‘Vines’ Review: A Body Horror Short Takes Home a Trio of Awards [Seattle Film Festival 2024]
The world is a chaotic place, and it is riddled with all sorts of existential problems that challenge our place in the universe as self-conscious creatures. Politicians are good at voicing their concern for whatever global issue they feel is of the utmost importance. Climate change is certainly among these issues. However, when it comes to the management of any specific matter, it has always been through the lens of an artist where a much richer if not more thought-provoking conversation can be crafted through the cinematic experience.
Director Luke Zwanziger’s eerily atmospheric body horror short ‘Vines’ manages to accomplish such a cathartic feat, which is no surprise given the awards it swept at the Seattle Film Festival; Best Actor Duo Short Film, Best Horror Short Film, and Best Editor for a Short Film. The stellar cinematography of Damien Byington and the incredible performances from Joel Austin and Lowell Deo explore the issue of climate change through the lens of a misanthropic mad Botanist, Doctor Harold Madsen who delights in using whatever plant killing human he deems worthy of becoming his next test subject.
Photo Credit: Andy Batt
In addition to seeing the human being as a cancerous intrusion on the natural order of the world, Doctor Madsen also rationalizes his experimentation process of fusing human DNA with plant DNA through biblical interpretation. It would be a far cry to label Madsen as a religious zealot; his ramblings to Rowan, the power company employee he abducts and makes his latest guinea pig, showcase a man who has abandoned his very humanity in favor of some scientific form of revelation he treats with the same fervor of a dogmatic fanatic. The award winning editing of David Wester makes the ramblings of Madsen along with the methodical nature of his experimentation process just as eerie as Robinton Hobbs’ score.
Vines is without question a unique horror film, but it is not without a sense of humor, which director Luke Zwanziger conveyed in a Q&A where he brought up the global concerns regarding global warming and climate change, while playfully entertaining the idea that in the act of taking drastic measures, maybe a story could be told from the view of a mad botanist. Zwanziger further joked, “Maybe he’s not wrong.” This ironically dark form of humor is present through the mildly eccentric performance Lowell Deo gives as Harold Madsen, who although psychotic from a human standpoint, still executes his mission to elevate plant life through a dedicated conviction that makes his madness and his meticulous nature that more impactful. It is this same conviction that gives Vines and its anxiety-stricken transformation scenes an essence of the same cosmically terrifying body horror filmmakers like David Cronenberg, George Romero, and Alex Garland encapsulate through their bold and deliberately discomforting aesthetics.
In addition to the killer success Vines made at the Seattle Film Festival, during the Q&A after the screening, director Luke Zwanziger stated that he has plans to make a full-length feature version of Vines. Given the ambiguous ending Vines left us with, the concept of Doctor Madsen’s research taking on darker, more expansive routes is anything a horror fan can truly be excited about.