Panic Attack!

A young boy sits on a bench in mist strewn Montevideo . A loud rhythmic clump is heard and looks up to see an invasion of giant robots set to conquer the Earth is under way

There's a fair amount of hype surrounding this short film in that its budget is a mere three hundred dollars . I find this very difficult to believe because it uses the soundtrack of John Murphy's score for 28 DAYS LATER . If Murphy's permission has been sought then perhaps might have charged more than $300 ? Or perhaps he allowed it for free . Or perhaps permission wasn't used at all ? I have no way of knowing but I sincerely doubt that PANIC ATTACK cost three hundred dollars and was considerably more that the figure quoted . My cynical feeling is down to the fact that much of the buzz surrounding PANIC ATTACK is simply because of its very low cost and the number of people who are quick to say it puts Hollywood blockbusters to shame

This type of hyperbole does damage the short film . There's nothing bad about it but it doesn't have much of an existence outside of the special effects team conjuring up some imagery of a city being invaded by giant robots and flying saucers which owes more than a little to INDEPENDENCE DAY . It's not inherently bad but does feel like a very obvious calling card by the director and his effects team and I did find Murphy's soundtrack distracting

Fede Álvarez's virtually plot less Ataque de Pánico! (English: Panic Attack!) was clearly designed with one purpose in mind: to showcase the director's eye for a cool visual, his understanding of movie techniques (there's a neat blink-and-you'll-miss-it Odessa Steps homage) and his talent for spectacular special effects laden chaos. As cinematic calling cards go, it's one of the best...

Five minutes of jaw-dropping, explosive mayhem in which Montevideo is blown to smithereens by giant robots and a fleet of spacecraft (all accompanied by the unmistakable score from 28 Days Later), Álvarez's film is an almost flawless exercise in self-promotion that practically screams 'hire me!'. Which is precisely what Sam Raimi did for his remake of The Evil Dead.

Amazingly, Wikipedia states puts the entire budget for Ataque de Pánico! at a mere $300, which is simply mind-boggling.

I can't believe, how in god's name can someone get my attention so much in just 4 minutes.

This short video captures the essence of desperation of an impending attack 10 times better than most Hollywood films now days, in fact, this whole 4 minutes video is 10 times better than most super Hollywood productions of millions of dollars combined.

It is obvious the director used this as a white card to promote it's studio and sure it worked out incredible good for him and his people but, truth be told, it deserves every pat in the back for that, the short-movie shows just how much you can do with so little.

In the end, film-making is not about production, money or super talents, it's more about good ideas put into practice by young minds and when I say young minds I mean in the "spirit" sense.

Being myself a fan of SCI-FI you could tell I totally loved every minute of this short-movie, in fact I demand Federico to finish this work in the coming future, at least give us an explanation where this robots came to be.

I heard he is making a horror movie, now in post-production, can't way to see it, young talents are striving everywhere if you know where to look and this is great news, it teach us that it still possible to make fine material no matter what is your situation. Youtube is part responsible for this success because it granted the possibility to anyone to upload a video and be known for his/her work, this new era of digital -internet connectivity is allowing this kinds of things to flourish.

If you didn't see this film, do so already, it's everywhere !

Oh,I send Federico my best wishes being from my own continent I have great respect for Uruguay.

Panic Attack deserves a 10. Also, please check out the music video, it's really good too.

As a fan of the giant monster/robot genre, I was amazed when I saw this on YouTube! After only a month, this 5 minute short had nearly 5 million hits! This little film gives us aspiring film writers and directors something to shoot for. Federico Alvarez has set the bar high for spectacular final product on a shoe string budget. If you haven't seen this....you need to.

Rumor has it that he just recently signed a 30 million dollar deal with Sam Raimi's production company to make this thing into a full length movie. Hope to see this happen! I recommend the short "Negadon: The Monster from Mars" if you enjoyed "Panic Attack!

IMDb has the estimated budget for this film as $300, which I really find hard to believe – so let's say it is 100% out and it is $600; it doesn't matter if you double it again because this film is still very impressive for any short film that was made independently. Although there s a basic plot here about a robot invasion, the short essentially a showcase reel for special effects work and, as such, it is very impressive indeed. The robots are imposing and well designed but it is the destruction they unleash that impresses the most since the viewer knows that it wasn't done for real and that it wasn't done in a multi-million dollar effects studio – it just looks like it was.

Although I'm not sure if it is used "officially", the film makes a good choice in the music by using part of the score from horror movie 28 Days Later, with its building, brooding tone helping the on screen action and getting me "into" the destruction on slightly more than a technical level. That said the cast (in particular the little boy at the start) are not as good as the effects, although fortunately they are not as key as the effects to the film's success. Talking of being involved it was getting close to "the end" of the film and I was being a little cynical about it in terms of being a story and I wondered how he would end it in a way that I'd find satisfying as a viewer (not just someone watching effects being done really well with very little money). I was just thinking this when the robots meet and, well, the film ends – and it ends in a very satisfying and appropriate way indeed.

It is essentially a digital CV but it does also work as a great short film that hooks you thanks to the special effects but also delivers engaging action as well thanks to the use of music, shot selection and urgency of the whole piece. Technically very impressive but also very enjoyable at the same time – like a wise man once said, loads better than two hours of Transformers 2 and made for the cost of one of Megan Fox's haircuts.