From the internet series World of Death comes Sean Richard Budde’s Machine Baby. A paparazzi photographer finds himself in over his head after investigating strange sound coming from the basement of a mysterious home.
The problem with Machine Baby is its parts just don’t work together organically. The short starts with a warning to those who are photo-sensitive and susceptible to seizures. The opening strobe effect is strong. It’s intolerably strong. Other than being a cool effect and opener, it really has nothing to do with the film overall.
“…the film’s tentpole scenes are strange but tame.”
While spying on a home of some kind of interest, a reporter is distracted by another house. He is distracted by the sounds of a woman’s sexual or torturous moans. Caught snooping by the home’s owner, the reporter is warned to leave and never return.
Of course, the reporter returns the next night only to find himself bound in said basement. Without getting into the ultimate demise of the reporter, I’ll leave you with these three things: gasoline, childbirth, and a beauty pageant.
Sometimes I think horror films are simply a series of horrifying images strung together by a loose plot. There’s nothing wrong with this, but those images have to be horrifying. The quality of those images must compensate what a filmmaker sacrifices in lack of story. Machine Baby just isn’t able to meet that standard. Unfortunately, the film’s tentpole scenes are strange but tame.
The best part of Machine Baby is the ending credits. I don’t want to overstate this, it’s a fun sequence, and you do have to watch the film in its entirety for context.
Machine Baby (2017) directed by Sean Richard Budde. Starring Sean McGill, Allie Long, and Christian Grey.
2 out of 5 stars
