Bottom Line: Fall of Kaden is a strong departure from some of the lighter dramas that make up the majority of web series’ attempt to be serious. It is dark, really dark and it doesn’t ask for any forgiveness from the audience. If you like your dramas closer to The Wire than 90210 you should tune in to Fall of Kaden.

A dark, cinematic Web drama as seen through the eyes of Kaden (Adam Leiphart), a paranoid loan shark out to exact revenge on a wildcard gambler who ran off with his money. Produced by Tape 6 in association with CJP Digital Media.

Details

Cast: Adam Leiphart, Brian Troyan, Diane Hren, Amber Friendly, Joe Andaloro
Website: Fall of Kaden

Blip.tv: Watch Them On Blip.tv
YouTube: Watch Them On YouTube
Twitter: Follow Them On Twitter
Facebook: Join Them On Facebook

Ratings

Style 4.5

Pacing 4

This is a dark, punchy drama that hits all the right points. With some episodes closing in on ten minutes long what is most surprising is just how gripping this series is. Kaden’s monologues provide a strong, believable frame for the story, making this a drama worth getting hooked on. (Storytelling 4)

Polish 4

Outside of the language, violence and drug use disclaimers this is a great example of web series drama and a good contender as one of my favorites in the genre. (Watchability 3.5)

Novelty 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.91 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Compulsions is one of the rare occasions that a show I was looking forward to seeing didn’t disappoint. It’s sharp, well acted and leaves you looking forward to the season two. More than that it shows that an open-ended Thriller can be done and done well on the web, something that other web producers should take note of.

Everyone has a compulsion, most of us fight them, repress them, and keep them hidden. Compulsions tells the story of three seemingly normal people who instead of repressing their dark desires, act on them as emotional outlets.

Compulsions is a serialized dramatic thriller focusing on the internal dark sides of the leads juxtaposed with their “daily lives”.

Details

Cast: Craig Frank, Janna Bossier, Annemarie Pazmino, Seth Caskey, Taryn O’Neill, Sean Spence, Andrew Clemons
Website: Compulsions (RSS)

Twitter: Follow Them On Twitter
Facebook: Join Them On Facebook

Ratings

This is an incredibly stylish Thriller — cold, dark and hard as steel. while the blood effects are a little B grade, the editing and the acting more than make up for it, breathing life into the torture scenes and tying the action of the series together. (Style 4.5)

Pacing 3.5

While I understand the need to maintain mystery, I do wish that they were a little more clear about some of the plot elements. There were times, especially early on, that I had trouble tying the characters into the plot and I was a little lost. (Storytelling 3.5)

Polish 4.5

Watchability 4

You have never seen anything quite like this in web series land. The story concept is unique, three people letting their inner demons run rampant in order to accomplish some mysterious goal and the acting is rock solid. It is right up there with Girl Number 9 as one of my favorite Thrillers. (Novelty 5)

Overall Rating: 4.16 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Shot in black and white and dripping style Girltrash is a worthy entrant into the action web series market even if it relies a little too heavily on recaps and flashbacks to fill up its rather short running time of under four minutes.

GIRLTRASH! is the story of three hapless chicks getting by any way they can. Tyler and Daisy are small-time criminals and best buds. Their friendship is put to the test when Tyler is seduced by the two-timing temptress, LouAnne. When LouAnne double-crosses Tyler and Daisy by stealing money from the local Kingpin, Tyler and Daisy are thrown into a world of shit. They need to find the money and LouAnne before they turn up dead… or worse.

Created by Angela Robinson (The L Word, Hung, D.E.B.S.), the 10 original webisodes premiered online weekly, to overwhelming success. It was recently announced that the Girltrash! saga would be making the leap from webisodes… to movie, with filming underway in December 2009.

