Tag: michael welborn

The Monster with 21 Faces Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

Hello, Slicers!

Mark Kelly here and I’m back with another Reel Review. I’ll be reviewing the crime documentary The Monster with 21 Faces (かい人21面相) , directed by Michael Welborn. The film recently had its world premiere at CinemaSlice.coms A Slice of Fright film festival. The movie is part one of an in depth look at the real life incidents surrounding a wealthy Japanese businessman. It details the attack on his career, friends, and family by an unknown assailant calling himself the monster with 21 faces.

In Japan during the spring of 1984 president of Hashiba Homegoods, Sotara Hashiba(Bruce Falcon), is taking a shower at his home one evening. Unbeknownst to him, 3 individuals dressed in dark clothes and white masks have broke into his residence. They have tied up his wife and daughter and are planning to kidnap Hashiba himself. What follows is a decent into mayhem and mystery. Hashiba struggles to protect everything and everyone he holds dear against multiple unknown attacks.

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Meet the Slicer: Michael Welborn

Posted on by Nic White

Sup Slicers!?

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to a driven filmmaker, and co-owner of CinemaSlice.com, Michael Welborn! Michael has produced numerous films and videos for the ‘Slice since the very begining os the Slicer-verse. Michael is motivated to create new content that is both cutting-edge and socially relevant– and is an all-around bad ass.

Each project Michael releases further solidifies his foundation as an auteur, and CinemaSlice would not be around without him!

I’ll let Welborn introduce himself… take it away!

“I’m from LA.” That’s what I tell people to sound cool. It’s true! But I was moved to Michigan when I turned two years old so I’m not as cool as I lead on. Now fast forward to the important part, myself and movies.

I don’t recall being overly fond of movies as a child. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t watch or like them:

Guess my parents favorite movie!

I just guess I’d expect someone like myself to be in that movie nerd group, but I never have been. Ask me if I’ve ever seen your 5 favorite movies and chances are likely that I’ve only seen 2. I’ve always enjoyed movies but my overall love for them is based on one simple aspect: Storytelling.

It took me most of my childhood to come to the realization that I wanted to tell stories in video form. First possible occupation I remember being enthralled with was Paleontology. I loved the shit out of dinosaurs when I was a kid. I read books on fossils and dug adult human-sized holes in my backyard. Continue reading “Meet the Slicer: Michael Welborn” →

Under the Radar

Posted on by Francis Lalonde

On Halloween, 2017, CinemaSlice‘s Michael Welborn released a short film clip paying homage to the 1940 film The Devil Bat (starring Bela Lugosi) – also called The Devil Bat. I asked an old college friend (an avid film fan, and a classmate in Andrew Jefchak‘s Literature and Motion Pictures class at Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan) for his input on the film before I wrote this.

Talking with Welborn, he mentioned that his intention was to cover what he felt was the main scene(s) in the original film – explaining the short length (a little over three minutes) of this project. He also had some ideas he’d like to try for an expanded homage – though to my knowledge those are still in the concept stage.

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One For the Show, Two For the Money

Posted on by Francis Lalonde

This will be a review of the CinemaSlice Short Film Double Feature, covering two short film releases by Michael Welborn: Sleep / Humans

The first entry is “SLEEP“

A horror film with a mix of humor and sadism. I feel this film is a lot longer than it needs to be. The opening itself running a slightly-past-tolerable 2 minutes, plus. I’m not sure if the background images really do much for setting up the story itself (rather, justifying the amount of time spent on them). It’s possible there’s some key element among them, but after a couple of viewings it still eludes me – other than establishing a medical-theme. The one nice thing though is the opening soundtrack (by AVZTN), which has a special creepiness to it – the classic haunting sounds do produce a chilling effect, causing uneasiness in the viewer (or at least to me).

The first shot is a close-up of an anesthesiologist (played by Michael Welborn), explaining to a patient who he is and what his duties are suppose to be. We then see the patient (Mr. Covington, played by Brandon Guiles). We quickly learn this is suppose to be an appendectomy. However the bedside manner of the physician is disturbing Covington a bit.

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