Sixpenny Telegram: A dusty, weird little relic

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like they were dragged out of a basement, you’ll probably find something to enjoy here. It’s a scrappy, uneven little thing. Don’t go in expecting a polished narrative. If you’re the type of person who needs a tight script and high production values, you will absolutely hate this. It’s messy, it’s short, and it feels like it was put together with nothing but a dream and a few loose change coins.

Donald Taylor is doing his best, but there are moments where the camera just seems to be pointing at him while he waits for something to happen. It reminds me a bit of the pacing in Lucky Hoodoo, where things just sort of exist in the frame until the editor decides, 'Okay, that's enough.' It’s charming, in a way. Or maybe just lazy. I can't decide which.

Odd bits I noticed:

• There is a scene where a hat sits on a table for way too long. It starts to feel like a character on its own.
• The sound quality dips during the outdoor shots. It sounds like the mic was hidden inside a tin can.
• The lead actor has this twitch in his left eye whenever he's supposed to look surprised. It’s impossible to unsee once you spot it.

The dialogue is... well, it’s functional. It reminds me of the stiff, formal delivery you see in The Mystic Hour, but with less of the mystery. Sometimes a character says something that makes zero sense, and then they just walk out of the frame. No explanation. No lingering tension. Just gone. I kind of respect that.

It’s nowhere near the scale of The Storm, obviously. It’s a tiny, blink-and-you-miss-it production. It doesn't try to be important. It just tries to get from start to finish without tripping over its own feet. Mostly, it succeeds. Mostly.

If you have twenty minutes and you're feeling nostalgic for old, grainy film, this will do the trick. Don't look for meaning. Just look at the textures. The way the shadows hit the walls in the hallway scene is actually kind of neat. Everything else? It’s just noise, but it's interesting noise. 🎞️