Brutal Relax

What to say? ♫ Summer, summer time ♫ was a lot of fun! If you like this battery-less, angry psycho and unintended avenger, you are on a fifteen minute, vacation trip! Just beware, that limbs will be ripped off left and right, and decease youngster's body will be used as weapon of green destruction, along with skulls being encrusted and taken out of the flesh like batteries on a defunct Walkman, as weird as it is this short is worth what a two hour movie sometimes is not, who needs character development when the first minute reveals "our hero" with that cuckoo's mile? So get your swimming suit, and watch from the distance, while Mr. Olivares finish off the bloody, sub-humans whom probably are related to Aquaman!

I liked this comedy short movie. It is very simple but the thing that works really well for me is the acting by the lead character. The main character is very funny and does a great job with the physical humor. Stay for the credits as well, because these are hilarious, especially for a short film.

I do think it goes a little long since it is basically a one-joke movie. If it was a few minutes shorter, I feel that it would have flowed better.

Shorts, albeit fifteen minutes in length as in this case, simply do not come better as this, if combined comedy and horror is your cup-of-tea. Mr. Olivares has been given Doctor's orders to take a well earned holiday, after what seems like a detox of high anxiety and stress, and to relax, meet new people, sunbath, take pictures and above all avoid all manner of stress.

It is not only José Ma. Angorrilla, who plays the tense Mr. Olivares, and his Mexican "handle-bar" moustache, that takes hold of the limelight here but the way in which we see him taking his own style of relaxation; plopping into a wet, muddy pit and immersing himself in its qualities, totally, at the amusement of the other holidaymakers.

The cause of Mr. Olivarez's condition is never bought to light, just his cure, but the completely bizarre and hilarious, and extremely shocking, way in how poor Mr. Olivares deals with this stream-pressure release will make Tom Savini look like a choir boy on a Sunday outing. It all comes to the boil as Mr. Olivares is quietly listening to his Walkman (portable audio cassette player) and the beach is invaded from what can only be described as creatures-from-the-deep, human in form but demonic in both appearance and nature, they then proceed to mutilate, brutalise and kill all those on the tiny enclosed, pebbled beach. That is until Mr. Olivares's portable audio cassette player packs-in and his stress levels bring themselves to the boil once more, resulting in pure mayhem and madness in a battle sequence that will have you squirming with hilarious reaction. It is a battle that has the best special effects and make-up that will stand proudly next to any recent, or past, epic zombie movie.

While only a smattering of dialogue at the very beginning, "Brutal Relax" shows itself in the guise of the Silent comedies, the language of its highly explicit visuals and stupendously funny antics are all that are needed to tell this story of violent conflict and of how Mr. Olivares copes with his stress levels. Showing at the Leeds International Film Festival (November 2011) it had a healthy response and is really best seen on the Big Screen with many like mined people to appreciate the full force of the grotesque and the dark humour. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you squirm and after this, you're going to need a good, long holiday to get over it.

A man goes to his doctor and told what he needs in life is to relax more . Taking his advice the man goes to relax on a crowded beach and take in the sea air . As it turns out he couldn't have picked a worse day for a beach trip because monsters swarm out of the water and attack everyone

There's something unsettling about the seashore . When I lived on the Isle of Bute I spent many a sad , lonely day trekking the coastline . There's no more beautiful sight than staring across a calm blue sea on a hot Summer day . . The opposite can hold true as well . Standing on a deserted shoreline you become aware of just how alone you are and a primeval instinctive fear overtakes you almost as if an ancient terror is about to make its presence seen , a feeling not helped if you've seen the classic DOCTOR WHO story from 1972 The Sea Devils , a story that had a much bigger impact than Spielberg's famous shark film a few years later

I came in to this short thinking I'd be watching a serious horror film . The freeze frame avatar showed a bikini babe covered in blood so jumped to the conclusion this was going to be a gore-fest . Make no mistake this is gore ridden splatter-punk make up driven horror but one with its tongue very firmly in cheek . Think of the early works of Peter Jackson where you're invited and encouraged to laugh at the on screen mutilation and you've got the idea . One other work I was instantly reminded of was of another Spanish short called FIST OF Jesus and low and behold both films had the same director Adrian Cardona which comes as no great surprise since both shorts are identical in feel and execution . If you've seen either film you've seen both of them which isn't really a criticism but you would perhaps think the director might try something different in future shorts

If you are looking for a fun little (in running time only) movie to watch, you don't have to look any further. While the title can be seen literally, you obviously have to have a heart for horror comedy. Though the comedy aspect of it is still pretty brutal. We're talking about things happening here, that quite a few might not be able to stomach at all.

The effects are great and the actors are "convincing" for what they have to achieve. You might call this "overkill" sometimes (no pun intended), but then again, it still can pull it off and not be boring in any way. Watch it and enjoy