A horror/thriller with supernatural tones, Christopher Di Nunzio's Under the Dark Wing is a neo-noirish 15-minute short film that feeds off the mesmerizing shadows created by Nolan Yee's top notch camera work and the heightened dialogue co-penned by Di Nunzio and Pedro Alvarado.

The film kicks off with Johnny Boy (Fiore Leo), a thug working for George (David Graziano), a no nonsense boss who doesn't buy into Johnny Boy's story when he returns from what should have been a routine job with some weird story about a nameless young girl (Jessy Rowe) proving to be an insurmountable obstacle to the job's completion. Determined to find out the truth for himself, George finds the girl and becomes determined that her mysterious yet obvious power can have some financial benefits for everyone involved.

The girl has other plans.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a film from Creepy Kids Productions would be, in fact, rather creepy in presentation. Under the Dark Wing compounds that creepiness by stressing its obvious noirish qualities and by never letting go of the shadows that dominate every scene. By the time the truth of this girl unfolds, Di Nunzio and his cast have worked together to draw you into this tidy little story and the world in which it takes place. Di Nunzio takes what could have easily been a formulaic crime thriller and gives it a not completely unexpected yet still involving twist and, in particular, makes every word spoken early in the film that much more vital.

Under the Dark Wings is just getting started in festivals and should have no problem finding a home on the indie, underground and horror fest circuit.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic