"Treevenge" Review - Written by Anthony Thurber

Treevenge
Year: 2008
Director: Jason Eisener
Studio: YerDead Productions
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 15 Mins
Official Website: http://www.treevenge.com/





If you thought “Splatter Disco” was the only Christmas themed horror film that I could come with, this year, I was sadly mistaken. There is another film that has the holiday theme and fits into the Christmas season, very well. The film that I’m talking about is Treevenge. This film could also be called, “Attack of the Killer Christmas Trees”, as that’s what I thought at the end of this short. The film has won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, New York City Horror Film Fest and Toronto After Dark Film Festival and will be playing at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in January.

“Treevenge” is the latest creation from the guys who came out last year during around the time that “Grindhouse” came out with the notorious grindhouse faux trailer “Hobo With a Shotgun”, which won the SXSW Grindhouse Trailer Cut contest, last year, in conjunction with Quentin Taratino and Robert Rodriquez’s “Grindhouse”. The film is about, the experiences and lives of the Christmas trees. After being chopped down to be sold and shipped from their homes, they aren’t happy being used for display purposes. This Christmas will be definitely be different, as the trees will fight back and try to end civilization and the Chirstmas hoiliday, as we know it.

‘Treevenge” is a holiday filled gorefest that’s so demented you’ll be shocked. The direction of this film has the same grindhouse type feel that made “Hobo with a Shotgun"faux trailer very entertaining and earned cult like status on myspace. I liked how, director Jason Eisener goes for that vibe again, with this project. It help makes this film very odd, from most films that I usually see, especially when you have trees talking with subtitles. I’m not kidding. The pace of the action was good, as Eisener (who’s also the editor) does a good job editing; as the action doesn’t take away the film’s story. He also makes the violence very gory. The gory effects were very good, as there were a couple of very graphic images that were gruesome to watch, as he replicates the violence that was seen in his previous project.

Eisener and Rob Cotterill’s screenplay was good and original. The writers did a great job making the action very shocking. They did that, by making the death horrifying, as it added to the film’s shock level. There were moments that were very gruesome. Their development of the characters was solid. They do a good job developing the time between when the trees get cut in the beginning of the film to Christmas day, where this is not a Christmas to remember. They also did a good job getting the tree’s perspective oddly enough. They did that, by making their dialogue subtitled, which made more than just the typical boring B-movie monster. In that same time, the writers did a good job developing the soon to be victims. They did that to make sure that you are shocked, when the trees attack.

Treevenge will definitely make you think twice, before deciding to put up a tree, this Christmas.

Review Rating: 4 Stars

Upcoming Screenings:

2008 Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah

Sat. Jan 17th, DEADS17EL Egyptian Theater, Park City
Wed. Jan 21st, DEADS21DN Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction
Fri. Jan 23rd, DEADS23EL Egyptian Theater, Park City
Sat. Jan 24th, DEADS24BN Broadway Centre Cinemas IV, SLC