Directed
by: Casey Crow
Written by: Casey Crow, S.M. Hastings
Produced by: Casey Crow, James Nicholls, Lance Hunter
Voorhees
Cinematography by: Anthony Gutierrez
Music by: Gene Crow, Pat Murphy, The Cimarron Cowboys
Cast: Matthew Aycock, Matt Willis
Year: 2010
Country: USA
Language:
Color: Color
Runtime: 11min
Studio: Zallerquad Films
Klagger
is a nice little horror short courtesy of Casey Crow. It’s
simple, atmospheric, scary and to the point and that's one of
the reasons why I like it. It’s effective in using a limited
runtime, limited actors and possibly limited budget to tell a
clean and concise horror yarn. I enjoy it more every time I
watch it and am looking forward to the full length feature which
is said to be being made in the near future.
Klagger
is effective in keeping it simple. It definitely applies the
KISS rule to the fullest extent. At the same time, the story is
textured with great atmospheric chills and a couple of nice jump
scares involving loud abrasive noises and quick cuts. I love
that intro song by Pat Murphy, which is almost reminiscent of
the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My only worry
of making it a full feature would be that the inevitable would
happen, long running time stretching out a basic storyline too
thin, but let’s not jump ahead here and be sceptical just yet.
Hobo with a Shotgun turned into a far superior feature
length film than its gritty little short did and with better
actors brought on board. Turbo Kid is probably the best
example of a short film turned into a rather amazing full length
feature film and probably one of my favorites of 2015/2016.
Another great example is the gorefest Headless, which was
only a short concept within the movie Found and it was an
incredible visceral experience. Let’s give Klagger a
chance as I'm sure it has much more in store for us with a
bigger budget and run time.
The only department I see Klagger lacking in is possibly
originality. Old haunted factory, creaky sounds, guy who worked
there died years ago, spirit comes back, haunts the factory and
kills anyone who trespasses. Yes, this sounds cool but it sounds
similar to a lot of haunted stories in the past, but fortunately
it works using this simple formula and most importantly it isn't
boring and keeps up that great pace.
With a limited cast it’s hard to get that story across but in
this it’s done brilliantly with the old factory itself. The old
newspaper clippings on the wall, the mysterious music coming out
of the loudspeaker, the ominous voices chanting, the creepy
sounds illuminating out of every inch of the place. The factory
becomes the most important role in the movie and thus becomes
the most interesting character. The old place is rich with dark
rusty beams, clinking chains, musty air looming all around and
busted out windows. It has old dilapidated water boilers waiting
to start at a moment’s notice, ever so sinister and dead only to
be brought back by the restlessness of a soul within a life that
was taken there. Through all of this we learn of the man Joseph
Klagger played by Matt Willis.
The story of Klagger has a building inspector of a
salvage company played by Matthew Aycock coming to lay down the
specs to have an old factory demolished. Aycock starts looking
around to gather his information and can't help but feel he's
been here before. He notices clippings on a bulletin board about
a factory worker dying which shut down the establishment. As he
walks through, we get the haunted house treatment with all the
eerie sounds of the surroundings. Finally, Aycock stumbles right
into a twisted dark figure with a crumbling face wielding a
giant pipe wrench and not looking happy to see Aycock's
character invading his territory.
Klagger
is a great little short. I recommend checking it out and I look
forward to Casey Crow's full length Klagger film and wish
him nothing but the best. Klagger could turn into quite
the horror icon, especially with his nifty little dance at the
end. Become a friend of the villain Joseph Klagger on Facebook.