Which way lies madness? A man named Joe drives his Land Rover into a remote field. The purpose of his trip is obscure. Is he scouting a location? Has he been sent by someone to check out the area? His cell phone rings and a stranger's voice tells him to look in the back of his car. He does, and discovers the dead body of a young girl who's gone missing. The voice on the phone tells him he's been set up, that no one will believe him, and that he'd better follow instructions and bury the body. As he complies, his headaches worsen. Is there any way out for Joe?
Reviews
The great Kenneth Branagh was kind enough to give up one day of work to appear in this short film, written and directed by his frequent stand-in, Phil Stoole. Coming in at a scant 17 minutes, SCHNEIDER'S 2ND STAGE is a psychological horror yarn at its most disturbing. Stoole cleverly puts the low budget to an advantage, making the story essentially about one guy alone in the bleak woods. The weirdo phone calls tie it in with the likes of PHONE BOOTH, but SCHNEIDER'S 2ND STAGE is something much more sinister and disturbing; the serial killer subject matter is definitely for adults only. This film is a roaring success thanks to Branagh's incredible acting, which is as strong and self-assured as ever. A mini masterpiece!
I saw this the year it came out, listed on a site called "Atom Films" and, having been a fan of Mr. Branagh's for years already, I downloaded it. After watching it the first time, I sat back and thought about it for a few minutes. "Geeze...This instills an even deeper love for this actor in me!" I remember thinking. After about 20 minutes of reflection, I watched it again. After this, I sent a link to virtually everyone I knew, telling them to watch the genius that is Kenneth in this shortie. They all came back with extremely positive reviews for this film. The suspense, and superb acting put forward in this short puts this film at the top of my all time favorite shorts list, and anyone I know could tell you...I'm very VERY picky about my favorites lists. I urge every single fan of Thrillers and or of Mr. Branagh's to go find this film and watch it. Seriously.
*WARNING!!!!!!* *Spoilers!*Kenneth Branagh is fantastic as Joseph Barnett in Schneider's 2nd Stage (Of course he's great in everything, even the movies that everyone thinks sucked)Joe is taking a drive out in the country and goes the wrong way. Then he receives a phone call from a guy who tells him to look in the trunk of his car. There is a ten year old girl, dead and rotting and, apparently, has enough evidence to prove that Joe raped and murdered her. The only way to save himself is to bury the girl.Of course the voice of the guy on the cell is Kenneth also, so you know Joe really did kill the girl but he's just a poor madman who doesn't know that he is crazy to begin with. But it's still very good.You can see the whole movie at atomfilms.com. Go see it!
This is a very strange film, and rather disturbing. Not what many people would expect from Ken Branagh. It leaves you guessing, even after the end. Try to see!