Previews - Creature features

Those anxious to see what the latest crop of film school hatchlings are working on will find their curiosity well satisfied in the eclectic screening series Creatures of the Lab. The selection of shorts by Georgia State University film school graduate students, screens Sept. 25 at the Echo Lounge and features 17 works ranging from the quirky to the sublime, with influences across the map from generic slasher films and Monty Python to David Lynch and Wes Anderson.

One of the standouts in this assortment of films is the indisputably Wes Anderson-influenced “Pongiste,” a visually sophisticated, effervescent lark about a gangly kid, Mark Hawthorne (Mike Brune), who takes out his anger management “issues” on the ping-pong circuit. With a nod to the retro-nerd ambience, hep Peanuts-esque soundtrack and comically static camerawork that are hallmarks of Anderson’s style, Hugh Braselton’s “Pongiste” packs a mighty wallop into its slim 14 minutes. Braselton has an especially good eye for actors who fit into his oddball perspective, with two perfect all-knees-and-elbows leads, Brune and Alex Orr, looking like the featured players in a ’50s industrial film.

There are plenty of slick, actorly performances in these shorts, but John Dixon in the absurdist minimalist mock-apocalyptic “I, Pizza” and Michael Topar in the well-crafted “Counter Culture” deserve special notice for exceeding the limitations of the student film.

Another bright young thing is Adam Pinney’s low-key “Helena,” which suggests acres of content within its terse 15-minute margins. Beautifully photographed and one of the few films to actually pull off the angst others grasp fitfully toward, “Helena” concerns the memories of a girl who’s witnessed her share of death in a style with an obvious debt to Krzysztof Kieslowski, but a vision all its own.

The more disappointing projects in Creatures of the Lab fail to step outside the box of crime and horror movie genres, or in some cases, fumble genre-nods altogether, suggesting some could stand to brush up on their film history.

But for the sheer diversity of entertainment on tap in this Downstream-sponsored event, it would be hard to beat the highs and lows of this cinematic fresh meat.

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Creatures of the Lab screens Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m.-midnight, at Echo Lounge, 551 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-681-3600. 18 and up only. $5. www.downstreamfest.com.??