In The Basement

Having heard that there is a ghost in the basement of the building they hang out in that grants wishes, a group of young people make their way down what seems like a set of everlasting corridors and stairs to try and make their dreams come true. This played fairly loosely, but enjoyably with some down to earth humour and really great lighting effects at times. To give an example of the tone one of the happy go lucky characters only wanted some KFC as their wish, which was backed up by another! The sound design was fairly good although there was a technical hiccup when audio from a subsequent scene came in too early to the existing footage we were watching. I also noted some shaky camera work but from memory this was when tight spots were being covered, so not really a mark down. With the utilisation of angles the scope of the building really did feel like an infinite maze at teams, giving the film a dream-like quality. I liked that it played like a quest but do think that the final act of the film could have been a lot more satisfying.

"There's a ghost in the basement and it's gonna grant me a wish"... And so begins a sort of scary, sort of funny quest through a strange institutional basement that looks like some kind of abandoned hospital. At first the group of kids play around, fake scaring each other and being idiots with a wheelchair, until things get sinister as everyone slowly disappears. The build up could have been a bit tighter, with the tension increasing towards the climax, which unfortunately didn't feel quite scary enough. The comedy ending worked well though and the final wish was sweet. This team has some solid music chops and it was good to see them not head directly to musical, but instead focus that energy on a great score and sound design which has earned them another well-deserved nomination. And that wheelchair silhouette is primo!