The Ray Bradbury short film, The Small Assassin, had its world premiere at A Night of Horror International Film Festival in 2011. Since then, the film was picked up by Shorts International for worldwide distribution and broadcast for several months on the ShortsTV/ShortsHD network, which is available through AT&T U-verse and DirecTV. Most recently, the film was released on iTunes, where it can be found at the iTunes Store (Movies / Short Films / Thriller Shorts) or on the iTunes website.

Over the past two years, The Small Assassin has screened at dozens of film festivals in Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Spain, and the United States. The film picked up several awards during its festival tour, including "Best Suspense Film" at the Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival, "Best Short Film" at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, and "Special Jury Prize" at the Canada International Film Festival.

Cinematographer Kevin Moss also received a Heritage Award "Honorable Mention" from the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on the film. Sam Weller, acclaimed author of The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, watched The Small Assassin and wrote: "The film is spectacular. The production quality is stunning, the score, the acting, the lighting, all of it. The movie is just breathtaking."

Based on the short story by legendary author Ray Bradbury, The Small Assassin is set in 1947 and follows a young couple who suspect their newborn baby is plotting to kill them. The film was directed by Chris Charles and stars David Marcotte, Lois Atkins, and Steppenwolf Ensemble member Robert Breuler.

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The_Small_Assassin_Poster.jpg (259 Kb, 6 downloads) The Small Assassin Poster

Interesting! It seems to be a period piece, too, judging by the trailer.

Does anyone know the file size?

Thanks for posting this Mr. Charles!

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Originally posted by douglasSP:

Does anyone know the file size?

The SD file is about 181MB. If you prefer HD (_2.99_USD), it is about 460MB, I think.

Truly well done, and so glad to finally see this! The dialog is very close to story, too. Especially liked how the the-doctor-comes-to-realise-scene was executed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Linnl,

I reviewed a version of this film for my website back in 2006 (it's here). It was a very good piece of work back then. I'm curious to see whether this 2011 version is different.

Yes, this is a different version of The Small Assassin. The first one (2007) never had its official premiere, so we revisited the project a few years later and completely reworked it. We cut almost 20 minutes of footage and totally revamped the edit, sound, score, and color. I think you'll find this new version of the film quite improved.

In early cuts of The Small Assassin, we found establishing the tone and keeping it consistent was essential to make the film work. Psychological thriller films, especially those that deal with such abnormal topic matter as ours, must tread a fine line when it comes to suspending the audiences' disbelief. We discovered the film was not about whether or not a baby was actually conspiring against his parents. Rather, it was about how powerful the mind can be in creating a conspiracy theory and how the resulting paranoia can be contagious. The film became a dark study of characters living in simpler times, dealing with extraordinary circumstances.

The Small Assassin was shot on location in Chicago, and some of the notable locations include: The Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Museum of Science and Industry (Zephyr Train Exhibit), and Garfield Park Conservatory. For those of you who remember Nard Kordell (may he rest in peace), he has a brief cameo in the film. We had the pleasure of showing Ray himself various edits, and he was a tremendous supporter of the project. His biographer, Sam Weller, said Ray thought it was one of the most faithful adaptations of his work he had ever seen. What a wonderful compliment from a man we held in such high regard!

Enjoy the film, and let us know what you think! The trailer, a clip, photos, and more can be found on IMDb and Facebook.

Thanks for the clarification, Chris. I will definitely take a good look at the new version. It was pretty good in its first incarnation, so I am looking forward to seeing this version.

Incidentally, here's a blast from the past: our old friend Nard Kordell's photo gallery of behind the scenes photos from one of the original shoots for the film:

http://www.raybradburyboard.co...391004661#3391004661