The Gaze

Plot

An actress is repeatedly catcalled on her way home from a shoot until just the right guy comes her way.

Cast

Big ol' shrug on that one.

Verdict

The Gaze standing at around 5 minutes is one of those short films that relies entirely on a big revelation, a twist. Trouble is this twist is poorly handled and so generic and overdone it falls very flat. A twist isn't shocking if you see it in every other film these days. You probably won't see it coming, but you won't care when it arrives.

Then it builds to a finale that explains everything but serves very little purpose and slaps you with some cgi that the average person with a copy of Blender could do better than.

Not the worst, just lazy.

Rants

The trouble with The Gaze is it has no real place, no identity. It couldn't work as a feature film as there's just nothing there and as a short it leaves you shrugging as if it's setting up something but of course simply doesn't. Why does this short exist? What's it bringing to the table? It shouldn't and nothing are your answers.

Breakdown

Overdone twist Fugly cgi Goes nowhere, accomplishes nothing.

True to her style, director Christina Raia's short film, THE GAZE, teases the horror film genre by playing on cliches often seen across the gamut of thriller/suspense type movies. Using classic horror film techniques, Raia sets up the audience for an unexpected twist at the end, counter to the classic "stalker" ending we have all come to predict with B-grade slasher films! The Gaze is a fun little film with a creepy, yet clever, twist!

It seems as if they were actually trying to accomplish something here, which makes it all the more disappointing. Not horror, but completely ridiculous, inept and plain goofy.