Rising director Naeem Mahmood impressed and found an audience with his British Urban Drama, ‘Brash Young Turks’ in 2016.
Rising director Naeem Mahmood impressed and found an audience with his British Urban Drama, ‘Brash Young Turks’ in 2016. The British Urban Film Festival took notice that a low budget film no matter how low can go far. The film taught uprising film students that anything is possible, providing commitment, resilience and perseverance can get your dream projects made. Now, Mahmood has come back with a 25 minute horror short film and the more, people will take notice. The short film festivals will welcome ‘In2ruders’ because it will satisfy its audience with tension, torture, and violence. Most importantly, the short horror film has a visual style that is well admired as we’ve seen this style of filmmaking with other A-list directors.
When a rising twin sister pop duo refuses to sign to a powerful record label, their lives take a dark turn. The word ‘dark’ is an understatement; it’s more horrific which will wet the palate for horror lovers. Let it be stated that all directors should be influenced from the best and if Mahmood has been influenced, any film buff can see that. The traits of Nicolas Winding Refn are present, with his combination of dark and neon lights add to the charm of ‘In2ruders.’ There is stillness in Mahmood’s camera angles when true tension is amidst in the plot. This will grip the audience’s attention. Moreover, there are aspects of David Lynch’s style of filmmaking in where ‘In2ruders’ can be surreal, which will challenge its audience due to its ambiguity. Once again, these are all positive traits.
One can compare the villains of ‘In2ruders’ to the antagonists in David Lynch films, such as ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Wild at Heart.’ Actress and model, Caprice Bourret is pivotal to the film and has a strong presence. She proves in ‘In2ruders’ that she is more than a celebrity ‘It/calendar girl.’ Her callous character of Ravana Serpentine, a record label owner is bitchy, tyrannical and meets Mahmood all the way in his requirements for the villainous character. She will be a character that the audience will love to hate.
The Bloom Twins are the leading ladies of the film and truly look the part. Their characters of Lumi and Narti are obviously, identical, beautiful and contrasting in character. To see one reluctant and one submissive in signing a contract, brings tension in the film. Their disagreement will erupt in violence and torture, that one could compare these scenes to Tarantinoesque stylised violence. This is the Bloom Twins first film and can only be the doors to more film projects due to their double impact. Overall their characters have shown that singers are exploited and a slave to the music industry once a contract is signed. This is obviously something that occurs in reality and this film raises this subject matter perfectly. What can the music industry do to protect the talent rather than exploit them?
Furthermore, 80’s ‘Spandau Ballet’ pop star Tony Hadley plays Crooner. His character is effective and dreamlike as he sings a famous surreal song whilst a graphic torture scene takes place. Once again, this can be akin to elements of David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ which comes across as very powerful and shocking. The fact that this style of filmmaking is visible in ‘In2ruders’ can only do the film more justice. Overall, the soundtrack of ‘Duran Duran’s’ keyboard player Nick Rhodes provides an original score for the film.
It’s catchy, captivating and very appropriate for the style of film that Mahmood wants to deliver. Rhodes sets the tone to the film perfectly, that he should continue to provide film scores regularly as his synthesizer sounds intriguing, especially for Nicolas Winding Refn style of films. Overall, ‘In2ruders’ is an excellent short film that must be watched. Think ‘The Neon Demon’ meets ‘Blue Velvet’ with a tinge of ‘Twin Peaks.’ What’s wrong with that?
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