PopHorror Let's Get Scared
For 2018’s Boston Underground Film Festival, Alt Horror has offered up Chickens, a 12 minute short sure to fire up even the most level-headed film buff. It doesn’t matter where you stand on the matter of how the police deal with the black community. Chickens will leave you agitated, frustrated and uncomfortable.
Synopsis:
In the fashion of horror satire, Two LAPD cops try to cover up a situation after killing an unarmed black teen. But things don’t go as planned.
Chickens was written and directed by Bryian Keith Montgomery, Jr. (Lori Sheedy, F*** You 2015) and produced by Sam “Vinal Soft Drinks” Vinal (Berta Didn’t Die, She Multiplied! 2017). Choice Skinner (Black Lightning: Tobias’s Revenge 2017), Porchia (Hollywood Horrors 2017), Jarrell Pyro Johnson (Rideshare 2018), Amelia Hensley (Reverse Polarity 2018), Chris Sackey (Welcome to the Night 2017), Brian Ramian (Dahmer vs. Gacy 2010), John Shenoda (Broken 2017), Adrian Coles (Once More 2016), Yamil Osuna (The Boatman 2015), William J. Beaumont (We All Fall Down 2015) and newcomers Damon T. Davis, Dan Pickens, Lamont Miller, and Jai’Lyn Spivey all star in the 12 minute short, while Red Sparrow’s Daniel Ciurlizza composed the score.
The short begins in a Philadelphia pizzaria with two white cops standing over the body of a black teen (Sackey), obviously shot by one of their own bullets. A deaf cashier (Hensley) and a terrified couple, Darryl (Coles) and Angie (Spivey), witness the whole thing. Darryl demands to know what the cops plan to do next. Officer Hobbs (Beaumont) is visibly shaken, but the cool, calm Officer Marty O’Shea (Ramian) thinks he has the answer to all their problems. Unfortunately for them, social media and a 911 Dispatcher (Skinner) become their bloody and very well deserved downfall.
Chickens is described as a satire, a genre with roots grounded in humor and irony. Although I can see the comedy in the short – a comedy as black as pitch – I can also see the anger and resentment and fear that drove the filmmakers to create a short like this. The horror genre is full of some horrible and terrifying things, but nothing in fiction can even compare to the real life horror that some people are forced to face on a day to day basis. It’s been a very long time since I have been this excited to see the end of such a despicable character.
Regarding the creation of Chickens, Writer/Director Bryian Keith Montgomery, Jr. had this to say:
“Here’s a piece that’s incredibly close to me. As an African American male in my teens I had a sharp fear of the police rooted from my surroundings. It’s always been a question for me, why do those who govern think they’re God? These questions of superiority and racism led to thoughts that created farce and satire…. Then came the creation of Chickens, a short film about the horrors of police brutality.”
Final Thoughts
Chickens is a gut-wrenching yet satisfying entry in the 2018 Boston Underground Film Festival. It will get your blood boiling, but the climax of the film is satisfying to the nth degree. Chickens screened on March 21 at this year’s Boston Underground Film Festival. Did you happen to catch it? What did you think? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!
