The late nineties was an exciting time for me. As my jeans got baggier and my hair constantly changed colour, I attended my first music festival and somehow managed to lose my virginity. From finishing school in ’95 to the Millennium celebrations in ’99, the highlights kept coming and though I should remember this period for many reasons, much like filmmaker Adam Butcher in his latest short WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64?, I can’t help but think of this time fondly as the “N64 Era”.

While a lot of key moments from this time are clouded in an intoxicated haze, the hours spent playing GoldenEye 007, The Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart 64 seem permanently etched in my mind (I enjoyed the sniper moments in the Bond game way too much). It was a personal golden era of gaming and with the N64 my console of choice, I considered myself somewhat an expert of Nintendo’s seminal platform and its games. So how come I’d never heard of Catastrophe Crow! ? – the mysterious title at the centre of Butcher’s essay-like short.

Within the opening minutes of WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64?, it’s clear why it was a game that was never on my radar…it was never released, so, as Butcher explains, it “never had a chance to enter our childhoods”. Despite being announced in ’97, with promises of “fearless exploration” and a “ground-breaking” system offering ‘eternal revival’, the game’s Xmas ’99 release was pushed further and further back until the date of its launch started becoming worryingly vague.

As Butcher’s film begins to focus more on the disappearance of the game’s eccentric creator Manfred Lorenz, things take a darker turn, with the narrative unfolding like a cross between a true-crime investigation and a video essay. Instantly enveloped by the authenticity of the piece (it’s obviously a period that Butcher also has great affinity with), the second half of WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64? takes an even more sinister twist, as the director gets his hands on a developers version of Catastrophe Crow! and we’re submerged in the unsettling world of the video game.

Despite the gameplay video of Lorenz’s platformer feeling startlingly believable, there comes a point in proceedings where you begin to question the legitimacy of Butcher’s short. Catastrophe Crow! looks and feels like an N64 game, there’s no denying it, but as we’re plunged further and further into the twisted world of its controllable crow, we start to realise we might actually be in one of the most original Horror shorts we’ve ever experienced.

If we are to assume that Catastrophe Crow! is in fact just a figment of the director’s imagination, then does that make his film less admirable or less enjoyable? Personally, I’d argue not. If this is all made-up, then surely we should celebrate Butcher’s creativity more so? With gameplay videos, Reddit discussions, Discord communities, an 88-page “Recap” doc existing online, there are certainly others who believe in the existence of Lorenz’s creation and many who are eager to explore the mystery surrounding it.

With a combination of archival footage, gameplay videos and to-camera presentations employed throughout the film, Butcher laid the foundations for his latest short with earlier works Internet Story and The Game That Time Forgot. Revisiting both of these films after watching WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64?, it’s not only evident how both work as inspiration (visually and thematically) for this short, but also of how the director has found himself somewhat of a niche filmmaking approach.

Alongside this trio of loosely connected shorts, browsing Butcher’s existing back-catalogue and upcoming projects it’s clear he’s a multi-faceted director. Previous short The Prevailing Winds (a film I often regretted not featuring on S/W) is a distinct and atmospheric suspense drama, while projects in development include Interactive, Crime-Mystery, Sci-Fi and Horror anthology TV series’ and two feature films – Internet Story and Not The End Of The World.

WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64? is one of the most interesting and exciting short films to cross my path in 2020, I’m already eager for more work from Butcher, so let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long for one of those aforementioned projects.