Horst_In_Translation Review of Vapors

Vapors (1965)

Transient shadows vanishing into waters of forgetfulness

[4/10 · 9 November 2017]

"Vapors" is an American 32-minute live action short film from 1965, so this one is already half a century old, a bit more even. Fittingly for its time still, this is a black-and-white movie and even if he did some acting before, here we have the very first filmmaking effort by director Andy Milligan. Not too familiar with him really, but I thought I'd mention. The writer is Hope Stansbury, who adapted her own play for the screen here. Funnily enough, the characters are all male, homosexual males actually, in this bath house set drama movie. It is very dialogue-driven and all about the communication between the protagonists and the quantity increases more and more the longer it goes. Overall, I would not say it is a failure, but the conflict in here aren't on a level either where I really cared for the characters or what is about to happen to them. The cast that does not really include any well-known actors here did not make a great impact either or impress me with their range. That's why, as a whole, I give this little movie a thumbs-down. Very bleak, but not very intriguing. Just too mediocre overall. Watch something else instead.