Horror Shorts Reviews for October 2021
Text © Richard
Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the
Internet
Filmmakers,
please note: usually, I do not review films (unless requested) that appear on
sites like Alter and Screamfest, because they have a known platform, which is
great, while I would rather focus on films with no sponsored online affiliations.
Answer Your
Phone
Directed by Benji
Wragg
Crazy Moo Films; Taymaynari
Productions
5:47 minutes, 2021
In this Australian short, a stressed young man (Oliver Midson) is on his
way home with his phone getting messages from his abusive partner, Nancy (Rhiannon
Newman; were her parents fans of Fleetwood Mac?), repeatedly asking where he
is. However, he’s lost his car keys and rushes home the best he can. The tension
is palpable, and when the payoff hits at the end, one understands the whys, if
not the hows. I would like to have seen this stretched out a bit more, to get additional
background to the story, but even as it is, it is effective. There is very
little dialogue, and most of that is text messages. Lots of shorts seem to
focus on the cell phone as a cinematic device to deliver the goods. Technology
is both a life changing and yet also a trending object.
Full film HERE
Directed by Henrique Couto
Weekly Spooky
6:13 minutes, 2021
Alphonse (John French) is an angry farmer who sounds like he is from below the Mason-Dixon who has some issues. He needs to eat “heart friendly” (pizza without cheese? Personally, in this regard I agree with him), and he does not believe in that Satanic worshiping holiday at the end of October. You are not going to get any candy from this dude, even if he scarfs it down himself. Beggar’s Night is a regional Ohio term for going Trick or Treatin’ the nights before the 31st. But just because he does not follow local tradition, what about the spirits that do just that? Lessons to be learned and a night of scares is in store, under the monochrome blue light of night. This is shot quite lovingly with some wonderful editing skills. For such a short piece, the SFX make-up and creature designs look amazing. The timing of this release is perfectly – er – timed. Get yer Beggar’s Night/Halloween jollies on with this one.
Full film HERE
Dead Frequency
Directed by Cindy
Stenberg
Swedish Ghost Lovers
3:28 minutes, 2021
A man (John Hägglund) is living in a run-down small house that is under
renovations in the middle of the woods in Sweden (where this originates). While
chillaxin’, he hears a disjointed woman’s voice on a small walkie-talkie (I
have a pair of those). The words coming out are full of static. They could be
in Swedish, but it’s so garbled anyway, it really does not matter. This leads
to some nice jump scares and a cool ending that I won’t give away. The
director, Stenberg, who also appears in the film, manages to make a lot with a
little time. The angles and shadows kick this up to another level. Enjoyable;
just long enough to get the viewer engaged, but short enough to blast it away.
Full film HERE
Parking
Directed by Abhishek
Sachidanandan
3:19 minutes, 2021
There is a reason why so many films that want the viewer to feel
uncomfortable, from horror to action genres, take place in lonely tiered indoor
public parking garages. The light is gloomy, there is a feeling of dread, and
who knows who or what is hiding behind a column or a vehicle. Mixing the place with
technology, a man (Aloysius Shadi) gets into his car and starts to back up to
pull out, when his car’s rear sensor beeps at him that there is something behind
him, but nothing shows in the rearview mirror. The tension builds in this
non-verbal scenario with the car doing all the “talking” through its sensors. Sometimes
all you need is a simple idea and imagination to make an effective short story,
and this one works for both.
Full film HERE
Stall
Directed by Ryan Shovey
Creepy/Cool Pictures
6:59 minutes, 2018
My mother once actually said to me that the scariest thing was having to
badly use the washroom when none was available. So, even though the entire film
actually takes place in a public bathroom, the spirit of my mom’s comment is a
focal point. A woman (Ariel Monica Putman) is in dire need of a loo, and there
are two stalls: one is for handicapped, one not. The not one is occupied
by an unseen and mysterious woman who apparently uses crutches. Irony? This
puts our heroine in a dire situation of whether to hold it in (not a good
option) or use the handicapped stall (personally, if the regular one was in
use, I would enter the handicapped one in an otherwise empty bathroom without a
second thought because desperate times/desperate measures…but she’s more
socially conscious than I am). In this tale, however, there is a supernatural
element, natch, and lights flicker, weird sounds abound, objects move on their
own, and locker doors swing open. This is a nice, spooky tale and it is very
well shot (without being claustrophobic considering the space) and acted. Putman
uses body language quite well. While there are some really spooky moments, for
me the cringiest thing was Putman kneeling on her bare knees on a public
bathroom floor to peek under the stall door.
Full film HERE
Unwelcome
Guest
Directed by Andrew
Johnson
11:50 minutes, 2020
A young man (the director and writer, Johnson) who is a photographer rents
a house in the woods once owned by a State-executed serial killer. It’s a
lovely, idyllic place surrounded by trees and has a lake close by, but of
course that is not all that is attached. It’s a genre film, after all, right? The
imposing ghost of the Lake Gillian Killer (Andrew’s dad, Eric) keeps popping up
through the night doing evil things like rolling out the toilet paper. There is
an almost subtle comic element to this film more than a frightful one that actually
makes it a bit of fun. Johnson’s over-the-top emoting helps in that. The film
comes off as a lark, meaning it looks like it was a lot of fun to shoot, and
that gets expressed to the viewer. There is no dialogue but facial expressions and
body language say a lot here. For me, the scariest thing about the film is just
how much the central character is immersed in technology. For a country getaway,
every move he makes involves some sort of electronic equipment, be it an HD TV,
listening to his playlist as he sleeps, the camera plugged into a computer, and
so on. For me, this was more invasive into the life of the “guy in the blue
striped shirt” (as he is credited on IMDB) than the ghostie. A good, safe watch
for othse who are easily scared.
Full film HERE
The Visitor
Directed by Mark and
Lindsey Palgy
Enjoy Cult-Classics;
De4th Race Productions
6:40 minutes, 2021
An author with a writing block leaves his wife behind to take a solo
weekend in the country to inspire him. You can see the affection between them.
But what happens when you meet yourself in an Us (2019) kind of
situation? The question presented is, simply, what is a natural response to
that? And will your hairbun eat his beard? (Sorry, that’s a What’s Up Tiger
Lily? reference from 1966). And what is the larger picture and meaning of
it all? These are all questions that are answered in the film. It’s a nice
little gimmick that works well. The ending was a pleasant surprise, as well. It
is also well shot, with snippets of objects and close-ups, mostly, when needed.
An interesting cinematic motif used is that the soundtrack is music, and when
people talk, it is silent and we get subtitles; are people in Kentucky hard to
understand? Could be the vocal track did not work well, or something else
happened, and this was a smart way around it. Well, these Kentuckians know
their stuff.
Full film HERE
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