Branching Out With the Invisible Man was the first entry for the Horror-Rama Short Film Festival. It’s about a day in the life of the titular character told in a uniquely unconventional way. Is seeing truly believing?

Directed by Nick and Jim Zounis, this Australian short film features the classic Universal monster with a new look. They have a fun visual style keeping the black-and-white old-time aesthetic but giving the film a stylized comic book look similar to the Sin City films.

There isn’t much of a story but it contains fun visuals of him walking around until he discovers a fire and prepares to save someone from the burning building. The unraveling of the bandages is especially creative. An abrupt ending, however, makes it feel incomplete. After it faded to black I waited for the next scene to start but the credits rolled instead. It confuses me why it didn’t even show the rescue. The title also confuses me too. I couldn’t help but wonder what the point of this was because of how short it actually is.

Overall, seeing is truly believing because it does contain stunning visuals with a strong emphasis on the quality of the stylized look. More of a cohesive narrative is left to be desired but that’s a minor discrepancy. I enjoyed it I just wanted more of it. I was anticipating how they would pull off the fire rescue but then there was nothing. Very disappointing. For what was presented, I would recommend it because it really is an astounding feat of filmmaking and works well as the opening scene of a full-length feature film. There’s a sense of wonderment because I speculated how they filmed most of it. That’s pure movie magic. And remember, keep your eyes wide open because inconceivable filmmaking has been missing in modern cinema for too long.

Grade: 6/10