Details

Creator: Angela Robinson
Website: Girl Trash (RSS)

Blip.tv: Watch Them On Blip.tv
Twitter: Follow Them On Twitter
Vote For It: Girltrash

Ratings

With great visual style and dialogue that is snappy and silly without being grating, Girltrash sweats cool. (Style 4.5)

Despite some minor pacing issues, the story is solid and satisfying. (Storytelling 5)

When your run length is often less than 3 minutes, you really should not spend 20 seconds of your time doing recaps. What makes this even more frustrating is that by time you get to the meat of the show (which is really fun) they’re just about ready to roll ending credits. (Pacing 2.5)

Polish 3

Watchability 4.5

This show feels a lot like Thelma and Louise with tighter jeans and spikier hair, which works really, really well it. If nothing else, I can tell you that you have never seen a web series quite like Girltrash. (Novelty 4)

Overall Rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Combining hand drawn animation with live action, Drawn By Pain delivers one of the most unique experiences you’ll have the pleasure of seeing on or off the Internet.

Young Emily once watched the world through blinders so the only thing she saw was the page on which she drew. Isolated, she tried to look away as her father gave her mother lessons in brutality from which she could only hide in her mind. But that rage, that fear growing deep within her would surface and once unleashed – could never be re-contained. Ten years older, the demons of old fuel her, empower her and push her to be the very thing she once feared: A monster in her own right.

A dramatic action packed 12-part series in a sea of comedic web content, “Drawn By Pain” engages its audience by leading them through an episodic spiral into one woman’s search for salvation as her animated madness fights for her sanity in the real world.

Details

Cast: Jesse Cowell, Erica Langworthy, Marissa Parness, Elizabeth Plevy, Guy Rader
Blip.tv Channel: Drawn By Pain
Website: Drawn By Pain
Support the Show: Visit The Drawn By Pain Store

Subscribe

Feed: Feed
Twitter Page Jeskid

Ratings

This is a series you have to see to believe. The way they blend live action with animation is absolutely stunning and my only qualm is I wish they had the time to do more of it. Also, the interplay between the main character’s younger and older self and the demons she faces down is the sort of thing you would expect out of a much higher budget production. In all, this is a brilliant piece of work. (Style 5)

Overall the story is fantastic but some episodes seemed to drift, this is especially apparent near the middle of the series when we start to question the protagonists sanity. While I understand what they were trying to accomplish, and they did a good job of doing so, if they had added more exposition it would have helped to flesh out the themes. (Pacing 3.5)

Storytelling 5

Polish 4

This is a complete story in every sense of the word, you’ll find yourself stuck to your seat from beginning to end. Why the 4 then? Well, it’s also one of the darkest web series I’ve seen to date. It deals with issues of abuse, sanity and identity that wil make it difficult to swallow for some more sensitive viewers. If you can get past this you are in for a ride, I couldn’t give a stronger recommendation if I tried (Watchability 4)

Novelty 5

Overall Rating: 4.41 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: If you own or have ever owned an NES this is one of the best things you’ll ever watch. I always knew the mushroom kingdom had some skeletons in its closet.

“There Will Be Brawl” is a non-profit web series designed as a dark, dramatic parody of the popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl video game for the Nintendo Wii. The Creators of the project are avid fans of Nintendo, and this series has been developed as an homage to the colorful characters of SSBB that we all know and love. Through the hard work of a talented cast and crew, and the support of our fans, we hope to continue to produce a story you will all enjoy.

Details

Creators: Matthew Mercer, Zach Grafton
Escapist Magazine Channel: There Will Be Brawl
Website: There Will Be Brawl
Support the Show: Watch The Episodes At Escapist Magazine

Subscribe

Forum: Forum
Facebook Page There Will Be Brawl

Ratings

I never thought I’d be calling an NES parody “darkly stylish,” but this one is. Between Luigi’s gritty monologues, the strip clubs and the violence this is about as dramatic as the Nintendo universe has ever been. (Style 5)

Pacing 4

Storytelling 4.5

Great costumes, great script, great direction I couldn’t ask for more. (Polish 5)

