WAITING FOR GORGO (2010)

 "WE KEEP THE MONSTERS AWAY!"

  An absolutely lovely short film to warm the hearts of any Halloweeny horror fan.  Tucked away deep in the sub-basements of the British Ministry of Defence is the D.M.O.A.:  the Department of Monsters and Over-sized Animals.  Long forgotten, it's staffed by only two old men: 

Mr. Tunstall (Geoffrey Davies) and

Mr. Archibald (Nicholas Amer).  An auditor from the department Alexandra Collins (Kelly Eastwood) has noticed the two men appearing on the payroll during an audit and ventures down to find out what they do there. 

Turns out the two men are Britain's first line of defence against giant monster attack.  The D.M.O.A. was formed about a year or so after the attack of Gorgo on London.  Ms. Collins thinks the old men are dotty because monsters obviously don't exist and there CERTAINLY wasn't any kaiju attack on London or else she would have heard about it.  Dimly recalling her horror fan roommate having a DVD called GORGO, Ms. Collins informs the men that it was just a movie.  OF COURSE Gorgo is real, insist the two men and the fact that there hasn't been a giant monster attack since then is proof of the D.M.O.A.'s 100% success record.  Mr. Tunstall then remembers that yes, they DID make a film using actual footage of Gorgo in order to avoid widespread panic and convince everyone that it was just a movie.  "The thing to do," explains Mr. Tunstall, "is to pretend it never happened. . . .So everyone who remembered seeing the brouhaha with the army and the monster over time became convinced that they were just remembering having seen it at the pictures!". 

The short film is a three-hander with the three actors giving superb performances; Kelly Eastwood is heartfelt and patient trying to convince the old men that monsters aren't real while Davies and Amer are absolutely lovable and convinced that the poor young lady has fallen for the cover story.  Benjamin Craig directs beautifully here instilling the entire film with so much heart and love for the horror genre that you just can't miss seeing this!  The short film is included on this year's 4K deluxe edition Vinegar Syndrome put out as well as, I believe, it's found on vimeo.  GORGO the film is, to me, rather lackluster (I know this is a minority opinion but I don't like it that much -- I want to like it so much but just don't) but WAITING FOR GORGO is an instant classic!  See this without delay!