The Blood of the Dinosaurs (2021)

Directed by: Joe Badon | 12 minutes | short film, comedy | Actors: Holly Bonney, Tiffany Christy, Kyle Clements, Stella Creel, John Davis, Miles Hendler, Jeff Pearson, Christopher Ray, Kali Russell, Steve Smith, Vincent Stalba, Dan Wilder

‘The Blood of the Dinosaurs’ begins with a rather unusual reconstruction of the last hour of the dinosaurs, the imposing reptiles that were the dominant life forms on Earth for millions of years. Using plastic toy dinosaurs, some house, garden and kitchen fireworks and quite primitive animation techniques, we see how a meteorite put an end to their rule.

Then we end up in the middle of the Christmas edition of ‘The Uncle Bobbo Show’, an apparently sweet children’s program, but in reality a show that contains quite a few politically incorrect and spicy elements. The eccentric and creepy-looking host Uncle Bobbo gives the young viewers and listeners a physical and historical lesson about the origin of the wonderful healing agent oil. The classic Christmas story is expertly scrambled into a rock-solid parody that puts the American conservative movement, the many militant Christian zealots in the ‘land of the limitless possibilities’ and the fossil fuel lobby through the sarcastic mangle.

There is no real clear stylistic or narrative structure. ‘The Blood of the Dinosaurs’ is a colorful and absurdist mishmash that combines horror elements with exuberant satire, dryly comic humour, sanguine parodies of well-known film classics and hectic visual compilations. If this short film were a person, it would be a classic ADHDer. This abstract and chaotic-looking powder keg of artistic ideas is probably not for everyone. But for lovers of unorthodox and creative film art with a sharp comic edge, it is certainly an intriguing piece of work.