuit Filmworks director Clay Weiner mocks a certain breed of self-absorbed, vacuous L.A. blonde (you’ll know what I mean if you watch the video) in his new, appropriate titled short “Shalloween,” starring Tessa Goss and Amanda Olmstead.
Goss and Olmstead play oblivious blonde ditzes who somehow walk past several severed body parts without noticing. The short horror parody plays on viewer expectations by cutting to shots of severed body parts, followed by gasps from Goss and Olmstead’s characters. Each time we expect them to be reacting to the ghastly scene in front of them, they are instead reacting to some self-absorbed observations — such as “Oh my god, I forgot to drink my warm water with lemon this morning.”
The severed body parts become more conspicuously placed in Goss and Olmstead’s path as the short plays out, with Goss and Olmstead practically bumping into a torso. At this point they comment on how much they like the purple bra the torso is wearing, but seem unaware that they have just passed part of a dead body. It’s kind of a one-joke premise, but it’s a funny one and Goss and Olmstead play their parts perfectly. My favorite exchange is when Goss and Olmstead think they see Michael Phelps. “Oh my god, Michael Phelps walks, too?” one of them asks. My biggest complaint would be that even at 2:45 it feels like Weiner could have shaved off 15-20 seconds. But it’s well worth the couple of minutes to check it out (especially if the premise sounds funny to you), and may elicit a chuckle or two. Enjoy.