Written By: Ryan Dailey
Nate Thompson (Cult Leader, Record of the Dead) and his crew have done what Hollywood could not do or has not been able to do in almost a decade, and that is tell a compelling, well- filmed story. Not only does the crew accomplish this feat, but they do it in five minutes.
People of the Dead is a short film on the YouTube channel Nate Thompson Video and five minutes is just a tease.
This short is nothing but five minutes of well crafted tension, brilliantly filmed and constructed shots. This short film should be requisite viewing for all of those armchair filmmakers out there in the Horror Nation.
Everything fires on all cylinders. The actors, both alive and “dead” deliver performances that are on par with the “trained,” overpaid thespians over there in the Weird West. Everything just works in this short. From set design to lighting to direction to everything in between. Take note, Horror Nation.
People of the Dead was filmed at the Michigan Museum of Horror and features an actual human skull on screen. Not only is this an interesting factoid about the film, but it circles back to the reviews of Nate’s previous work, in that this crew are committed to the craft as well as a love for the genre. The Horror Nation needs filmmakers like this. Our favorite genre has drifted over to “elevated” horror or reboots or remakes that check off diversity check boxes and/or pushes identity politics. Films like those Mister Thompson and his crew put out into the world are brief, shining rays of light that break through the clouds of mundane storytelling and modern cancel culture.