Possibly In Michigan Review
Originally, “High School Musical” was going to be the topic of this paper. Alas, another short film has been discovered and needs to be discussed in more important than the Disney channel. What is the first thing you think of when you hear, cannibal? Hannibal Lector possibly, Jeffrey Dahmer? In the ‘80s a filmmaker had other plans for this type of crime. A film can represent anything and that’s why film criticism is so important, I recommend the reader stop reading this right now, and watch the short film “Possibly in Michigan”. Watching any random genre of a movie can change anyone’s mood. “Encino Man” is gonna get a different reaction than “Silence of the Lambs”. “Possibly in Michigan” on the other hand- It’s a free horror/musical short film made by a fantastic director of Cecilia Condit. What are the limitations of imagination? Examining good movies are reflections of what is society and how we operate as a species. Pauly Shore is not that mirror we need, we should not celebrate a film shooting low and hitting that mark, unlike this short horror, I think is riveting, you feel almost tougher after making your way through something like “Possibly in Michigan”.
(After watching the film) Calm down, change your pants or breathe in a paper bag, it’s a bit much to process so let’s break it down scene by scene. “Possibly in Michigan” opens in a mall. The musical part of the film instantly takes effect as we hear the lyrics of “I bite at the hand that feeds me, I slap at the face that eats me, some kind of animal cannibal, animal cannibal? These lyrics not only establish the next 11 minutes and 45 seconds of your life but let us know what type of experience you will be having emotionally. Of course, the cannibal portion returns grimly, as Sharon goes down an escalator we start learning what kinds of men she attracts. “Sharon attracted violent men”. Sharon joins her friend Janice and begins to talk about perfume, being cut from the same mold, they both attract violent men, thinking the violence was their idea, (the man’s).
Arthur, the pre-disposed cannibal of the picture has been following them, having in common with Janice and Sharon, violence and perfume. I guess cannibalism requires at least a little violence. After hearing the first second of dialogue you can almost feel your heart begin to quiver, the ladies talking about perfume how female T1000’s talk to each other, it reminds me if A.I.s became android mall-goers pretending to be human. The topic of conversation? Perfume and poodles. Her aunt reminded her of the perfume she was buying. This aunt put her pet poodle in the microwave to dry it off. Yeah, this definitely is a messed-up musical.
Janice and Sharon depart from the mall via a quick cutscene dancing with more masked men. A montage of driving, a jumping poodle, a woman removing a gun from a dresser drawer, and still with the lyrics of “I bite at the hand that feeds me, I slap at the face that eats me, some kind of animal cannibal, animal cannibal”. It should be important to mention the origin of the title. “Possibly in Michigan”, was titled after the girls trying to figure out where they would have seen Arthur in the past. Where did I see him? Possibly in Michigan. Sharon drops off Janice as Arthur, “longs for that sexual scent that smelled like home”. Arthur rings the doorbell of Janice’s house cutting in between frog masks, donkey masks, and eventually settles on a man in a tuxedo, when Janice sees the cannibal at the door she empties a revolver in an attempt to defend herself.
`May I remind the reader that the whole story is a musical, Janice is being attacked and is still singing while calling Sharon on the phone as Arther confronts Janice. Arthur gives Janice two choices, eat her, or turn her quadriplegic, when asked why he responded, ‘For love’. But love shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg Janice replies, enjoys the smell of her, revealing that Janice is the 7th victim Arthur had come into contact with. Sharon catches up with Janice and the director describes it the best herself. “A musical horror story about two young women who are stalked through a shopping mall by a cannibal named Arthur. He follows them home, and here the victims become the aggressors. It is a story of friendship, courage, frailty, and fears that will not go away.”
The end of the film occurs when yes, Sharon and Janice eat Arthur, wrap his bones in newspaper printings and leave him on the curb to be taken by the garbage truck man, to pick up and never be seen again. If you were to ask me how I’d rate this short film, I’d argue three out of four stars. This movie on no basis is similar to my other favorite movie, The Goonies, but it has a quality of creepiness but still good cinematic craftsmanship to be admired to even this day.
Films are my life, they are a way to make sense of this world, and films showing off what we as humans have achieved is a beautiful thing. When a bad film comes bouncing off our scenes, we get disappointed, or sometimes even excited because films like “Troll 2”, “The Room” and “Birdemic and arguably “Sharknado” have prooven the bad movie it’s so bad it’s good. Not in those ways though, I’d argue we could do so much more as a human race to make something to stimulate your emotions, tell a compelling story, and be inventive in its own way making it stand out for years to come. What makes a good film? There is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
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