Cost of Living was one of the most popular features at last year’s Fantastic Fest, a tongue-in-cheek short film that paid homage to the splattery tongue-in-cheek creature features of the 1980’s and was written and directed by newcomer BenDavid Grabinski. Now the acclaimed short is online and you can watch the entire 9-minute film as well as a brief behind-the-scenes video here below.

Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World) and Bret Harrison (Reaper) play (respectively) Silas and Jerry, a pair of working stiffs employed by a scientific facility that often loses control of its “experiments” and thus must be put down violently. During one crisis our heroes are dispatched on a suicide mission into the darkest and most dangerous bowels of the building, and as Silas and Jerry stare certain death in its off-camera face they discuss their futures, including a possible transfer to a facility that doesn’t have so many monster problems.

This is a cool little short that emphasizes character and dialogue over gore and special effects – the only time we see any trace of the beasts Silas and Jerry take out it’s usually when their blood is getting splattered all over our intrepid heroes. But that doesn’t matter because Routh and Harrison make a great team. Routh in particular gets tons of kickass one-liners, and Harrison makes for a fine forward-thinking partner. I would love to see Grabinski turn Cost of Living into a full-blown feature film so we can see exactly what Silas and Jerry are capping in between bouts on insightful conversation.

You visit the official website of Cost of Living here.

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[Source via /Film]