WARNING: This short film is not for the squeamish. If you happen to be squeamish and you want to test how serious I am about my warning … well, it’s your lunch, not mine. If you think you’re not the squeamish type, then this film will seriously test you. The film is Snip, directed by Julien Zenier. It’s about … well, this is one of those films that’s probably better if you don’t know what it’s about beforehand. But, I’ll just say that it’s a difficult and brutal film and leave it at that.

Back in 2008, the Spooky Movie Film Festival sent me a copy of the film for a review, which I did. As I wrote back then, it was difficult for me to watch the entire film and, really, I didn’t watch it in full again for this post. I think of myself as a pretty stalwart person when it comes to horror movies, but this one really bothers me. But, bothers me in the good way that a good horror film should. That means it’s doing its job.

It’s a very simple, basic film, but done extremely well. The “star” of the film is its excessive gore, but that gore is sold thanks to a really convincing acting job by Zoe Berriatua. The violations he commits against his own body are solidly believable, even as outrageous as they are.

Also, the slow pacing of the film serves the subject matter well. Zenier keeps you wondering where this whole thing is going for a very long time, then concludes with an equally long, spectacular payoff. The film goes to lingering on much of nothing to lingering on sights that are extremely difficult to watch. Plus, the art direction by Cristo Aleister and cinematography by David Acereto are appropriately grimy, especially with a nice interplay of shadows and light. It all comes together for a distinctly harrowing experience.