This past November, I was lucky enough to co-program the MIDNITE Block of Nitehawk Shorts Fest, the annual celebration of stellar shorts filmmakers and shorts filmmaking at Brooklyns great Nitehawk Cinema. One of the standouts of a truly stacked lineup including Ben Steiners The Stomach, Andrea McGintys McDreamy and Ben Astons He Took his Skin Off for Me, was The Grey Matter, a witty, sometimes ghastly horror-comedy from brothers and co-directors Luke and Peter McCoubrey. The Grey Matter has now debuted online and makes for a fantastic Friday watch.
The Grey Matter is a dark comedy horror starring Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Girls, John Adams) as an office stiff who, after suffering a mysterious injury, finds himself stumbling through a courtship with a coworker played by Lucy Walters (Shame, Power) but something strange is afoot. With the romantic guidance of a creature unearthed from his head wound, he finds himself stumbling through an absurd, increasingly unorthodox, and potentially fatal attraction.
Peter McCoubrey tells Shock, I work with my brother Luke whos my DP as well as co-director and what started with two music videos for a college friends band, grew into a half way decent career making music videos and TV commercials. The short arose from our desire to delve a bit deeper into character and story than the parameters of music video or commercial ever could allow.
Having a soft spot for the genre movies of the 80s, weve always loved way they often bounced around from horror to comedy to enigmatic to just flat out weird as well as their inventive use of practical FX. Films like An American Werewolf in London, Return of the Living Dead, Big Trouble in Little China, The Fly, Brain Damage and Brazil all had a level of influence over the films initial conception. We wanted to honor the wild, inventive, and playful spirit of those films but at the same time create a film that felt modern, cinematic, and hopefully leave the audience wanting more.
The Grey Matter, with its grotesque, absurd scenario and sharp style should herald good things to come from the McCoubrey brothers, and Shock will likely keep up with whatever they may be. Enjoy!
For more on The Grey Matter, visit the film’s official site here.
The Grey Matter from Peter McCoubrey on Vimeo.
