Short Form Terror is Underbaked in ‘Sinphony’ [BHFF 2022 Review]
The cast and crew of Sinphony, a self-described Clubhouse horror anthology, no doubt had a ton of fun putting the entire enterprise together. Conceived and curated entirely on the social media platform, Sinphony is undoubtedly a labor of love for those involved, an opportunity for horror fans to flex their filmmaking muscles with a series of vignettes structured around a supernatural entity. Unfortunately, outside the gilded walls of the Clubhouse production room, there’s very little in Sinphony worth seeing.
Horror fans for time immemorial have considered what it might be like on the other side of the camera, and for Sinphony’s part, a number of horror journalists and personalities have made the shift from critic to creator. The end credits themselves amount to a who’s who of horror journalism. While it’s remarkable to see the sheer passion on display, Sinphony succumbs to the, well, sins that have plagued horror anthologies since the early days of 1945’s Dead of Night. It’s a mixed bag. Unlike V/H/S or Southbound, two contemporary standouts, there isn’t a single knockout segment among the nine nestled within the brief running time.
Jason Ragosta’s “Mother Love,” the first segment after the opening, flirts with some cool stylistic flourishes, though it amounts to a truncated story of a dime-store clown stalking a woman in her home. “Mother Love” exsanguinates itself from the start, no different than the slashed throats at its end. While it’s nice to see Kelli Maroney and Barbara Crampton appear in brief, unexpected cameos—Sinphony truly is a labor of love—“Mother Love” feels akin to a draft of a draft. A bunch of friends having a good time, sure, but not exactly a compelling horror short.
The additional shorts don’t fare much better. Steven Keller’s “Ear Worm” boasts some remarkable sound design, but it too feels pedestrian, closing the curtain just as things are about to get good. In fact, it’s a recurring theme throughout. While inexorably constrained by the short, anthological format, what’s seen here too often feels incomplete, prologues to the story audiences might really want to see. Short filmmaking is an art form in and of itself. There are distinct narrative expenditures that must be made to craft a satisfying, cohesive whole. Beginnings, middles, and ends still matter, though the slate of shorts here feels slapdash in their approach to telling complete, full tales of bite-sized horror.
The strongest of the bunch, Wes Driver’s “The Keeper,” co-written with Greg Greene, at least adheres to a conventional narrative format, working with some ghastly special effects and a distinct sense of personality that feels at odds with Haley Bishop’s “Forever Young” and Mark Pritchard’s “Limited Edition,” two of the weakest entries packaged within. Others, such as Kimberly Elizabeth’s “Do Us Part” barely feel like shorts at all, with the simplest of conceits hobbled together in something that suggests the appearance of short horror without actually being so.
Sinphony has marketed itself as an assemblage of fresh voices and compelling stories, and there’s no denying that the suite of talent here has something worthwhile to say. Unfortunately, it’s just not clear in Sinphony, an anthology that feels more akin to a film school thesis reel. While the cast and crew are no doubt having the time of their life— gearing up for the announced sequel—the rest of the audience is left wondering what, if anything, they’re doing there in the first place.
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Sinphony
Summary
While Sinphony, a horror film conceived on Clubhouse, makes for a curious origin story, it doesn’t amount to much as a movie itself.
