Around the internet Lee Hardcastle is known for making surprisingly poignant claymation spoofs on films like The Thing and Evil Dead, doing short-form zombie tales, and making music videos for the likes of Sufjan Stevens. But his latest offering is something all his own.
"An Alien Claymation" (above) is an odd little tale about a diaper-changing dad who invites some aliens into his home for tea – only to have them try to throw his baby in the microwave and attack his home. He exacts green-bloody revenge, and mostly things go back to normal. But why the move to extra terrestrials?
"I really wanted to make a film about aliens, I usually do them about zombies and chainsaws so I want to stray from that genre," Hardcastle said in an email to Wired. "I've been a lifelong fan of alien attack films and it was like, 'Why have I never made an alien film? Let's forget about zombies for a while now.'"
Hardcastle's last video to go viral was a clip for Sufjan Stevens' "Mr. Frosty Man," which turned the otherwise loveable snowman into a zombie-killing machine. And before that he gained notoriety for his "claycats" series, which reimagined old horror flicks with, yes, claymation felines. Although he said he could've spent the time he did on his alien piece making a video for someone else, he decided he wanted to tell a story of his own.
"I get bogged down with creating parodies because they're a safer bet for audience success," Hardcastle said. "So I can never justify making an original short film because they're such a gamble when I could be investing my money/time into making commercials and selling my soul."
Check out his non-soul-sucking piece above, then head to Hardcastle's site to see the rest of his gory claymation wonders.
