Castle of the Barens (short film)

''This article is about the original short film. For the series, see Castle of the Barens (series). For other uses, see Castle of the Barens (disambiguation).''

Castle of the Barens is a short film created and produced in 2001 or 2002 by Tim Majersky & Phil Dragash. It is the very first film in the series, and was made in an hour in the Samobor Basement.It is the first appearance of Prof. Tim and Shake.

Plot
The film opens as Shake wanders a hall within the vast Castle of the Barens. Separated from Prof. Tim, Shake seeks him out, only to be surprised by Tim himself in an empty dark room. The two of them collectively decide to find their third separated comrade, the dim-witted Revolver Ocelot. All three characters are in the castle under direct government orders to acquire it under the ownership of the government of the United States, for advanced weaponry testing and research. Replying with a happy-go-lucky "Okie dokie!", Prof. Tim joins shake to find Revolver.

Revolver is found, as rap music plays in the background for no reason, shooting some attacking zombies with his revolver handgun. Arriving in the nick of time, Shake and Tim assist Revolver in eliminating the zombie attack, to which Revolver calmly thanks them by saying "thanks guys, for releasing me." and placing his revolver into its holster on the wrong end. Suddenly, another zombie attacks Ocelot and Tim and Shake charge to Revolver's aid in a dramatic slow-motion sequence only to arrive too late. Revolver is shown bleeding in the mouth and dead, hanging onto a sink.

Dramatically and loudly lamenting the death of their partner, Shake and Tim quickly leave the scene only to turn a corner to find an undead Revolver suffering, gargling and grabbing Shake in desperation. Finally dying, Shake makes a very mellow statement on the issue: "that was scary." which is brushed off by Tim's sudden irrelevant proclamation: "O let's go."

Shake and Tim, without hesitation or remorse, leave the dead Revolver to find a trail of blood on the floor; which Shake points out that the blood-trail is leading to an upstairs chamber in the castle. Both decide to travel upstairs to discover the source of this blood. As the two fly up the stairs to the second level, a voice is heard saying "Halt schweinmund!", which is followed by an eerie ghost-like scream that sends both of them back downstairs in terror.

Prof. Tim realizes that his gun is missing, and claims that "he took my gun, that son of a--!" In a fit of rage, Tim rips the MP5 from Shake's hands and charges towards the upstairs, emptying an entire clip. After performing the deed, Tim assures Shake: "Now let's go upstairs!" Reaching the second level, the two become utterly perplexed as the upper level looks exactly like the lower level they just left. "It's the same! Why is every room the same?!" Tim exclaims, in a very complaining attitude.

Brushing it off, they go inside the empty room. A spectre transitions the scene.

Finding a covered humanoid shape under a blanket, Shake and Tim pull it off to reveal a Lion-Man attacking them, but then suddenly succumbing to its gruesome death by having flesh eating worms devour its body inside out, only to have the skin of its head fall flat on the floor in front of them.

Shake and Tim panic, not being able to stand the horror of the castle. A voice from the background alerts their attention, saying "Remember me?". It is revealed to be a ghost, possibly revolver back from the dead, who quickly attempts to attack them.

Shake and Tim lose it and begin to scream uncontrollably, as for mysterious reasons, the gates of the castle swing open, allowing them to escape in slow motion. "Shake, Shake! Doors!"

Finally out of the castle, both scream "freedom!" in musical unison. Noticing the forest in the distance, Tim's joy is depleted as he realizes they must trek through the forest to truly get out of the castle's perimeter, finishing the film with the final line: "Ohhh, now there's woods!"

the film closes with the hit single by "Dragonballs": King of the Mountain.

Production
The film originated when Tim Majersky visited Jake and Phil's house in 2002/1. The idea was spawned after playing Return to Caslte Wolfenstein, and because the Samobor Basement was apparently interesting enough to film something in. Quickly heading downstairs, the whole film was ad-libbed and improvised, shot and edited in a matter of hours. The Lion-Man mask was found in a storage box of old costumes and masks, and other items were also used in the making of this film under similar circumstances.

Characters

 * Prof. Tim Dalton
 * Shake
 * Revolver Ocelot
 * The Lion-Man
 * Mr. Barens

Creatures

 * Zombies
 * Draped Spectres
 * Lion-Man
 * Flesh Eating Worms
 * Slave Ghost

Release
Castle of the Barens was released in August 2002, and was preview screened, along with The Making of Wolfenstein III in the private theater of local artist Stanislav Majersky. Surprisingly, the audience preferred the lighthearted mockumentary instead of the actual feature film. Therefore, Castle of the Barens was disinclined to be shown in other private theaters.

Trivia

 * This film was inspired by Resident Evil and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
 * While producing the film, the group also created the mockumentary,Wolfenstein III.
 * In "fictional history" the film is based on the game Nobody's Master.
 * The main theme for Castle of the Barens is also the main theme for Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
 * The original raw, unedited footage of this film is lost.
 * The second floor in the castle is actually the first floor. Obviously there was a lack of sets to work with.

Release Date Confusion
In "fictional history", "Castle of the Barens" was released in 1984 to tremendous success. However, in reality, it was released to no one in either the year 2001 or 2002. The reason there is a confusion among dates is because Phil Dragash insists it be muddled to "make us look less inept if the thing was made earlier.".



Links
Castle of the Barens (Short Film) on Vimeo

Castle of the Barens (Trailer) on Vimeo