From writer/director Kevin Kopacka comes this beautifully crafted and very visually striking horror short. What begins as something likened to a Lana Del Ray music video soon descends into a very interesting and experimental cinematic experience which follows M on her suffering through various stages of her relationship represented by the five rivers of Hades.
The short kicks off with some Argento-esque opening credit flourishes and Giallo influenced style and interpretation of the short’s actual content which is apparent throughout. HADES features original music composed by Kopacka himself, including a terrific cover version of The Ronettes ‘Be my Baby’, and features no actual dialogue with it relying purely on action and its unique visual approach. It’s filled with quick cuts, washed out colour schemes and various retro camera and shooting styles that really helps this 15 minute short stand out above others.
The story itself delves into very common states of a relationship and it’s less positive stages which once you’ve feasted on the full effort becomes all the more apparent and familiar to most of us I’m sure. Kopacka takes us through Cocytus: The River of Cries (Lamentation), Acheron: The River of Woe (Sorrow), Phlegethon: The River of Fire, Lethe, The River of Forgetfulness (Oblivion) and finally Styx, The River of Hate.
OVERALL SUMMARY
This haunting short offers an excellent glimpse at how imaginative and experimental this Austrian-born writer and director is and here’s hoping to see great things from him in the future especially if he is able to set up a similar sense of originality and mood for when he gets the opportunity to tackle his first full length feature.
