Hike Director Jennifer Campbell Gets Even More Fucked Up With Her New Short Bruised!!

Women in Horror Recognition Month has been so good for me on so many levels....the main one, all the wicked female friends I've met in the process.  :)  One of my all time favourites is Vancouver based Hike director Jennifer Campbell.  I have come to view this awesome chickaroo as one of my best friends.  When she sent me the script for Bruised last year, due to personal things/accidents happening to me - I completely related to so many of the words coming off the page.

With dorky excitement I can now officially say that the actual final short...holy fuck.  This may have been done by a chick who has now become an amazing friend of mine...however, as she is my friend....I would also be the first to give constructive criticism to anything she did.  And I would expect the same in return.

Bruised; Jennifer's follow up to debut short Hike...well, to be quite frank....it's fucking epic!!!!  I could feel how personal this story was to Ms Campbell, and whilst her brutal, yet frank honesty left our protagonist in an incredibly vulnerable yet fucked up situation....I felt it was one that as a viewer, I could still relate to, on so many levels. 

For a director to actually pull this story off; and with such subtle beauty...it does show a rare talent.  What makes Jennifer Campbell such a wicked (well apart from having the same initials as me and coming from Vancouver.....EEEEEEE!!!!) individual, it's the fact that she's clearly lived through some sort of horrific injury...and knows exactly how it feels.  Bruised is a statement against the healthcare system in America, and in so many places across the globe...you could be dying, or suffering from the most horrific illness, yet if you can't pay for an operation; either get yourself into a shit ton of debt, die...or try some D.I.Y/backstreet operation...from which you'll probably die anyway.  

I hear time and time again about friends in the States who can't afford health care, and it's for stuff like cancer treatment, or to save their newborn baby's life.  I mean, what the fuck!?!!  I know we take the NHS for granted over here in the UK, and I know we moan like crazy about it....but least we have it!!  Within the past year, I've been taken into A & E for three pretty serious injuries....ones with follow up treatment as well.  If I'd have had to pay for that...well, there's no way I'd be able to afford that.  I also know that my brain is a hell of a lot more fucked than most, so I'd totally be attempting something a bit more ad hoc to deal with whatever situation was thrown at me.   

In fact, one of the things that drew me so much to this script in the first place, was that as a child, I had a boil on the side of my leg.  Most kids go to the doctors.  What did I do??  I took the scalpel out of my microscope set and cut it off myself.  Now some may deem that to be ever so slightly fucking crazy, but hey ho....left me with less of a scar than any hospital scar.  Haha.  Anyhoo, between that morbid memory and the recollection of going to hospital/seeing a nurse for 5 freakin' months after I burned myself...I know what it's like to have all sorts of fucked up problems.  Be it burns, back injuries, cracking ones skull open and suffering from a severe concussion...you name it...I've probably done it at some point!  ;)  

Jennifer Campbell is a director that one definitely needs to keep ones peepers on.  She is a rare and beautiful talent, and one whom given the opportunity, could totally follow her fell Vancourites Jen and Sylvia Soska in creating a wonderful, yet completely demented movie.

Briana Rayner, is also a name you really need to take stock of.  This chick pulled off an insanely intense script...and it's just her.  Everything at the end of the day lands on her.  And she's fucking amazing!

I view a lot of shorts for my film festival Jennifer's Bodies, from women from all walks of life.  Bruised is definitely in my top 5...not even from just the past year...possibly even past two years.  I felt an intensity to this story that sucked me in...Oz style!!  Thankfully there was no flying monkeys though....then I would have been REALLY scared!!  Haha.  I'm sure those who know me will find this amusing though - whilst watching Bruised, sitting on my bed propped up on a pillow....I actually nearly fell off my bed as I cringed at one scene.  That is all I'm going to say.  And trust me...it is extremely difficult to even freak me out...let alone almost knock me flying off my pillow stool.  Haha.  ;) 

I assure you that Bruised is a flick that has to be seen. Be sure to click on THIS LINK to get to the Facebook fan page for the short.  And be sure to clicky on the LIKE button...and share, share, share.  :)  She also has a Twitter page where you can check out @_BRUISED_.  You can also check out the trailer for the short just below.  Keep updated with the flick and hopefully you shall be catching it at a festival near you in the very near future.  :)



Jennifer Campbell is a name that all y'all horror kids need to remember.  And clearly the guys behind the Pollygrind Fesitval in Las Vegas understood how wicked she was after they awarded her the prize for Best Woman Director in the shorts category for her last short film Hike.  Hike also led to Jen being awarded for the most Over the Top FX at last years Stilleto Film Festival.  :)  So basically, this girl is fucking rad and the sooner everyone realises this, the more gore~geously enriched ones life shall become!!  Mmmm'kay!!?!! ;)

Review of Jennifer Campbell's Short Film Hike!

