Into the Mud (Short)
When the filmmaker states that the worst film you’ve ever seen, “I Spit on Your Grave,” is one of the influences for his film, you have to watch it, right? Writer/director Pablo Pastor also referenced “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Evil Dead,” but it was the “Grave” influence that had me curious to see his 10-minute short, “Into the Mud.” From the poster for the film, of a naked woman alone in the woods, you see the point of reference immediately, but that’s not quite the direction the film goes, and it’s better for it. The first shot of the film is the same as that poster- a naked woman (María Forqué) in the woods. She looks as though she may have been physically or sexually assaulted, but we don’t know for sure. What we do know is a grizzled man with a gun (Ramón G. del Pomar) is guarding her, and will chase her when she runs away. From this simple set up, Pastor creates a chase thriller that ends up in a place you don’t expect, but is a satisfying conclusion consistent to Pastor’s stated references for the film. This is fast and furious exploitation filmmaking, and it’s effective at doing what it wants to do. It’s worth watching, if you’re in to that type of thing.
