Jack Attack (film)

Jack Attack is a 2013 American short holiday horror film about a babysitter (Helen Rogers), her charge Jack (Tyler Rossell), and parasitic pumpkins, written and directed by Bryan Norton and Antonio Padovan, who were also responsible, respectively, for special make-up and mechanical effects, and set design. The short was selected by more than a hundred festivals internationally and won more than thirty awards, and was selected for two anthology films in the US: Seven Hells (2014), and All Hallows' Eve 2 (2015).[1][2]

Jack Attack
Film poster
Directed byBryan Norton &
Antonio Padovan
Produced by
Written byBryan Norton &
Antonio Padovan
Starring
  • Helen Rogers
  • Tyler Rossell
Music byMarco Werba
CinematographyGordon Yu
Edited byMike Maclean
Production
company
Brickwall Productions
Distributed by
Release date
  • July 18, 2013 (2013-07-18) (Fantasia)
Running time
>9 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

On Hallowe'en night, in a West Village townhouse, babysitter Elizabeth carves a Jack O'Lantern out of a pumpkin with the help of Jack, the boy she is looking after, his terrier Oscar barking and watching excitedly. She is vexed because her boyfriend Elliott is running late. The job done, she puts the seeds on a tray and cooks them in the oven. After, all three of them eat a few seeds, when Jack begins to choke. Elizabeth tries to perform the Heimlich maneuver but fails and the boy passes out. Not knowing what else to do, she takes a knife and attempts to perform a tracheotomy so he can breathe. Blood spurts when she cuts a hole in his neck, and she notices something that may be the seed and attempts to dig it out with the knife; it turns out to be a long vine. Jack's abdomen swells underneath his shirt and explodes. Horrified, Elizabeth notices her own belly beginning to swell. Using the knife, she cuts across it in the manner of a Caesarean section, and pumpkins and thick vines explode from her body, and her head slumps down. Oscar whines. Outside, Elliott finally arrives and enters the townhouse. He is heard calling for her briefly, and vines are seen creeping quickly within across the windows.

Cast
  • Helen Rogers as Elizabeth
  • Tyler Rossell as Jack
  • Brazen (dog) as Oscar
  • Steven Anderson Jr. as Elliott

Production

Background and inspiration

Bryan Norton had been Antonio Padovan's directing teacher at the New York Film Academy,[3] where Padovan directed his first two short films, Socks and Cakes and his student thesis, Perry St..[4] Norton was now the Academy's Chairperson.[5] They decided to use Norton's access to equipment and crew to their advantage. Padovan said: "We've always talked about making a movie based in the West Village in fall ... Because it photographs very well".[3] After toying with a few unfeasible ideas, Norton jokingly said: "We could even make a movie just about a pumpkin ... And we came up with this idea."[3]

Writing and casting

Norton and Padovan were admirers of Helen Rogers' work in V/H/S; the segment "The Sick Thing" led them to reconceive Jack Attack's lead role. Originally, the central characters were imagined as a mother and son, with the former part to be cast with an age-appropriate genre favorite, as Norton explained:

It was going to be written for someone I grew up with as a horror fan ... Kristy Swanson, Angela Bettis, Catherine Mary Stewart, who's an old friend; we looked at so many people. Then we saw V/H/S and were like, "Let's write it for a babysitter."[3]

Filming

Jack Attack was filmed on location in the West Village and on a soundstage at Rollin Studios in Brooklyn.[3]

Release

Jack Attack premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival, where it was paired with The Conjuring on opening night (18 July 2013).[6] It was selected by more than a hundred festivals internationally, including Milan, Sitges, Fantafestival, Melbourne, Fantastic Fest, and the New York City Horror Film Festival.[1][2][7] At the Calgary Underground Film Festival, the short was paired with Drew Bolduc's Science Team (2014).[8] In Los Angeles, the film was shown at Mann's Chinese Theatre.[1]

Anthology films

The short has since achieved a wider release as part of two anthology films in the US:[1] Seven Hells (Gateway Films, Best of Fest, and Hands Off Productions), made up of seven award-winning horror and dark comedy shorts,[9] was released in theaters "just in time for Halloween", in October 2014.[10] All Hallows’ Eve 2, nominally a sequel to All Hallows' Eve, is also a standalone film from Ruthless Pictures containing nine story segments.[11] Jack Attack is the first segment.[12]

Home media and streaming

The film is available in its entirety on Vimeo.

