February 24, 2018 will mark the official world premiere of Killing Giggles, the latest short film from award-winning writer/director Jaysen P. Buterin (The Gospel According to Booze, Bullets, and Hot Pink Jesus, Between Hell and a Hard Place, The Corner). Nerd Nation Magazine was granted an early press screening copy courtesy of Mad Ones Films.
Killing Giggles tells the story of Tommy dos Santos (Michael Ray Williams of Knob Goblins, Between Hell and a Hard Place), a disturbed young man with a massive hatred of clowns who has embarked on a mission to rid the world of the thing he hates most by, you guessed it, killing them. The film opens with a voice-over narration from dos Santos, explaining to the audience that he “wasn’t born a psychopath, nor was he made into a sociopath” as he, dressed in drag, strangles a particularly kooky looking clown on a bed, continuing his narration as he cleans up and makes his exit from the murder scene.
Worth noting is that this short film, which clocks in at just under 6 minutes, was intended as a “proof of concept” for the upcoming full-length feature Kill Giggles, which is slated for release in 2018. When taking this into consideration, this film absolutely delivers, offering viewers just enough to pique their interest, without really giving them much of anything. With most of the cast and crew slated to return for the full-length feature, it also serves as a very good commercial for their talents, particularly on the cinematic/technical side of things.
The 2018 MystiCon Independent Film Festival in Roanoke, Virginia will serve as the host for the short’s aforementioned world premiere, with several other festival screenings already announced for the months to follow. This is a particularly good sign for all involved, as it will no doubt find the audiences and interest for the upcoming feature.
The Bottom Line:
Overall, while Killing Giggles is only a proof-of-concept short (and I do mean short at only 6 minutes) film, it still manages to deliver and create interest in its eventual full-length successor. While it just doesn’t offer quite enough in terms of story, progression, or, well, anything really in its short run-time, it does do just enough to serve as a nice commercial, which honestly is all it ever really needed to do. Could they have given us a little bit more with this one? Absolutely. However, it doesn’t seem like anything more than a tease was ever intended here, so it’s quite difficult to criticize. Think of it as a very extended trailer for the eventual full-length movie, and enjoy it for what it is. Just don’t go into this one expecting it to be anything more. Either way, this definitely promises more good things to come from Mad Ones Films. – 7.0/10
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-Dave Harlequin
Editor/Staff Writer: Nerd Nation Magazine
@DaveHarlequin
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