CLEARWATER (2020)
People are freaking out about THE SADNESS, the new Taiwanese horror movie playing at Locarno International Film Festival and Fantasia Festival this year. And with good reason—Rob Jabbaz’s film is a brilliant transgressive piece of visceral id made in the time of the pandemic and it is wild in all the best ways (review coming very soon to this site). THE SADNESS will start playing a few other genre film festivals (including Fantastic Fest) before Raven Banner begins distributing the future horror staple around the world.
But, while folks wait for that slice of bloody insanity to come their way, here’s the short film that writer/director Jabbaz did before THE SADNESS. The 2020 short CLEARWATER is a simple 6-minute tale of a woman (Joan LoLuo) going into nature to enjoy the sun who gets bitten by a mosquito…which leads to a development that no one could predict.
While folks wait for that slice of bloody insanity to come their way, here’s the short film that writer/director Jabbaz did before THE SADNESS. The 2020 short CLEARWATER is a simple 6-minute tale of a woman (Joan LoLuo) going into nature to enjoy the sun who gets bitten by a mosquito…which leads to a development that no one could predict.
CLEARWATER is both nothing like Jabbaz’s splatterpunk festival fave but also kind of akin to it. The short utilizes a lot of CGI (animated/overseen by Jabbaz) in its brief runtime and it doesn’t have much in the way of shocking actions or imagery.
But…there is a fascination with biology and with isolation that’s in both works; not to mention that CLEARWATER and THE SADNESS are extensions of familiar tropes/subgenres in horror films, but it’s the approach that makes them standout.
I would never have been able to connect the dots between the two movies, even with the thematic ties. But there is still a nice bit of subtly in characterization and strong design work in the shots, scenery, and some other imagery. It’s worth noting DP Benjamin Ehrenberg does impressive work with drones—normally the kiss of death on way too many indie films where suddenly the Kubrick overhead shot shows up in every. horror. movie. But (presumably), Ehrenberg uses the tech in CLEARWATER more like a modified crane or a dolly across uneven surface that would be impossible to dolly. (Or it could all be a different rig and I’m a moron) Though Ehrenberg’s involvement (a German marketing/product designer guru) does make a line in THE SADNESS more curious when a character says he has a shoot coming up with a German marketing firm. Jabbaz, you sly dog.
Nonetheless, it’s still great to see from whence people come in their ascendency. Enjoy CLEARWATER and keep an eye out for THE SADNESS (and my review).