Every day in October, the Department of Tangents Blog & Podcast is spotlighting a different short horror film. Some of them, like this one, have a sci-fi bent. Today’s entry is The Fisherman from writer/director Alejandro Suarez Lozano. It’s a truly international effort – Lozano is a Spanish director based in New York City, and the story takes place in Hong Kong. It’s billed as a kind of Jaws/Alien mashup, but it’s more like Moby Dick with a bit of Alien and a dash of “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill.”

Wong is a third-generation fisherman in a world that is quickly leaving his profession behind. His fellow fishermen think he’s crazy and taunt him about fighting the giant squid, the one ultimate “one that got away” story. The chief struggle is simple – man versus, well, we think it’s fish at first. That proves not to be the case, but the twist is satisfying. It makes me want to know about this world, although Lozano has shown us everything we need to know.

There are some gorgeous shots here, and the effects are well-done – spare through most of the film until the action ramps up. There’s a link in the credits on the YouTube page to a “behind the scenes” short for those who want to know more about that. This is one of the longer shorts I’ll post this month, and when I screened it, I got a short commercial toward the end.

Enjoy. And remember, no one messes with Wong.