There's a definite demented glee in John Ferrer's 10-minute horror short 1 Star Review, a film that some wannabe social media food influencers would do well to check out before writing up their next review. 

The film centers around Chef Michael (Charlie Clee), who doesn't take kindly to his increasingly negative reviews and is willing to do whatever it takes to change the reviews in an effort to save his restaurant. On this particular night,  our dastardly chef has an after hours date of sorts with Elysia (Sarah J. Parker), a lovely lass who is gifted with one of his fine dining experiences. 

Of course, there might be a bit of an issue with a certain review posted by Elysia. 

1 Star Review is fast, darkly funny, and furious. Clee's Chef Michael is gloriously narcissistic, the kind of chap you'd likely avoid in a dark alley and the kind of chef who looks and acts like he could be Gordon Ramsay's psycho cousin. An opening montage is outrageously disturbed, I'm not about to reveal it here, magnificently shot by Charlie Martin with an original score by Chris Bissette that amps up the tension and hypes up what's about to unfold. 

Clee commands the screen, fiercely arrogant yet charismatic in a dark, Batemanesque way. Sarah J. Parker gives a similarly inspired performance as Elysia, an attractive woman clearly distracted by social media until something else, well, distracts her. 

I'm not sure there's a whole lot in 1 Star Review that surprised me. It's how it's all so relentlessly and mercilessly brought to life that really makes this horror short soar and makes you want to turn around and watch it again even before the closing credits have scrolled by. Destined for horror fest glory and success along the indie fest circuit, 1 Star Review is a must-see and must remember for Yelp reviewers everywhere. 

Myself included. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic