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Curse of the Del Garria Review
27/05/2004
by Ian Hewerdine

'The Curse of The Del Garria' is a short film made by Doctor Who
fan, Andrew Merkelbach. Read our review of it here...

The Curse of the Del Garria Review

Last week a parcel dropped through my door, all the way from
Australia. I think that was the first time I have received a package
from Australia. So, gosh, it was a good day already. OK, so maybe I
am easily pleased, but as I always say, that's got to be a good
thing. Anyway, I digress. Said package's Australian origins were
obvious, so there was no mystery that it would be the VHS tape from
Andrew Merkelbach who I have been in correspondence with lately.
He's been plugging his short Doctor Who-inspired film which he
directed and starred in. So this was it, ready to watch and
review...

A break in my work appears and I find a suitable location equipped
with a video player. Magnetic media is so 90's after all. At least
that's a neat enough sounding excuse for not having one. I decide
drag along another 'Who' fan who I figure might like the chance to
experience the UK premiere of 'The Curse of the Del Garria' and may
have some useful alternate points of view to offer when it comes to
writing what you're reading now.

So, settled in and with a couple of cups of tea and a plateful of
biscuits at the ready, the credits roll. I briefly wonder if I will
be behind the sofa at any point in the next 28 minutes.

Its clear from the beginning that Andrew, who has assumed the mantle
of the "Traveller" (to avoid any awkward copyright issues I assume),
is a big 'Who' fan and we should take for granted that anything
which isn't explained can be assumed to pretty much tie in with the
usual Doctor Who lore. In truth you will need to do this since the
script sets of at a trot with the main characters chatting in a
manner that assumes we're already familiar with them. After a bit,
the gist of the plot is revealed: The Traveller has been busy saving
the Universe/World/Time-Space from naughty scamps who would use
sneaky tricks to subvert the status quo to their advantage, but now
he's having a bit of a weekend break in a sleepy seaside town, circa
1996. All this is revealed in the Traveller's matter-of-fact yet
tongue-in-cheek manner, working off the age-old script technique of
the handy 'sidekick who needs things explained'. Things rapidly turn
ominous and then go reassuringly wrong as the town is gripped in the
thrall of 'obligatory malevolent baddie'.

The Curse of the Del Garria shows promising production values.
There's commendable attention to detail in the cinematography,
incidentals, sound, music and credits. Even down to the rewind-
worthy footnote, "Any similarity to persons living, dead or
fantastically reanimated is purely coincidental", which went down
well. There are even some special effects too! It's a well made
outing which has sufficient humour to let the viewer not take the
whole thing too seriously and it revels happily in its clichés.

The most notable weaknesses are in the acting and the rather clunky
script. Acting performances from the main characters are mostly
passable for daytime TV, but we're certainly not talking Royal
Shakespeare Company - some lines are a bit clipped and you don't get
the feeling you're watching a character, rather that you're watching
someone deliver lines - Willem Dafoe and Al Pacino aren't in any
danger just yet. But the low budget nature of the episode is
embraced and a bit of hamming it up and the tongue-in-cheek
qualities help the general mood. As for the script, this does
require a certain level of Doctor Who familiarity from the viewer
which shouldn't necessarily be assumed, and it ends abruptly on
something of an anti-climax. Other niggles are that some of the
dialogue isn't picked up well by the microphones - but that's a
budget limitation not a failing of the filmmakers. There are also
scenes which are shot from a couple of angles to give the impression
of there being more than one camera on set, but the break in the
flow of the acting gives that away a bit, which is a shame. There
are also a few scenes where characters with speaking parts have
their back to the camera while they deliver their lines. Mostly
these are minor issues that you can imagine being remedied if the
makers had the luxury of the ability to re-shoot scenes.

All in all it's a very 'Who' 28 minutes and the makers have worked
hard to give it a polished look and feel. In a strange way I found
myself thinking of `Lord of the Rings' director, Peter Jackson's
early splatstick effort - `Bad Taste'. Not that I have seen it in at
least 10 years and The Curse of the Del Garria doesn't compare
really in any way to Bad Taste other than being shot on a very low
budget with a lot of enthusiasm - but Andrew Merkelbach seems to
have a good idea of how to string his production together. If Peter
Jackson can go from Bad Taste to Lord of the Rings, it's not
inconceivable to see Andrew Merkelbach going on to significantly
greater things than 'Curse of the Del Garria'. As for my co-
reviewer, well he gave the boots a big thumbs up. Hmm. Maybe that
was a waste of a cup of tea.