Entity: Nine

I once visited the grave of Rod Serling in Interlaken, between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes in New York.

While standing over his grave in Lakeview Cemetery, I thought about his anthology series, "The Twilight Zone." It's my favorite series, and I always wished that Rod would still be around to produce more shows.

After watching "Entity: Nine," I believe I've found my wish.

This short film felt very much like it could fit into the vein of Rod Serling's best episodes from that series. The twists incorporated into the "Twilight Zone" episodes are quite similar in construction to that of "Entity: Nine."

Matthew Glave plays Alex Wayland, a scientist who faces sudden unemployment, if government manipulation proves successful to stop his work on robotic clones. Questions surrounding cloning, technology, and the government are brought forth under the surface of this well-polished work.

The writer and director, Brad Kean, delivered an action-packed short which kept the plot as simple as possible. He managed it without letting the film grow out of control, and the film also had a nice double-twist ending. That it was accomplished in a student film makes this short all the more impressive.

After watching this with others, they asked if there was to be a sequel or expansion based on this short. I wonder the same, since the style of the film left an open ending which would be pleasing to be viewed in a feature-length work.

People who enjoyed this film might enjoy a look back to the "Twilight Zone" anthology. In particular, works from Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, and Rod Serling himself are similar to that of this writer and director.

This one's a keeper in my DVD collection.