The Contraption (1977)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

"The Contraption" is a British 8-minute short film written and directed by James Dearden. It was his very first work as a filmmaker and he was still in his 20s here. His most notable effort later on was the Academy Award nominated script from "Fatal Attraction". "The Contraption" is probably a horror movie. It is fairly atmospheric, but I cannot say I found it really scary. The eerie music just isn't enough. Certainly the machine and physics are more in the center of the film than the man who builds the contraption. The biggest award that this film won was actually from my hometown#s film festival. Yet I cannot really agree with them on this one. The ending somehow elevates the material, but I still cannot recommend it. Didn't think this was a particularly interesting watch. Not recommended.

A stalwart feature on Saturday Nightmares, this seven minute short film stars Richard O'Brien, of "Rocky Horror" fame, as a man building… Something. I honestly can't talk about it much without spoiling it. I'll just say the film is all about the build-up to the climatic visual punch line and it does so fantastic.As for the presentation, the short is very well shot. In close angles, we see the man working with his tools. A saw rushed into our eyes, wires and steel rods assembled from odd angles. The construction is intentionally show so that we aren't entirely sure what we're looking at. This short's success rides a great deal on its excellent sound design. In the heavily shadow room, all we here is a distant leaky pipe and the clanking and grinding of the man at work. This is another fantastic short and it's great that the internet and streaming video sites make it so easy now to revisit this types of film, stuff we'd otherwise would never see again.

i saw this when i was about 7 or 8! it was shown before "grease" of all films! I've never forgot about it and 25 years on still remember it vividly! fans of this should check out "la cabana" a Spanish short film about a man stuck in a telephone box! its quite bizarre and pretty disturbing!!! it starts off pretty light hearted but soon turns pretty twisted and has a very twisted ending,"the contraption" also reminds me of the song "whats he building" by tom waits! its a very intriguing song about a man building something in a shed! check it out i promise you wont be disappointed! id love to see "the contraption" again but probably never will!

This almost wordless short is visually gripping. It is, effectively, a 5 minute one-man play that will leave you stunned.