FGBFF 2018: What Metal Girls Are Into (2017) Short Film Review

One of the perks of growing up with a Metalhead for a brother is that I honestly can’t remember a time when metal wasn’t part of my life. I grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne and Guns & Roses, among others, and my taste in metal grew heavier as I grew up. For me, metal and horror is a match made in Hell, so when I saw What Metal Girls Are Into on the list of films I could review for the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, it was a no brainer that  I would pick it.

What Metal Girls Are Into is a horror comedy short film from writer/director Laurel Vail. The film stars Vail, Chelsea Blechman, Karina Assad, Matt Mercer, Torrey Drake, Aaron Leddick, Mark Assad, Brandon Shypkowski, and Emory LaserWolf.

The film’s synopsis:

Three women going to a three day metal festival in the desert find something disturbing in the freezer of their isolated vacation rental.

So, say you were on vacation and you discovered a severed limb in the freezer of your rental property. What would you do? Would you call the police and have your trip ruined? Or would you just ignore it and enjoy your vacation? That, in a nutshell, is the premise of What Metal Girls Are Into and this short is a blast. The film features references to several horror films that came before it, with one of the funniest being a reference to Silence of the Lambs which had me genuinely laughing out loud. The three likable albeit leads (Laurel Vail, Chelsea Blechman, Karina Assad) do a great job carrying the film. Matt Mercer and Torrey Drake play suitably menacing yet slightly inept villains. The film moves at a steady pace, features some hilarious bits, some satisfying kills and even a message to all of the Can’t Take No For An Answer Douche Canoes. Highly recommended.

About Charlie Cargile

Central Illinois based film journalist. Lover of cinema of all varieties but in love with films with an independent spirit. Elder Emo. Cat Dad. Metalhead.

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