All Hallows' Eve 2 was released in VOD and digital formats on October 6, 2015, and had a DVD release on February 2, 2016.[13][14] A DVD featuring both All Hallows' Eve and the "sequel" as a "Halloween double feature" was released on September 13, 2016.[15]

Reception

Critical response

Thomas M. Sipos said Jack Attack is a "one-note film", but it deserved its award at Shriekfest, appreciating "Gordon Yu's beautiful, golden-hued cinematography".[16] Richard Whittaker of the Austin Chronicle called Jack Attack "ghoulishly entertaining",[17] while Jo Satana called it "punchy and strangely whimsical".[6] A Canadian reviewer agreed, noting the "genuinely sweet interactions between Elizabeth and Jack, with both actors giving good, believable performances" which are "almost heartwarming", elements which are daring and "quite effective" in a horror film:

There are times when Jack Attack goes into some pretty gruesome and even frightening places, but it's not done in a mean-spirited fashion. In fact, Jack Attack blends a tasty mix of horror and fun, which is really the perfect recipe for capturing the spirit of Halloween. ... Jack Attack features an impressively high level of production value, which is matched by great sound design and gruesomely satisfying special effects.[18]

A Screen Anarchy reviewer suggested the film was "the perfect morsel to whet the appetite of a festival audience before a feature presentation", saying the directors "employ a slow burn", the small cast forming a "nuanced trio in order to twist the knife a bit further".[19]

Selected accolades

Jack Attack is said to have won more than thirty awards or honors,[1] including but not limited to the following:

Awards


Special mention
Nominations

In 2014, Norton said he was writing a feature-length film that would incorporate Jack Attack as a subplot, "but basically will be Greenwich Village in New York City on one crazy Halloween night."[5]

References
  1. "Antonio Padovan". Scare LA. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. "Cast". fincheceprosecco.it (in Italian). The Last Prosecco (official website). Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  3. Gingold, Michael (January 3, 2013). "Halloween Horrors With "JACK ATTACK"". Fangoria. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  4. "Writer / Director Antonio Padovan". Thompson Communications. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. Gossett, Denise (interviewer). "This month Festival Director Denise Gossett spoke with Bryan Norton, director of 2006's Best Short Film "Penny Dreadful" and 2013's Best Super Short Film "Jack Attack"!". Shriekfest. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  6. Satana, Jo. "Fantasia Film Festival 2013: A Tender Rump for a Firm Opening (Day 1)". Destroy the Brain. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  7. Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra. "Eveless". Monster Fest. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. Eleventh Calgary Underground Film Festial: festival guide (PDF). Calgary: [Calgary Underground Film Festival]. 2014. p. 32. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  9. "Seven Hells". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  10. "Seven Hells - A Feature Horror Collection (Teaser)". YouTube. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. "Review: ALL HALLOWS' EVE 2 Needs More Evil Clown". Screen Anarchy. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  12. Wilson, Mike. "[Review] 'All Hallow's Eve 2' Lags Behind Other Anthologies". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  13. "'All Hallows' Eve 2' Trailer and Stills Give Tricks and Treats! - Bloody Disgusting". bloody-disgusting.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  14. Juvinall, Michael. "All Hallows' Eve 2 (2015) Review". Horror Society. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  15. "All Hallows' Eve / All Hallows' Eve 2 Double Feature". Amazon. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  16. Sipos, Thomas M. "SHRIEKFEST 2013 SHORT FILM REVEWS". Hollywood Investigator. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  17. Whittaker, Richard (February 7, 2006). "DVDanger: Hellions". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  18. "Short Film Review: Jack Attack". www.horror-movies.ca. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  19. K, Peter. "Fantasia 2013: JACK ATTACK Whets The Horror Comedy Appetite In 8 Minutes". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  20. Rosser, Michael (August 8, 2013). "Fantasia win for Big Bad Wolves". Screen Daily. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  21. James, Jonathan. "Fantasia 2013 Award Winners Include Big Bad Wolves, Curse of Chucky". Daily Dead. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  22. Miska, Brad. "Movies [Fantasia '13] 'Curse of Chucky' Wins Audience Award; 'Big Bad Wolves' For Best Film!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  23. "2013 Shriekfest Winners". Shriekfest. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  24. "Palmarès des courts-métrages en compétition bloody week-end 2013". science-fiction-fantastique.com (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  25. "Jack Attack". Magnet Film. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  26. "Official 2013 Claw Award Winners and Nominees" (PDF). Terror Film Festival. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  27. "Jack Attack". fashionlove-974.skyrock.com (in French). Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  28. "Euthanas Inc. Competes At MIFF of Milan". The House of Films. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
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