Spider Fang!

In terms of value per frame Spider Fang is probably one of the best films you'll ever see. In one minute and 51 seconds it manages to amuse, shock, and delight, and it signals an efficiency of talent that makes writer/director Justin Perkinson one to watch.

Millie, played with aplomb by Jacqueline Larsen, is playing with her grandfather. "Fish-face", she cries, gurning. "Fish-face", he echoes. "Dragon-tongue", she continues. "Dragon-tongue", he replies. Then things start to get distinctive.

No spoilers here, just that things don't look too rosy for Grandpa. If we've correctly identified William Knight, he's a veteran actor with roles stretching back to the original Star Trek, but the Spider Fang represents a greater foe than any that Kirk faced.

To tell you more would be to spoil it. The music (which Perkinson also provides) is dead-on, striking just the right notes for jaunty menace. Millie's crayon drawings are an excellent bit of design, and Larsen's performance is great.

The only things that stop it from being perfect are boring technical ones - the colours seemed a little forced, but that could be an artifact of the screening or a palette choice your reviewer doesn't agree with. Knight mugs in just the right way until he doesn't, but that's possibly pettiness - save that in something this small and tightly engineered it's almost impossible to avoid.

This is top - there's a teaser trailer online, and it's doing the rounds of the festivals, and we can only hope that Perkinson will release it to the web at some point in the future. It feels like a viral hit waiting to happen, but it's the curse of short film that despite its conveniences it's almost impossible to catch. You should try to grab Spider Fang, however; certainly before it tries to grab you.