Ride Baby Ride: Short Review. By Joe Muldoon.

Particularly since Stephen King’s classic Christine, possessed cars have been a wonderfully unique addition to the horror villain canon. In director Sofie Somoroff’s short, the antagonist in question is a vintage red 1978 Camaro, a sinister demonic entity inhabiting it.

A mechanic (Celina Bernstein) negotiates the buying price of the aforementioned Camaro with two incredibly off-putting men, one of them ominously remarking that “[the car]’s a little spicy”. After the spine-chilling encounter, the nameless mechanic sets about preparing repairs and renovations. That is, until the car boot opens itself up, and so begins the true horror.

Excited though the mechanic is about her new acquisition, the car seems to be even happier. After luring her inside, slamming its doors and leaving her a very nasty leg gash, the bedevilled banger makes it clear that it’s hungry – and its owner is on the menu. What should’ve been a simple restoration project has now become a bloody battle for survival.

With a visual intensity similar to that of Julia Ducournau’s Titane, the cinematography is morbidly enchanting, the stifling interior of the machine transformed into a petri dish for claustrophobia. As the battle reaches its sweaty crescendo, the effects team truly earn their stripes, the bloodshed shown in a wildly inventive manner.

Clocking in at around 7 minutes, Somoroff keeps things short and rather unsweet. In such a brief measure of time, the tension and terror are plentifully dispensed, not a single moment going to waste. Ride Baby Ride is the gold standard for vehicular short horror, and Sofie Somoroff has established herself as one to watch.

By Joe Muldoon.

Facebook

Google

Twitter

We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.