Hard Drive 13 Ep.3 “Classified Steganography” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Conspiracy Thriller Web Series

3 Swirlies

“Classified. Yeah, that’s what Dad always used to say.”

This is one series that gets right to the action. You gotta admire that. And I finally get to see some of the shooting guns out of moving cars clips that we were teased with at the beginning of the series.

If you like your web series with lots of on the run, it is all a conspiracy, ‘watched the Matrix again last night’, you’ll love Hard Drive 13. If you’re looking for something nuanced and character driven, you should probably stick with something else.

Another Vancouver series, and this is very well made. Those green screen shots are hard to pull off - and while they’re not perfect, they are pretty good. And having guns on set, well… that’s either expensive (as far as web series are concerned) and you gotta call in a lot of favours. If you want to find a load of talented people looking for a fun side project to stretch their creative skills, I doubt there’s a better place for it in the world than Vancouver right now.

Where I think this series loses me is the story. I know, I’m watching some very interconnected episodes months apart, but I’m still not really sure about what it is about. I’m sure we’re meant to be intrigued by the mystery, and I’m not saying that I don’t want to discover things about the series as it develops, but I do want to know why I am watching. What makes this hacker so special? Is he looking for his father, or is he on the run from the government goons? The motivations of the characters are pretty vague.

And can I just say, what paranoid hacker on the run keeps using his cell phone?

From YouTube Description:

Nomad receives a cryptic message from an old friend; a strained reunion is abruptly cut short.

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Broken Toy Ep.2 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Thriller Web Series

2 Swirlies

“He drank the sedatives! Shoot him you morons!”

This episode, while still being pretty cool, lacks the nuance, tension and careful blend of humor that the first episode had.

Although I did quite like the hallucinations Quinn has.

The production is all but perfect, the make up and special effects alone are outstanding. But still, after that first episode I was disappointed. The ending of the first episode felt like an ending, like we were being told a complete story, the ending of this episode was a mid scene cliffhanger type.

There appears to be a bit of a trend in web series to take a short film and turn it into a web series pilot. The problem is that the two aren’t really the same form. Some series can do it really well. Aidan5 surprised me how well they took that short, with it’s very enclosed story, and turned it into an ongoing series.

I think the same thing happened here (I’m only guessing, though). I think the first episode was a short film, and when they decided to do more they conceived of it more as a multi-part story rather than episodic stories as part of a larger arc. Leaving this episode feeling unfinished.

Am I over thinking it? Perhaps. After all, from what I can tell there’s only one more episode in their Chapter 1. I’m sure that has a more satisfying ending to it. But I guess we’ll wait and see.

From YouTube Description:

Drugged, hunted, and slightly silly in a murderous way, Quinn is on the move.

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Hard Drive 13 Ep.2 “Firewall”

While on the run from the mysterious man in black, Nomad sees a UFO. Dee discovers her coworkers aren’t who she thinks they are.

2 Swirlies

“Time to bail! Gotta get off the grid.”

A big improvement over the first episode.

The plot thickens, with both Nomad and the scientist lady, I suppose her name is Dee, on the run.

If you think the government is out to get you, you’ll probably love this show – because the government is out to get them both. In the opening sequence, there’s lots of gun fire and excitement, but there’s very little of that in this episode. I’m not really sure what’s going on – and sadly, I’m not really intrigued enough to care.

But still, there’s certainly not enough of this type of show online. A little conspiracy, a little science fiction… and no zombies and no vampires. That’s a nice change. Not that I have anything against zombies and vampires – I love ‘em. But you can almost pick a web series at random and get your fix of zombies or vampires. I exaggerate to make my point, of course.

For Hard Drive 13, I’m sticking around until I see some of the clips teased at in the opening.

Monster Hunters: Ep. 1 “Hunters Vs. Santa”

The “Monster Hunters” want to work for you! Santa and Princess kick some ass.

Music By:
Fly By Night- “Comin For You”
Sydnee Jane- “Ready to go”
The Steven McGill Project- “Track Nine”

2 Swirlies

“I used to kill everything.  People taking a shit.”

Despite the 2 swirlies, this show is just good old fashion shoot ‘em up fun.  Nothing wrong with that!  Just don’t watch this expecting anything more.

Basically, the “Monster Hunters” are a team of deadly assassins laid off because of the bad economy, and now they’re guns for hire.  Their first gig?  Killing a guy that doesn’t even remotely look like Santa (except for the Christmas sweater and Santa hat).

I won’t spoil it for you, but that’s pretty much the whole episode.  Not a lot of story—but like I said before, shooting galore.

