Wormhole Short Film Review!

It all began late 2017 when I ventured into the wickedly unique domain of Sam Salerno with his movie, The Darkside of the Womb (see review here), then sometime later into my personal fav of his, Kiss my Ashes (see review here), which apparently nobody likes. Hey, that one was a new level of zany twisted antics. I think it’s one that may take some folks two viewings to totally get what’s going on, but anyway…

The last time I dipped my toes into the swirling eddy of madness was last September and Sam’s slightly darker beast, Death by 1000 Cuts (see review here) built around an earlier short flick he’d created. So, we’re now in 2021 and along comes a brand-new short movie, Wormhole.

My challenge with Wormhole is to construct a review around something that is less than 10-minutes in length. I’ve done things like this before on Severed Cinema but have struggled to pad it all out. Lucky for me then that Sam likes to lob a wad of crazy imagination into his babies, so this was easy.

We only have a grand cast of two for what should have been a simple tale, however, there’s a maelstrom of left and rights to your head as you proceed that you’re stood all dizzy afterwards wondering what the hell hit you. See, I have no concept, no synopsis or whatever, I’ve got the visuals and that’s it! A greater challenge!

Opening to a young chap slumbering at his desk, that is adorned by books such as Edgar Allen Poe’s The Conqueror Worm, which if you know the work, acts as a kind of loose prelude to what will take place very soon. He also has loads of notes and erotic pics scattered about. Awakened by the phone, his assumed partner is the caller. They speak a while, yet we aren’t privy to their words due to a mass of extreme noise and static mainly at his end of the line (mimes). Anyhow, after the call, her attention is drawn by something in her room, whilst we see a few of the odd items around his home.

At both ends of the film where they are, the lights flicker and, in her apartment, there is something absolutely freaky in the corner reaching out towards her. Whilst this is going on, our man discovers a being equally as freakshow in the car park. What appears to be a huge worm is protruding from the wall and blindly looking at him, using its senses. He hurries by. What it is we don’t know. An SCP perhaps? Doubtful. More alarming still, we never find out which is a gem of an ingredient.

He hurries by on his way to visit her. They make love. He vomits on her face for no reason whatsoever. It doesn’t bother her one bit, even with the big chunks. He heads home, sneaking by the sleeping worm creature – then his phone goes off…

It all seems linked to one constant or a mass of coincidences throughout. I’m not here to decipher the story, nor give opinions. Wormhole is one of those which needs watching to make your own mind up (in reality, I have no fucking idea so I won’t attempt a shot which might go totally out of control) because just maybe there isn’t a story.

Actress, Every Heart who plays our central (well, our only) lady is a Salerno veteran, having portrayed the excellent clown girl in The Darkside of the Womb, plus Dr. Brooks in Death by 1000 Cuts. She’s got a nice sized CV in the underground with titles such as Ink & Rain, Girls After Dark, and a handful of titles still being made. This girl isn’t slowing down. I can see her becoming a cult idol within the next three to five years if she continues at this rate (aye, she’s also appeared in a Jessie J. vid too). She has the skills, the intelligence to balance her performance, and the looks. Beyond the timescale I stated, Every Heart could well be sat nearby Danielle Harris signing wild and weird fan merch at conventions.

Shane Ryan (My Name Is ‘A’ by Anonymous, Amateur Porn Star Killer, Erotophonophiliac) is our solemn featured second player next to Every Heart. Shane’s mainly a director/producer but turns out some acting jobs in-between his day job. He comes over like a total pro, not over-the-top. Even in the over-the-top moments, he does his job and achieves a balanced level for a character facing total absurdity.

I adore the lighting. It’s so moody and bridges that Argento circa the ‘70s with a modern take on psychedelic glimmerings. Sam has accomplished something that many try to imitate but fail badly because the style isn’t needed but exists, thus isn’t forced into our faces for acceptance.

Sam Salerno offers a very mature vision from his usual cannon (apart from Death by 1000 Cuts) and probably means his progression will grow more and more solid as the years go by. And the effects by George Mylonas are wonderful. They are a pure nightmare to behold. I was rather stunned to find out that he’s still a newbie to the field. Man, he builds terrors like a total leviathan of the FX world!

All in all, Wormhole is worth a plunge down and you never know, like Death by 1000 Cuts it may find life as a lengthier film at a later date.