Violets Bloom at an Empty Grave & The World of Shadows Reviews from Filmiracle Productions!

Okay, so I’m shocked. How can a bloke from the USA make a handful of short films ‘Italian Style’ and almost out Italian the Italians? In fact, how can his films feel so Euro altogether? I felt as if I was watching some late ‘80s Fulci, the tranquil beauty of Jean Rollin at his peak, and even a slice of Paul Naschy.

It’s the style of the cameras, the dress sense, the lighting, and above all, the Italian music (Fabio Frizzi). To add to such authentic camouflage, we are treated in both of these shorts to the voices of Italian actor, Franco Garofalo, the legend I interviewed not so long ago (read the interview with Franco Garofalo here) and little Freudstein herself, Silvia Collatini! I suppose none of this would matter if it wasn’t the fact that director Chris Milewski is a fanboy frikkin genius! His adoration of the classic genre really shows and he needs to be noticed soon, or at least be able to release most of his films on a compendium DVD for a wider audience, under all of his different names which are made to read as Italian on the credits. Awesome. The letterings are brilliant as well; they are made to look like old Italian ‘80s!

Violets Bloom at an Empty Grave, like a majority of his works, has a dreamlike quality, aided by blue tones and a soundtrack by the great, Fabio (Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Psychic, Blastfighter) Frizzi as heavy atmospheric scenes of an aged cemetery are shown to us. Then we’re on to a girl, Karen, looking like she stepped straight out of the seventies and she’s departing a train. A catchy tune plays: “Time, is a very strange fellow. You feel you’re the boss, but he’s always your master…” and so on. Inspired by Ray Davies and his masterpiece, Return to Waterloo? That’s a long shot, however it feels almost identical in presentation. It would be nice if that had acted as a seed.

Onwards, she strolls as the wind blows. She crosses the graveyard and pauses upon seeing something in the grass. Whatever it is, we see soon she has one as well. Arriving at a large ominous old house, she reads a letter from her brother, Peter. We hear his voice (Franco) narrating the contents as he welcomes her home and stresses how much he has missed her.

The edifice is a mass of traditional old house contents, stuffed animals and creepy paintings, the standard stuff. Resting, she hears Peter’s voice from afar so she goes to investigate. Karen hallucinates attack via stuffed bird and injury. Seeing something is missing, she heads off into the graveyard to face her truths and the nifty, but not too unexpected twist conclusion.

The World of Shadows is shorter but does not suffer for it. This time we have a neat harmonica to introduce us as the man himself, Chris Milewski, sits at a table reading a contract. Once again, Franco is on hand to narrate his thoughts. He lives in a funeral home, and nearby is the template cemetery. As the music pulses electronic, and the voice becomes rather distressed, he says; “What’s this? This is not what I wanted! Why have I been condemned to this existence?” The man curses what he has become and decided something needs to be changed…

Two doomed souls in two low key haunting short films whom both share a similar fate to each other. As basic as The World of Shadows appears, if you like the world of movies Chris is imitating, that is the one which will stay with you longer after the credits.

For all the names in the credits, a majority of personnel are but one man, Chris Milewski. I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed anything in my life and used one fella’s name so much within! Who? Chris Milewski. I can chant his title like a mantra now!

I’ve watched all of Chris Milewski’s (!!!!) short movies, under all of his pseudonyms, and the others range from the quirky and simple, The Ghosts of Eden Hall, to the weird experimental Marmite, Help Me Have No Human Ways & Welcome to the World Dear Child. (Hi, Mr. Camera Man in the bauble ala, The Cold Eyes of Death). I chose these two because, in my humble opinion, they, along with, The Cold Eyes of Death, are Chris Milewski’s cream of the crop and a great place to begin the excursion. All are available in crispy quality on YouTube.