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Eating Out | 1994 | ★★★★
A duffel coat-sporting diner, eating quite the most hideous looking meal of burger and chips in quite the most hideous looking greasy spoon caf’, has his fine dining experience rudely interrupted by an armed robber. However, when said pilferer’s girlfriend demands to be fed, the gun-wielding thief scarpers, leaving the scuzzy young woman and unfazed diner to share the unlikeliest of romantic meals, in Sletaune’s blackly hilarious, metaphor-laden short film.
A duffel coat-sporting diner, eating quite the most hideous looking meal of burger and chips in quite the most hideous looking greasy spoon caf’, has his fine dining experience rudely interrupted by an armed robber. However, when said pilferer’s girlfriend demands to be fed, the gun-wielding thief scarpers, leaving the scuzzy young woman and unfazed diner to share the unlikeliest of romantic meals, in Sletaune’s blackly hilarious, metaphor-laden short film.
Junkmail | 1997 | ★★★½
In Sletaune’s scuzzily and stylishly entertaining black comedy, an immoral and decidedly unconscientious postman falls for the similar charms of a local laundress. But instead of wooing her in a traditional way, he takes to stalking her and breaking into her flat. However, perhaps unsurprisingly such behaviour soon lands him in trouble, as before long he finds himself at the centre of a not-so-heady mix of suicide, assault, robbery, mail fraud, and dodgy karaoke. The deadpan Robert Skjærstad, part of a generally very good cast, proves excellent in the central role.
In Sletaune’s scuzzily and stylishly entertaining black comedy, an immoral and decidedly unconscientious postman falls for the similar charms of a local laundress. But instead of wooing her in a traditional way, he takes to stalking her and breaking into her flat. However, perhaps unsurprisingly such behaviour soon lands him in trouble, as before long he finds himself at the centre of a not-so-heady mix of suicide, assault, robbery, mail fraud, and dodgy karaoke. The deadpan Robert Skjærstad, part of a generally very good cast, proves excellent in the central role.
Amateurs | 2001 | ★★★
In Sletaune’s short and not-so-sweet black comedy, a disgruntled drummer arranges for his band’s obnoxious frontman to be kidnapped by a pair of – it turns out – incompetent criminals, in order to pocket the ransom money. However, so incompetent are they that they soon lose the loathsome Swedish headbanger to a rival kidnapper – a bankrupt, put-upon fast-food peddler, who chances upon the victim whilst out in the woods attempting to commit suicide. But will this born loser prove any less incompetent? Generally well crafted, with some good performances, particularly from the excellent Robert Skjærstad, the film proves to be thoroughly entertaining, if somewhat insubstantial.
In Sletaune’s short and not-so-sweet black comedy, a disgruntled drummer arranges for his band’s obnoxious frontman to be kidnapped by a pair of – it turns out – incompetent criminals, in order to pocket the ransom money. However, so incompetent are they that they soon lose the loathsome Swedish headbanger to a rival kidnapper – a bankrupt, put-upon fast-food peddler, who chances upon the victim whilst out in the woods attempting to commit suicide. But will this born loser prove any less incompetent? Generally well crafted, with some good performances, particularly from the excellent Robert Skjærstad, the film proves to be thoroughly entertaining, if somewhat insubstantial.
Next Door | 2005 | ★★★★
When his girlfriend leaves him for another bloke, a young man finds himself pulled into the unfathomable lives of his unnervingly sexy neighbours, in Sletaune’s well written, strikingly shot, alluringly scored, and brilliantly acted Polanskio-Lynchian Kafkaesque psychological thriller, which proves to be both intensely alluring and sickeningly repellent (often at the same time), as it seduces us with its heady mix of bloody violence, extreme eroticism, and penetrating psychological horror. Kristoffer Joner and Julia Schacht’s performances prove particularly eye-catching.
When his girlfriend leaves him for another bloke, a young man finds himself pulled into the unfathomable lives of his unnervingly sexy neighbours, in Sletaune’s well written, strikingly shot, alluringly scored, and brilliantly acted Polanskio-Lynchian Kafkaesque psychological thriller, which proves to be both intensely alluring and sickeningly repellent (often at the same time), as it seduces us with its heady mix of bloody violence, extreme eroticism, and penetrating psychological horror. Kristoffer Joner and Julia Schacht’s performances prove particularly eye-catching.
Babycall | 2011 | ★★½
An anxiety-ridden young mother – so fearful of her violent ex-husband that she uses a baby monitor to listen to her 8-year-old son sleeping in their secretly located flat – starts to question her own sanity when she begins to see and hear things that she knows to be not true. But a new friendship with a kindly shop worker seems to give her some limited comfort, in Sletaune’s diverting, if rather cold, mystery-thriller. Though beautifully crafted, the film proves disappointingly po-faced compared to his earlier works, concentrating rather too much on plot, with little time given to building interesting characters.
An anxiety-ridden young mother – so fearful of her violent ex-husband that she uses a baby monitor to listen to her 8-year-old son sleeping in their secretly located flat – starts to question her own sanity when she begins to see and hear things that she knows to be not true. But a new friendship with a kindly shop worker seems to give her some limited comfort, in Sletaune’s diverting, if rather cold, mystery-thriller. Though beautifully crafted, the film proves disappointingly po-faced compared to his earlier works, concentrating rather too much on plot, with little time given to building interesting characters.