Insidery isn’t the half of it. This is a series designed for people who know enough about video games to be dangerous. If you don’t, most of the jokes will make no sense and really all you are left with are a bunch of people running around in weird costumes occasionally hitting each other. If you understand the source material this is a dark, edgy parody of the worlds we all grew up with. Each episode is about 10 minutes so save this for when you have a little time to enjoy it. (Watchability 4)

Novelty 4

Overall Rating: 4.41 out of 5 stars

A man who suffers from terrible dreams wakes up to find himself unsure of who he is, what his real purpose is and how to escape. This takes a page from a lot of other secret agent, amnesia, “I kill people but don’t know about it” films like the Bourne series but the difference is that this entire movie would fit into Bourne’s first act.

While I really liked some of the concepts, I spent a lot of time feeling like I’ve seen this movie before. It took so many nods and used so many genre tropes that it ironed out a lot of the qualities that make it unique.

It is a fun movie to watch and the film work is solid but Jacob Ares just feels like it could have been a lot better if more time was taken to put a unique spin on what is becoming a tired premise.

Creator’s Description

Jacob Ares is a man with a sinister past. A past that shines light on a very dark soul.

Details

Cast: Phoenix Romero, Reagan Pfifer, Ja Elam
Openfilm Channel: Jacob Ares
Website: Ralf Bremer

Ratings

Style 3.5

Pacing 4

As a homage to the genre it works well, but as an independent film it feels like they could have done more with the script. (Storytelling 3)

I found myself straining to hear it. Some extra work could have been done to polish up the sound. (Polish 3)

Watchability 3.5

Novelty 2.5

Overall Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

I won’t beat this one to death (ahem). It’s a real scream. Two mobsters talk about life, love and their careers as they make their way to their next assignment. It’s a gritty and strangely funny look at how we might imagine a mob hit would go down.

It’s short, funny and well executed one-act by the people at Sometimes Funny. Like most films of this length, the story and characterization are on the thin side but the climax breaths some much needed life into it. At under 2 minutes there really is no reason you shouldn’t give this one a peek.

Creator’s Description

A pair of gangsters take an eventful stroll in the park.

Details

Cast: Michael Johnson, Steve O’Brien
Vimeo Channel: A Brief Case
Website: Sometimes Funny

Ratings

I have a soft spot for mafioso flicks. (Style 4)

Pacing 3.5

Short, punchy and competent. (Storytelling 3)

Polish 3.5

Watchability 4

Novelty 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.58 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: For the closet non-conformist in all of us, Jonathan’s acerbic, ranting squirrel is worth a viewing or ten.

Neurotically Yours is a webtoon created by Jonathan Ian Mathers, depicting a squirrel named Foamy, who is the neurotic pet of a gothic girl named Germaine (voiced by Dawn Bennett). Episodes are mainly located on the Ill Will Press homepage, in addition to numerous external websites.

To date, there are 200 official episodes of Neurotically Yours. There are also a number of fan-produced episodes circulated among various fansites on the Internet. There are also 38 topical rants, which are audio-based rants in which Foamy is talking about a particular topic

Details

Cast: Jonathan Mathers, Dawn Bennett
YouTube Channel: Neurotically Yours
Website: Ill Will Press
Support the Show: Buy DVDs, T-Shirts and More

Subscribe

RSS Feed: Feed
Facebook Fan Page: Neurotically Yours

Ratings

Style 4

Pacing 3.5

Jonathan has perfected his format over the years. The meta-story is solid and each episode packs a pretty compelling arc. Even the rants, which always run to risk of ambling off into oblivion reign themselves in enough to be punchy and not cloying. (Storytelling 4.5)

Polish 3.5

You’ll know very quickly whether you love or hate Neurotically Yours. It’s dark, it’s opinionated and it can quickly grate on the more sensitive among us. If that’s your thing, you’ll love it. If you are easily bored by rants, you might want to skip this one. (Watchability 3.5)

I can guarantee you have never seen anything quite like this on the Interwebs. (Novelty 3.5)

Overall Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars