By Forris Day Jr.
“The Reapers Image” is a story written by Stephen King and was originally published in King’s book, a collection of short stories, “Skeleton Crew”. It’s a tale that focuses on an old mirror that dates back to the eighteen hundreds. It is said to be cursed. People claim that over the centuries many have looked into the mirror and have seen an image of the Grim Reaper. These “chosen” folks soon die or disappear without a trace.
In this film adaptation Kenny and Sammy Bates from Rotting Corpse Productions write, direct and act in the no-budget short. These guys did a great job, in my humble opinion, of putting together a nice film with limited budget. The acting, although a bit uneven, is far above what I went into this expecting. I particularly enjoyed Matt Mooningham who plays Johnson Spangler the all obsessed museum curator who wants the mirror at any cost. Will he be able to purchase it from the shady antique dealer Samuel Claggert (Sonny Burnette)? Or will the price be too high? What price is too high?
The short is shot well and kept my interest throughout the entire flick. Well done! I always enjoy seeing filmmakers create something fun, interesting and worthwhile with limited resources. I was very impressed with the fact that this started out as a period piece with the cool costumes from the early 1800s and before we move into present day. The actors did nice work creating their characters throughout this short movie. There is a nice trailer done in the style of an old 60s movie trailer on the disc too. I really enjoyed that little bonus. Overall a fun short well worth watching. Keep an eye on this team of filmmakers. I predict lots of good stuff coming from them in the future.
