Kitchen Sink (1989)

hyped garbage

Fresh and Exciting

As Good As It Gets

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

"Kitchen Sink" is a black-and-white horror short film from 1989, so this one will soon be 30 years old. The writer and director is Alison Maclean, a Canadian filmmaker still active in the industry today and she was 30 when she made this one here, one of her most known works still. The two male actors also still act. Oh well what can be said about these 13.5 minutes. It's atmospheric, but that's almost the only positive aspect. And you don't need to understand English to watch it as there is no dialogue in here. I thought it started off nicely, but the longer it went the more it began to drag. Maybe I could have given it a thumbs-up at half the runtime, but at over 10 minutes I think there were several uninteresting scenes and moments in here and it also takes away a whole lot of the scare factor. That's why, overall, I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended unless you really really love horror films. I was neither scared nor entertained. The best thing about it? It reminds you to clean your sink.

I just happened to see this as I was looking through the horror shorts here at IMDb. I thought I would would give it a look see and I have to say I had mixed reactions to this film. It was interesting and I had no idea where it was going after the tub scene. It also was a bit to strange and the ending had me wondering what just happened. There really is no satisfying conclusion, but a film this vague usually is going to end, well vaguely. The story focuses on a woman who starts pulling what appears to be a hair from the sink in her kitchen. Well it turns out that at the end of this hair is a strange thing that she immediately throws in the garbage. She then for some reason puts it in the bathtub and turns on the water. Why, I can not say. The thing grows and then the movie just becomes one big question mark. I kept expecting her to get attacked by the thing when it was in the bath thus being the conclusion one might expect from a horror short like this and for anybody who has read that Stephen King short about the finger in the drain. That does not happen as the film gets stranger. People say it is about loneliness, but the main problem with that is that there is nothing to indicate this woman is indeed lonely until she has that scene in the bed. Like I said, weird and strange. Kept me interested and guessing and the music is haunting and nicely understated, but I do not know the conclusion and parts of the film needed more work or back story.

The first time I saw this twisted but wonderful little film I was maybe 12 years old. I remember seeing it on television, probably broadcast as a filler after a feature film or something. It made a significant impression on me then and when I watched it again this week, it made an even greater one.Canadian director, Alison Maclean, has created a wicked little masterpiece with this film. The way some of the shots in this film linger on dangerous moments proves her mastery of suspense. Without giving anything away, Maclean manages to show just enough of certain things to keep them unsettling and creepy.The film is about obsession and the problems associated with dwelling on some tiny, nagging thing. The protagonist cannot leave well enough alone and so brings the real horror of the film upon herself.This is definitely one to watch for a great example of how to create suspense.

I am the first to criticize an art film for being too, well, arty. This movie has a brilliant, original idea for a short film, and its minute budget doesn't show one bit. I had the pleasure of watching "Kitchen Sink" in one of my video production classes. Some of the films the professor showed us simply put me to sleep, but this one really caught my attention and interest. It's disturbing, but that's its intention. This is creepier than most horror movies, of past or present. Even the effects don't appear low-budget. When the woman was shaving the man and cut him with the razor by accident, I was able to feel his pain. Usually, I think novice filmmakers enjoy using black-and-white, because it looks sophisticated. Sure, a good movie is a good movie with or without color, but you can't deny that the use of color can help. Just see the brilliant use of color in Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." In the case of this movie, I felt the black-and-white fit the tone. And the great score helped top off the film's creepy aura. So if you feel the same way I do about most art films, check this one out. Trust me, this one's actually entertaining. This is the kind of film that gives inspiration to us aspiring young filmmakers. It shows that it is possible to make an original, imaginative film with two actors, one setting and a very low budget. (8 out of 10)