Skunkyrate
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
TaryBiggBall
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Mischa Redfern
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
Woodyanders
A balding and bespectacled man (well played with quiet intensity by Richard O'Brien; Riff Raff in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") feverishly concentrates on putting together an elaborate contraption in his dank basement for an extremely bleak and shocking reason. Writer/director Richard Dearden does a sterling job of creating and sustaining a tremendously suffocating claustrophobic atmosphere and a pervasively cold, clammy, and ultimately chilling tone which culminates in a startling surprise bummer ending that's capped off with a perfectly harsh and snippy lone closing line. O'Brien's excellent acting really holds this offbeat short together; he's totally riveting and convincing as he works on his gloomy project with a certain grim resolve and unwavering sense of steely determination. Starkly shot in a single cramped and confined setting, further enhanced by a terrific use of amplified sound effects (the constant dripping water is genuinely unnerving), and done mostly in tight close-ups with a strong mood of compelling ambiguity and a spare'n'spacey score, this supremely freaky gem packs one hell of a wickedly potent and unsettling wallop.
FieCrier
Happily, I was able to view this award-winning short online.A man constructs a contraption while surrounded by pitch black darkness. A musical saw wavers out a tune on the soundtrack. Contrary to one description I've read, I did not see or hear his wife berating him while he was doing this. The end might come as a surprise, but probably not. The one line of dialog at the end suggests why the contraption might have been built, but for the most part we are left wondering who the characters were and what their lives were like and why it ended this way.I wonder what Dearden's other short films are like?
astroman2012
i saw this when i was about 7 or 8! it was shown before "grease" of all films! I've never forgot about it and 25 years on still remember it vividly! fans of this should check out "la cabana" a Spanish short film about a man stuck in a telephone box! its quite bizarre and pretty disturbing!!! it starts off pretty light hearted but soon turns pretty twisted and has a very twisted ending,"the contraption" also reminds me of the song "whats he building" by tom waits! its a very intriguing song about a man building something in a shed! check it out i promise you wont be disappointed! id love to see "the contraption" again but probably never will!
Rick Stump (otherRic)
This almost wordless short is visually gripping. It is, effectively, a 5 minute one-man play that will leave you stunned.
