Who Slew Simon Thaddeus Mulberry Pew?

In this live-action film festival favorite short, after bored sister and brother Tammy (Lisette Bross) and Sammy (Billy Ray Gallion) are unhappily forced to play with creepy neighborhood kid Thaddeus (John Kassir),who yells at the siblings and threatens them with his nasty toys, the pair decide to cover young Thaddeus' head with a plastic bag. Once he appears to succumb to this dire fate, along comes a Whizzit (Armin Shimerman of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) to make the situation better--or, perhaps, worse. Between the rhyming, iambic pentameter-measured speech and references to The Cat In the Hat, director Brett W. Nemeroff's film is an obvious parody of Dr. Seuss, but with plenty of grownup touches: adults play the kid characters, the dialogue is sprinkled with profanity, and the humor is decidedly gallows. Initially refreshing, the novelty unfortunately wears out its welcome after a few minutes, partially because of the breakneck, off-putting pace. DVD extras include two interview featurettes with cast and crew. Very optional. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)