“Oni” (2020)
By: Lance Reedinger
From the team behind the much celebrated Star Wars fan film “Dark Legacy” comes “Oni”, a modern update to the old Japanese legend. You will not pull much of the plot from this brief six-minute proof of concept short, but the visuals alone are worth a view. “Momotaro,” an ancient Japanese warrior used an ancient sword to seal the gateway to a demon world. Thousands of years later the sword falls into the hands of one of “Momotaro’s” descendant’s and the demons within attempt to escape and wreak havoc in the Western world.
This simple concept piece has the production value of an “A” list film. Director
Anthony Pietromonaco shoots a super clean short. Cinematographer Christopher Hamilton delivers stunning visuals and actor Toru Uchikado (Castlevania, Westworld) portrays the innocents and strength needed to pull off an unsuspecting warrior. The short treats the viewer to everything from a fantastic demon cloud to a stunning desert battleground. Crossing the horror genre with martial arts, filled with demons, should have even the most modest fan of either salivating for a feature. Several Asian genre films such as, “The Grudge” and “The Ring” have failed to capture the originality and depth of their original creators. From this simple, short piece, one should be hopeful that this team gets a greenlight and can finally fill the gap between Asian lore with Western cinema. Scream Score=(No score for this is a short proof of concept film, but one that should be viewed with considerable interest)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9In0EvpH0
Watch Oni here
