Trapped in Amber, The Barber of Twisted Obsession

Unnerving and uncomfortable. Today we look at a half hour horror short made by Daniel Brown, and it is one that will stick with you long after the end credits. This is dark horror which will come across as twisted and bordering on the taboo. Made by a Philadelphia filmmaker, your first reaction to this film will be "what just happened, I don't get it." Then a second or two later you will have to confess to yourself that your sane mind may also be a bit twisted because in fact...you did get it.

Jeffrey Turboff brilliantly plays a barber, who may also be a pedophile...so why are we feeling sorry for him? Who knows...but we do. Something awful happened many years ago and now it has become his obsession. Upstairs in a spare bedroom is...a little girl? Tied to a bed is she? Or is she dead? Or is she even there. Our barber buys her little girls clothes...especially undies. Yep...this is creepy. His long lost love is Amber, but many years ago she went away...we assumed died.

But wait! Into his shop walks pre-adolescent Hazel (Caroline Oktavec). He does her hair but unfortunately he touches her inappropriately. Now Hazel's dad (Matt Nicholas) is on the warpath. As the barber continues to tend to the mysterious being in his upstairs bedroom, his world closes in on him. Philadelphia doesn't like child molesters or any pedophilia driven pervert. No more of the plot here, but the ending will be fast-paced and shocking.

Like a pre-historic mosquito caught in a lava flow, perhaps our barber has been caught in childhood by a horrific and bloody event. Is he really a pervert deserving of the scorn and brutality that inevitably will come his way? What of his upstairs bedroom...could it be Amber in there? Another girl he is making into Amber? Or maybe he's piecing together Amber from parts of corpses of children. See where Daniel Brown takes us? To make matters worse, why are we feeling sympathy for this guy and why do we see his antagonists as villains? As we are led masterfully on a twisted journey by Mr. Brown, our mind stays in "Trapped in Amber" long after the credits, asking questions about what we just saw...and about ourselves. Thus, perhaps we too are trapped in amber, just like that pre-historic mosquito.
Click on this link to view the trailer for this film Trapped in Amber trailer