Short Starts presents a weekly short film from the start of a filmmaker or actor’s career.
Director Fede Alvarez, who made the Evil Dead remake out this Friday, broke out with a short film that went viral. You’ve probably seen that one, the giant robot invasion pic Ataque de Panico! (Panic Attack!) – watch here if not. Before that, though, he and his Evil Dead writing partner, Rodo Sayagues, made a few other movies including one that you can also watch online. And it’s a lot more akin to what we can probably expect from his Hollywood horror debut. There’s blood, boobs, semen, guns, machetes and screams of pleasure and of pain. It’s called El Cojonudo: La Nunca Jamas Contada Historia De – loosely translated on screen as The Never Ever Told Story of Mr. Balls.
The 20-minute Uruguayan film is not safe for work, but that’s okay if you watch today. And it’s fine for Easter given that it’s about a guy named Jesus who bears the titular, testicular nickname. The plot involves a common tale – joke, really – of a man who is welcomed in to lodge with strangers under the condition that he doesn’t sleep with the owner’s daughter (sometimes it’s a wife). And the man does so anyway, and he pays a price. Just think of a certain scene from Django Unchained gone all the way. There’s just enough left to the imagination, too, particularly after the end credits begin, but Alvarez also splatters plenty of fluids about to make the horror geeks happy.
Mr. Balls offers up a lot of cleverness for such a familiar idea and features a perfect blend of suspense, simplicity, stylish technique and twisted humor and thrills. Watch it (with English subtitles available if needed) below.
