A young girl is driven out into the country where she is abandoned. As a storm approaches and night falls, she steps into an “other” world of black and white. The girl finds herself in what appears to be an abandoned city. She comes upon a carousel. For a moment she thinks about a happier time when she wasn’t afraid. But then the carousel disappears, and the city begins to close in on her.
Eventually she comes to a train depot. Alone, she starts to cry. The ground begins to shake. The girl looks up. Suddenly a tunnel appears in a wall. A train, shaped like a dragon, comes rushing through and screeches to a halt. Nervously the girl boards the train and takes a seat. The train races through the dark and desolate landscape.
“Creatures of Crepuscule” was released in 2022 and was created by Christian Szczerba. It is an experimental independent short about twenty minutes long. It incorporates fantasy and science fiction elements. Christian’s style of filmmaking is something that is reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft, J.K. Rowling and a touch of Alex Proyas’ “Dark City” 1998.
The film is part of several smaller films that are designed to evoke similar feelings. All of which I watched and all of which I didn’t really understand. Understanding them is not really necessary to appreciating them. (Explain Lovecraft to me in words I can comprehend, and you are a genius.) In this film Christian is attempting to invoke an image of dread. I also felt desolation and anguish.
My favorite image of the short is the dragon train. The face of the girl in the film is blurred due to the request of the girl’s mother. Some believe the blurring adds to the overall feel of the film. The black and white section of the film is equal parts frightening and entrancing.
There is something about black and white film that is haunting. When it is mixed with fantasy it has the feel of being the visual image of neural or tactical receptors. You viscerally feel what you see. There’s nothing more horror inducing.
Crepuscule is a French word meaning dusk or twilight. It is the time of day when many animals come out to hunt and forage.
Christian is from Montpellier, France. His films can be viewed on his YouTube channel “Moon Prod”. I found them all to be fascinating.