The Flying Man

"The Flying Man."

Dorkland calls this short film "Call of Cthulhu with Superheroes."

The nine minute film has definite tinges of horror to it, but I just don't see the Lovecraftian aspects.  Nevertheless, let's take a look, shall we?



"The Flying Man" short film was produced and directed by Marcus Alqueres who has previously done special effects work on movies such as 300 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  I was eager to see this short as soon as I heard about it.  I am always interested...er, almost always interested...to see live treatments of the comic book-style concepts.  Sometimes they work.  Other times they don't.  When they don't...they really don't.

I am pleased and intrigued to say that in "The Flying Man" it works. Not only does it appear realistic, but there is an entirely original slant to the narrative.  At least it's original to my knowledge.  I'm certain that out there somewhere is an uber geek who can cite an exception.  Oh well.

The idea is that a city begins to have sightings of a "flying man."  The description is just that: a man who is flying.  Beyond that, no one can get a good look at his appearance apart from the fact that either his skin or clothes are gray.  Then he starts killing people.  He picks them up and drops them from the air or shows off super strength by lifting up entire cars and smashing them.  One thing becomes certain and that is that each person killed has an extensive criminal record.

The "flying man" is a vigilante.  But is he in the right?

I would really like to see this developed into a feature-length film.  That is provided it doesn't get screwed up by the suits in the business office as they place over-emphasis on casting a "name" in the lead roles.  Seeing this play out would be really intriguing.

First off, I have a niche interest.  The visuals and the eeriness of what see are all reminiscent of actual reports of Flying Humanoids.  Ok, that's my own weirdness but think about the rest of it.  The main characters might be criminals.  How impolitic a choice.  Would we begin to sympathize with them?  The sense of horror, of being watched and hunted, would it make us question the actions of this paranormal entity?  Sure, "no trial, straight to execution" sounds great for our worst criminals as we grow frustrated with the criminal justice process.  But what if we actually started seeing it?

There is another angle of paranoia here that speaks to our current age.  Note the uneasiness with which one character regards a security camera.  Soon afterwards, death comes from out of the sky.  Is this an allusion to NSA surveillance and drones?  Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

That's why we need a feature length film.  So get on that Hollywood.


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