The film opens with a woman strapped down on a gurney and things are not looking good.  And when the robot ABE slices a butterfly in half, you know that it is not going to turn out well.  It is a haunting little bit of foreshadowing that holds nothing but bad things to come for the girl.  If only his victims could love him as much as he loves them, then perhaps they would not turn out to be as such.

A serial killer robot.

Writer/director Rob McLellan gets huge points for originality on this one.  His short film, clocking in at just over eight minutes, it is full of tension and suspense and horror.  It is short, to the point, and frankly beautiful in both its simplicity and its complexity.  The animation is spectacular and ABE looks flawless standing next to the actress in the scene.  Even the minute details are handled perfectly such as the reflection of the robot in the girl’s eyes.

As ABE broods and has a one-sided conversation with himself, the terror builds, slowly but surely until the final scene with ABE scoping out his next victim.  Chilling to say the least.

ABE is a great little piece of filmmaking that has a lot going for it including some great music by Vanessa James to add that little bit of extra atmosphere to a film already bursting with it.  It would be most welcome to see more of ABE in action, to see what makes him tick and why he does what he does.  He most definitely does not follow the Three Laws of Robotics.  As MGM has optioned the rights, it is possible that we might get a big screen version of this and if so, hopefully it will live up to this film short.

Science-fiction at its best.

5 out of 5

Credits:

Writer/Director – Rob McLellan
Manager – Adam Marshall / Caliber Media 310-786-9210
Agent – Chris Ridenhour / APA 310-888-4209
Facebook – facebook.com/abemovie
Website – abemovie.com
Interview with the director 30/04/13 youtube.com/watch?v=RM5uUnRmJQI
Copyright Zero-G Productions

Produced by
Rob McLellan …. producer
Liz Ridings …. co-producer
Mark Shuterland …. co-producer

Original Music by
Vanessa James

Cinematography by
Kate Reid

Film Editing by
Rob McLellan

Production Design by
Kiera Tudway

Set Decoration by
Sven Hornsey
Mark Sutherland

Costume Design by
Faye Fillingham

Makeup Department
Fay Booth …. assistant makeup artist
Karen Fundell …. makeup designer
Rebecca Johnson …. assistant makeup artist

Visual Effects by
Rob McLellan …. visual effects
Craig Stiff …. visual effects supervisor
Craig Stiff …. visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Kyle Mann …. gaffer
Nick Menniss …. second assistant camera
Sonia R. Serrano …. first assistant camera
Ricardo Williams …. electrician