We are in full-blown Chainsaw Awards mode over here and this week we are celebrating the shorts. Some of the short films nominated in this new category have been on the festival circuit and previously unavailable online. That makes voting a little tricky, so we’re bringing them to you right here, as we celebrate shorts week. So sit back, and enjoy this virtual screening room with a new nominated short film each day. And remember to get those votes in!
First up, we present a nasty little thing to kick us off. Chris McInroy’s gory and darkly comedic workplace horror comedy “Guts” follows a worker with an awkward condition as he nevertheless strives to succeed in his office job. We’ll let Chris take it from here.
I got a weird image in my mind of a guy sitting at an office job with his bloody guts hanging out just staring at a clock waiting for it to be 5 and I thought, “That’s gross. I like it.” and that’s how “Guts” started. For the approach, I wanted to combine my love of gory practical effects with my love of ’80s underdog movies, like Three O’Clock High. Instead of a karate tournament or a snow ski race though I had the guts guy just try and get a promotion at work and survive the day without getting pummeled by a jerk bully. I had some inspiration from The Shining too, those long zooms into Jack with that drone score really make you get in his head space so I wanted to try that with Horace. His life is pure horror, he so badly wants to fit in but his guts are always getting in the way. It torments him day and night until finally, he comes to the decision to do what he does. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s super gross.
I’m insanely happy to be nominated for Best Short. I’m such a fan of FANGORIA, I shed a tear when I saw the announcement. It’s pretty unreal. There were so many amazing horror movies last year I feel so lucky to be among them. Watching the last two years of Chainsaw Awards I had a dream to be there someday and thankfully the Best Short category was added this year. Hopefully, it’s not the last time and I will make some good features. The horror community are my people and I’m so glad this weird ass movie plays well for them. I just wanna make fun stuff and spill a ton of guts along the way. Congrats to all the nominees!
And now, we are proud to share “Guts” with you all!
Tomorrow we bring you some more meaty goodness in short form. Stay tuned and vote for the 2023 FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards right here.