And you know what?  The low budget gun fighting actually kind of works, because nobody here is taking themselves too seriously (least of all, the filmmakers).  That’s probably the key to good parody—and this one makes the most of making fun of the action genre– complete with title cards for the ridiculous assassins.

I didn’t find myself laughing out loud, but it was amusing in an over-the-top way.  It’s one of those videos that you watch simply to be entertained without any greater expectations.

Hey, the show definitely lives up to its premise!

Karma Kula Ep. 3 “Harvesting the Ohas”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

5 Swirlies

“It is not the semen itself that they seek. Rather, it is the power within it, called the Ohas.”

EDIT: This video is suddenly marked private, and it was hard enough finding it in the first place. Strange. Welp… guess they don’t want people watching it!

Wow, for some reason Episode 3 of this series was really hard to find.

The first two episodes of this series were amazing. This is very much smack dab in the middle of eastern wandering hero type stories, and does a great job with mood and special effects. The fact that this series isn’t as well known as some other, less worthy series I could name, is heart breaking.

And this one is the spookiest so far.

It’s long, but don’t let that stop you from hitting play. Do yourself a favour and watch it in as high a quality as your computer can handle.

While short on story, and no fighting (which is a bit of a let down after 1 and 2) this episode is not only visually stunning, but will grip you in every frame. Now I’m disappointed that I waited so long before watching it.

Karma Kula – Episode 2 “THE FROG IN THE WELL”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

4 Swirlies

“Mind if I finish my drink first?”

Karma Kula continues to deliver… and confuse.

Okay, so it seems at least one of my questions has been answered – this episode suggests they’re in India, and talks about “the assassins from the islands of the Japans.” If our hero is actually Indian, and not white as I thought last time, I can be forgiven because everything is tinted so red.

In this installment, he helps a woman with a well, and fighting ensues. For the first half or so, the style takes over the story and lets it drag a little too much. And then the sword play starts. As our hero himself points out – we have no idea why, or who this new attacker is. I’m sure it won’t be the last time they meet!

If you haven’t already added this series to your must watch list (and you don’t hate fighting sequences) I advise you to consider doing so.

It seems to me that this series makes extensive use of green screen. Does it bother you when you notice green screen use in movies and web series?

The Vetala Ep. 1 – The Sydicate

The Vetala Web Series – Season 1/ Starring Candace Chase, Paul Mendel, Marina Pasqua, Leslie Mildiner, James Tyce/ Written & Directed by Damon Vignale http://www.TheVetala.com

4 Swirlies

This opens nice and suspenseful. A guy packing a crate with guns. A student tacking down a story. Her boyfriend looking for her. Something’s gotta happen… right?

And then it does.

While this first installment doesn’t give us much insight into what’s going on, it does give us one thrill ride of a five minute episode – honestly I was a little surprised it was so long, it felt much shorter.

The only reason it missed five Swirlies is the acting is little stilted, and it was essentially all set up. Also the series seems to be about supernatural stuff, at least according to their Youtube tags, and there’s not even a hint of that in this episode. But those are trivial complaints, perhaps, and I’m quite excited to see where this series is going.

The closing tag (thankfully, there’s not 2 minutes of end credits pumping up the length) reads, “No longer a myth.” Count me intrigued.

Does the title make anyone else think of cheese? No? So it’s just me, then.

Karma Kula – Episode 1 “THE NINJAS”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

4 Swirlies

“While the body can be cut into pieces by a weapon, the soul is never slain.”

In a word, ninja-tastic.

This series is all atmosphere and action, short on story and character. But that’s the point. While maybe not breaking new ground the “Ninja Group” made a kickass samurai fighting extravaganza that absolutely nailed the genre.

It looks amazing, and the attention to visual style reminds me of both Samurai Jack and (one of my favorite things ever) the ’70′s Japanese television version of Lone Wolf and Cub. I hope, like both of those examples, Karma Kula evolves to something more than just almost cartoonesque cutting and slashing, although for now that’s more than enough.

The only reasons I held back from giving it 5 full swirlies is the very long opening voice over that verges on pretentiousness, and the fact that I’m not sure whether certain things that took me out of the story were flaws or whether they were intentional. For one thing, the guy’s white. Are we just supposed to accept that, or ignore it? And at the end he quotes the bible. So, is he western or is that an unintended anachronism? Hmm… we’ll all have to keep watching to find out.

Which makes me wonder, should we give webseries more of a pass than we do a movie because we expect it to be a low budget labor of love and requires an extra level of our suspension of disbelief? Or do we hold them up to the same standards?