As I mentioned in my interview with director Jennifer Campbell, I think one of the reasons why I instantly took such a liking to Hike, is the fact that it is without a doubt the kind of short I could totally see myself making!!  I mean, whenever I'm out and about walking, be it through the woods, or along the beach, or up in the hills...I always picture myself finding body parts...or a completely whole dead body!!  Sick I know, but I can't help myself, haha.  My mind just drifts off...and that's usually where it drifts to...limbs amongst the driftwood!! ;) 

With its stunning location and superb direction, what I appreciate most about Hike is how simple...yet wonderfully effective it is at the same time. It beautifully conveys the perfect image of some of the true horrors that are actually out there. As a girl with a total serial killer fascination, this is horror at its more shocking and perverse because it's so real!! 

Hike is the perfect example of the ultimate male monster. The one that blends into society. The one who despite all they may have, still needs that power play that comes from victimising a woman. One who is either physically unable to fight back, or one who has been so mentally abused, that they don't have the inner strength in them left to fight!! 

These are the men that everyone is always so shocked when they hear about some of the atrocities they have committed. They are the friendly neighbour, your kids scout leader, the boy next door...the kind of guy who we wouldn't even contemplate a danger when they ask us to go out for a hike in the woods! The best serial killers are usually the ones that blend in with society. And in the case of someone like Ted Bundy, they also happen to be some of the worst when it comes to the level and extent of violence committed!!

When describing Hike, Vancouver based director Jennifer Campbell had this to say - 

“Hike is about violence against women, being silenced and ultimately being victimized because someone is bigger, stronger and able to overpower.”

We live in a society where violence against women is shockingly high, and a lot of it is precisely down to this mindset.  Men need to show just how big and strong they are, and just how easily they can hurt their partners...or mothers, sisters, daughters...granmothers!!  

Shorts such as Hike are such an eye opener in that they remind us that whilst we may feel safe and secure in our day to day lifestyle...you never know what kind of evil may be lurking just round the corner!!  It is for this very reason that it is important for women to be self aware, and able to know that there is always someone they can turn to for help.  

I've said this before, and I'll say it again...I think the reason that women appreciate horror so much, and just why they're so good at making it, is that the levels of violence and rape against women, it's so much higher than anything against men.  Hell, childbirth is enough to give any woman an appreciation of horror, haha.  All joking aside though, I think it's wonderful that there are women out there such as Jennifer Campbell, who are making films like Hike, who are conveying the word about such topics, but in a way that opens insightful debate and understanding.  Not in a, "shove it down your throat" kind of way.  I'd just like to add on a separate note, that it's also quite appropriate that all of the funds from the Have a Heart for Horror Cook Book, a cook book filled with recipes and art from various female figures working within horror today (including yours truly!!), are going to Project Get Safe.  This is a non-profit corporation dedicated to preventing real life horrors such as victims of abuse, domestic violence, teen youth shelters, halfway houses.

Check out the trailer for Hike below and keep up with the news from Jennifer Campbell and her production company Whitebowl Productions at the Official Site and Facebook page.  

I would also just like to say I've edited this to say Congratulations to JC for her award for Best Women Director in the Shorts Category at the PollyGrind Film Festival in Las Vegas.  With shit loads of films showing over a massive 17 days, this is truly a well deserved honor for Miss Campbell.  So YAY....Go Jen!! :) 

Ooh, and it also took the award for most Over the Top Special FX at this year's Stiletto Film Festival as well.  The FX that it is referring to is one that when watching the Sons of Anarchy Season 5 finale, it made me giggle and think of Hike!!  BWAH! ;) 

So yes, expect great things to come from this fellow JC, who not only shares my first name...she also shares the initial of my second name...woooo, creep~tastic!!!  Bwahahahaha. :)