Short Film Review: Bella In The Wych Elm (2017)
Bella in the Wych Elm is a short horror film directed by Thomas Lee Rutter. and also written by Thomas Lee Rutter with excerpts from writings by W. Byford Jones. It’s a short film with a running time of 35:56, and is based on a true story.
Synopsis: “In 1943 a group of boys wandering the woodland of Hagley Hall discovered the remains of an unknown woman stuffed inside a hollowed Wych Elm tree. To this day her identity is still unknown. In 1944 however, mysterious graffiti began to adorn the walls of the neighboring towns; “WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM”. Somebody knew but who? This curious folk phantasmagoria feverishly displays the known possibilities which take us from the mystical realms of witchcraft, restless ghosts to sinister WW2 espionage. Bella In The Wych Elm will intrigue, and frighten in all it’s quaint yet claustrophobic glory.”
Bella in the Wych is a black & white film using an old screen projector effect. It’s also a silent film and narrated with accompanying music. This is not a traditional style for a horror film in 2018, and it’s nice to see a different style being used in a horror film that isn’t very common. There is also some nice cinematography, and special effects were mixed into the film here and there which blended in nicely and weren’t as noticeable because of the grainy style and black & white approach. The score is also worth mentioning and really helped create a great atmosphere.
They did a great job mixing acting into the story when needed. Because it is narrated, they had to choose which scenes should have acting in them. They did a good job in selecting which scenes to use actors in, and which scenes just needed stills or other footage, where to add the music, and what music to use. This is pretty crucial when making a film like this, as you are painting a picture for the viewer without relying on the actors’ lines to do it, and it’s important that the viewer can see the picture you are painting based on mostly imagery and narration. The actors also did a great job portraying the characters.
Overall, Bella in the Wych is a fantastic and imaginative spooky horror short. We loved this short and definitely recommend this nicely done and fresh approach to a horror film in 2018. The truth about Bella may never really be known for sure, but by the end of this film, you will definitely want to find out.
Bella in the Wych begins screening today and is currently being shown in festivals.
You can find out more by following them here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bella_Wych_Elm and here on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BellaInTheWychElm.
The film is also available here, where you can buy the limited edition DVD which includes both versions of the film and set of 3 postcards: http://bellainthewychelm.bigcartel.com/
