The fruit snack brand, Gushers, has just released their own short horror film, FruitHead. Directed by Mika Diva, it stars Bradley Whitford as a cruel commercial director whose actions have very strange consequences when he decides to dabble in black magic to make the effects of Gushers head-changing fruit snack more realistic. Of course, this leaves one of his child actors permanently transformed into the titular, FruitHead, who later comes back for revenge.
Having Bradley Whitford stare as the commercial director, Richard, was an excellent choice. He brings such a dry humor to his roles but he's also starred in horror movies like Jordan Peele's Get Out and 2010's Cabin in the Woods. He lends a fun credibility to the short film and his vibes are perfectly unhinged. Chester Collins plays opposite him as Jacob aka FruitHead, whose head was turned into a deformed strawberry. They're fun to watch together, matching each other's deranged energy.
Gushers isn't the first to release a short film for the season. As mentioned by Variety, a few weeks ago, Angry Orchard released their short horror film, Sweet Revenge, which sees the return of horror icon, Jason Vorhees, to our screens. While creating vignettes to sell commercials isn't new for brands, I really like that they're venturing into horror in a bigger way. Horror as a genre continues to grow and it's not just on the fringes anymore, it seems like people are really starting to take notice.
The short is inspired by Gusher's own bizarre kids commercial from the 90s where eating a Gusher will literally turn your head into a fruit. Accidental body horror was just par for the course for most kids and young adults who grew up in that era. I think that's why FruitHead works so well. It touches on an obscure memory most of us have of watching evening cartoons on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network and seeing this weird fruit-head Gushers commercial come up.
FruitHead isn't afraid to lean into its own strangeness. Gushers knows exactly what they're doing. Not only are they making fun of themselves, but they're inviting you in on the joke. That commercial was weird, but FruitHead is even weirder and I think we can all agree to that. I've always enjoyed the media that knows exactly what it is and doesn't take itself too seriously. It makes for good comedy and for good horror. It allows the audience to have fun and enjoy the wink back to camera.
You can catch the film out now on Gusher's Official Youtube Channel! FruitHead is a fun, nostalgic watch that's sure to have Millenials buying the fruit snack in time for Halloween!