By Karlee Boon
When attending an international film festival, you come to expect to see certain types of films. A horror fantasy-comedy with an all-puppet cast is not one of those films. Frank and Zed, the debut feature film from local filmmaker Jesse Blanchard, was, therefore, enticing right from the start. The project seemed incredibly ambitious and seeped with originality, so I was more than excited to attend its World Premiere at Cinema 21 on Sunday night. The film follows friends Frank, a Frankenstein-esque monster and his lovable brain-eating sidekick, Zed, who live alone together in a dilapidated castle. As the two creatures slowly rot away, they take care of and rely on each other, sharing a close friendship. In the village nearby, a King’s deal with a demon comes back to haunt the villagers following his dead, and when the villagers raid the castle where Frank and Zed live, they are roped into a frenzy of killing.
The PIFF site described the film as featuring a “war of epic, puppet-mutilating proportions,” a claim that did not disappoint – Frank and Zed is abundant in ridiculous special effects and over the top gore. In fact, essentially every major component of this film veers on the side of excessive, from the sets, to the sound effects and voice work. The craftsmanship that went into the film was clear in every frame, and the puppeteering was truly phenomenal to watch. As the director stated before the screening of the film began, Frank and Zed was created over the course of 6 years, with filming taking place primarily in his garage. Upon further research, I discovered that Jesse Blanchard raised roughly $20,000 through crowdfunding after four years into creating the film, allowing him to finish and put it through post. The time, effort and talent that went into making Frank and Zed was by far the biggest joy of watching the film.
Despite the inarguably ambitious production, however, Frank and Zed was by no means a perfect film. Though it had charming moments and an outstandingly original form, the storyline of the film felt lackluster in comparison. Although I was able to feel connected to Frank and Zed, whose character designs were more stylistic and handcrafted, I often felt that moments with the fabric puppet characters tended to be less compelling. The busy designs of the puppets as well as the sets themselves often made action scenes feel confusing and jarring, which took away from the overall enjoyment of the film as well. This was especially apparent in the film’s final battle scene, which lasted roughly 15 to 20 minutes and really suffered from issues with spacial awareness and overall pacing.
Despite its flaws, Frank and Zed did not disappoint when it came to its overall presentation, and it’s impossible not to be impressed by the intense ambition proven by these filmmakers. Possibly my favorite part of the entire film was the final credits sequence, which was compiled of various behind the scenes footage and really showed off the immense amount of craftsmanship, skill, creativity, and hard work that this film took to create. Seeing the raw talent of this team and the creative energy put into this film was more than enough for me to fall in love with it and I’m looking forward to see where this film goes as it gains recognition outside of Portland.
PSU School of Film @ PIFF 