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KFC – The Massacre

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Let me know if you've heard this one before: a group of randy teens go for a stay in a creepy cabin in the woods, only for the forces of evil to turn on the gang and pick them off, one by one.

No, we're not describing every B-horror-movie from the 70s/80s, but rather KFC's enjoyably retro branded short, The Massacre, created to promote their new salty snack that replaces a pizza’s base with what nature intended: fried chicken.

Eschewing any direct connection to the product itself, the film is instead a remarkably authentic homage to the works of Hooper, Dante and (in particular) Raimi, in which director NYSU floods the senses with Dutch angles, jump scares and deliberate snafus that mark it out as a true labour of love.

The unconventional concept came from agency PS21, who leant in heavily to the marketing; pasting posters in the centre of Madrid to announce the premiere of the short film. 

"We were always clear that we didn't want to make a parody of the genre, nor make fun of it," explains NYSU, "but to make an incredible piece that respected the codes and rules of the B Series. That's why the most complicated thing was to escape from the 'vice' of advertising, where perfection is sought in every shot. 

"In this case, the challenge was to find the balance between making everything look 'low fi', doing certain things deliberately wrong and, at the same time, find original and surrealistic mise-en-scène solutions from that malpractice. 

"We have been repeating a quote from a Galician gentleman during all the process: the worse it is, the better for everyone". 

The premiere of the short film was celebrated with a double screening on July 7th at Cinesa Proyecciones in Fuencarral (Madrid) and now it can be seen on KFC's Twitch channel (@kfc_es). 

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