"Death In Charge" Review - Written by Anthony Thurber

Death In Charge
Year: 2008
Director: Devi Snively
Stars: Marina Benedict, Kylie Chalia, Gillian Shure
Studio: Deviant Pictures
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 15 Mins
Official Website: http://www.deathincharge.com/

“Death is Charge” is a very entertaining short film that has played in such festivals, such as the 2008 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival and the 2008 Palm Springs Shortfest. The film was created, in conjunction with the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.

“Death in Charge, is about a grim reaper, who is mistaken for a babysitter and has to take of a nine-year-old girl, while her mother goes out for the night. Soon, the girl teaches her things that she has never experience, like playing video games, making macaroni and cheese, and the magic of sea munkees. The girl, then reveals some dark thoughts of her own and it’s up the reaper to make sure she does carry out those thoughts before the young girl does something that she regrets.

“Death in Charge” is a very dark and charming short. Writer /Director Devi Snively did a very good job with her direction. The film was entertaining, while being humorous and twisted. One of the things that was done well was Snively’s ability to the make the dark material that she written and the ability to direct this material. Snively’s direction was dead on, especially with the development of the bond between the little girl and death. I was sold on the chemistry between the two actresses, as it made this film very charming to see the relationship develop. Those scenes, in which the two are in, helps make this a very good film.

What also made this short very entertaining was the fact the Snively’s story was original and the fact that the characters were very good. One of the reasons’s for that was that they story focuses on a lot of issues like parenting, violent video games and the need to be loved. Also, the character development was very good. I thought, the development of the relationship between the girl and the reaper was very heartwarming. It was done that way, because she doesn’t try to scare you with this film. What Snively does is to make the relationship, as charming as possible. She does that, by focuses on the reaper’s experiences babysitting the young girl. Snively makes that character experience things like someone, who is experiencing it for the first time. It helps make the character likeable, even though, the character is supposed to be dark. This film also gets very dark when it begins to focus the relationship between the young girl and her mother, near the end of the film. I liked how she handles that. It’s an examination on society today with single parenting, the violence in the media, and the fact that a child can easily access a weapon, because of the parent’s stupidity of leaving it in a place where someone could have easy access. It’s issues like that makes the story demented and shocking, as well.

Death is Charge is a short that needs to seen, as it’s very dark but also heartwarming short that you will appreciate.

Review Rating: 5 Stars

Upcoming Screenings:


Sun. Dec 21st. 7PM. I-75 Film Series Mcgeady’s Town Pub Theater, Monroe, MI