With very little social media fanfare at the time of this writing, I was pleasantly surprised with this short film from Andrew Huggins. Being an atmospheric piece, it's so easy to miss the mark completely. Thankfully, in this particular case, the general feeling of unrest manages to compliment the scripted film, giving this title some substance beyond the creep factor. Now don't get me wrong. This isn't one of those films that literally tries to scare the crap out of you, or one that relies on jump scares or tactics. This is all emotionally driven. It is creepy, but not "in your face" creepy. Well, mostly not anyhow. I could bring up that terribly freaky scene with the black bloody ooze falling all over the girl. That was pretty creepy but at the same time, a really nice flourish. As they say... if it feels good do it. Right kids? "Goodman" is one of those religion based flicks and... let's be honest here... anything involving God or Satan, in this case Lucifer, or religion in general, can end up being scary as shit. It's one of those things that for many, would be considered based on biblical fact. Maybe not the actual instances and doings, but the existence of God or Satan. That's where the real terror happens for believers. The "what if" part of the brain kicks in. This stuff has always made for good film fodder, so for the most part, "Goodman" isn't anything terribly new in the concept department. Actually it's not new at all when you realize it's an adaptation of another old story. That doesn't mean marks were deducted from the rating however, this is a well done indie film. So what if we've seen similar stories? We'll see more of them after this one. As I wrote above: If it works do it. Or something like that. In a nutshell though, the basic concept is simple. Humanity thrives in a constant state of depravity. We all become children of the devil or suffer the consequences. This is a short film, so I can't really write much more than that without ruining the movie. Needless to say, I'm sure you get the general idea. Or do you? "Goodman" really is one of those movies you just need to watch. See how you react and how you take in the story. Who am I to spoil a perfectly good plot with a personal take on the story? Find out for yourself. Technically, "Goodman" is a visually interesting film. Shot and framed well enough, there are some interesting post color work choices going on, during some of the sequences that really... well, look rather cool. Intentional or accidental, it doesn't really matter. The devil is in the details no? I'll be damned if I didn't see a lot of green screen work in some of these shots. I think, but I'm not totally sure. It's really hard to tell with this movie. So why did I even bring it up? Because the places where these strange shots do exist, put off just enough weirdness to make said scenes feel strange and wrong. Something you can't quite put your finger on. For whatever reason, this really enhanced the overall experience. The cast themselves? Some really nice work. Of particular note, Lucifer had a evangelistic quality that made him totally believable. I really have no complaints about the acting here. None at all. What about the pacing you ask? Done just right. This is a really short film, but it's "the edit" that allows it to fly through it's length. Things feel in the proper place and almost every shot serves a purpose. To push the story forward. The use of a background score is done tastefully, never overpowering the onscreen action and generally speaking, this is a very well rounded indie film. So what's in it for me? That's something you may be asking right around this time. Why should I spend my hard earned ten minutes watching this flick? Put simply... why not? If you're looking for some unusual entertainment, you really can't go wrong. Especially if you're into religious, spiritual movies. If that's the case, you really, really can't go wrong. If this genre is not your cup of tea? Still easily an entertaining short film. For anyone. No question. -JT
