Eli (director Kaden Ptasznik) is making “Killer Devil’s Food Cake.”  His friend Sean (Ryan Simpson) has advised him to follow the recipe exactly, but being “a grown ass man,” Eli confuses teaspoons and tablespoons.  Once the batter is blended, it begins speaking to him, informing him the change to the recipe has changed the batter from “a Devil’s food cake” to “a cake that is the literal devil” (voiced by Alexander Trapp).  Eli refuses to believe such a simple difference could have a major impact, but he also ignored the warning in the cookbook that one should bake this cake “at your own risk.”

The comedy in Follow the Recipe is of the slacker-underplaying-the-colossal kind.  Eli isn’t so much worried about unleashing the devil in the world as about the fact that Target is more crowded in the afternoon, so he doesn’t have time to deal with it.  He bakes the cake, and it comes out of the oven reading “Hi Eli” in frosting.  There’s more to it in the post-credit sequence, too.

Follow the Recipe is short and cute. It’s not particularly scary, nor for that matter, particularly funny, but an enjoyable little ten minute curiosity. The post credit scene is perhaps the best part of the film, and lasts less than fifty seconds.  There was potential here for a good deal more silliness or scariness, but the filmmakers made the short, quirky film they wanted to and more power to them.