Panther Ridge (2018) The Brutal New Short Film from Ryan Swantek- Fitz of Horror Review

Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror) August 6, 2018

Synopsis- Vera, a young woman enters the world of underground BDSM films.

After watching Ryan Swantek’s 2017 short film White Willow, a very cringe inducing few minutes of self mutilation, I was very excited to see what he would bring to the table next.

Panther Ridge is his follow up and most recent short film that is described as a BDSM film, which if you type that into Google the first thing that pops up is Fifty Shades of Gray. Panther Ridge is nothing like that. It dives deep into a seedy underworld of dark characters and ulterior motives that fall more on the dominance before murder rather than dominance and sex.

As the film opens we see a camera that is clearly filming all of the nastiness that is about to take place so this gives me more of a “snuff” film vibe than BDSM. When we see the room our attention is focused on someone bound by their wrists and ankles hooded and hanging from a structure in the middle of what appears to be an apartment of condo.

As two women enter the room it is clear that Vera is a rookie in this game and her partner is a seasoned vet and the rookie is about to get a quick and brutal introduction to this new line of work.

Since it is a short film, I won’t go far into detail but I will say that this film, like White Willow, is an in your face and intense few minutes that include murder, mutilation and a beheading. Unearthed Films needs to take notice of this new talent in the gore world because Panther Ridge finishes with a bang and is set up beautifully to become its own full feature film and I would love to see it happen.

I will keep everyone up to date on all news following Ryan Swantek because I guarantee we are witnessing just the beginning of a very talented filmmaker.

CHECK OUT WHITE WILLOW HERE.

Follow me on Facebook at Fitz of Horror