Horror Shorts Reviews for May 2022
Text © Richard
Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
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.
These films are not in ranked order, but rather alphabetically listed by first
letter.
Don’t Hide
Directed by Dillon
Vibbart
Ninja Brothers
12:30 minutes, 2022
www.dillonvibbart.com
There is a lot to recommend about this short, even with its overt
Christian overtones. Chloe (Ashton Solecki) is in the middle of a crisis of
unknown origin, but enough to have a trio helping her with an intervention
(Caitlin Duffy, Omar Cook, Matt Kohler). Their purpose is to keep a demon (Terrence
Wentz) at bay, and to give Chloe the possible skills to face it. The demon
looks particularly cool in a The Evil Dead (1981) way, and what it
represents is pretty obvious from the beginning, yet this is very watchable.
Despite the drawbacks (religious overtones and easy to guess where it is going),
I just sighed at them and it still kept my attention until the very end. It is
smartly written generally, and looks well put together. Definitely a watcher.
Full film HERE
Found Footage
Dracula
Directed by Hunter Farris
Bueller Studios
25:24 minutes, 2022
It’s an interesting
thought. The director has stated that the original novel was a collection of
letters, newspaper articles, etc., and therefore was a presentation of
evidence, or a 19th Century found footage novel. So why not update the story
and make it a modern found footage (FF) tale? To give you an example, rather
than Jonathan Harker (Mitch Tyler) employing a horse and carriage to Castle
Dracula, instead he takes an Uber. This is threadbare to the original novel, of
course, considering the length and budget, but we have the main characters,
including Lucy Westenra (Brookelin Backus), Mina Murray (Yvonne Bass), Doctor
John Seward (director Farris) who runs the asylum, and Renfield (RJ Hall) as
his chief patient. Of course, the Count himself is never seen because he casts
no reflection and cannot be filmed. There is a lot of yelling in fear here, and
I found it quite amusing (though not funny, I am glad to say). This is as indie
as one can get, with a bunch of friends getting together and doing it on
TikTok. I’m quite proud of the troupe, actually: they took a premise, executed
it, and did a relatively decent job of it. The short is available in a
computer-able version and one that can be watched on the phone. I am hoping
that this leads to a full length attempt next. Or perhaps, an adaptation of
another classic, like maybe Found Footage Frankenstein.
Full film HERE
Host
Directed by Pat Baker
Postmortem Films;
HarLau Productions
24:13 minutes, 2022
A young, yet struggling couple take some time off to a vacation house
that’s more of a mansion (the Stoneleigh Estate in Martinsville, VA), with
little around them. Annie (Josie Juliette Wert) is lonely and wants some
attention from Jeff (JD Starnes), a workaholic, who has trouble leaving his job
behind even with a sex scene (a longer short gives more time for stuff like
that). Meanwhile, she is seeing visions from the past of previous residents
from the 19th Century of an angry and brutal man, Jacob (Zach Ball) and his
abused wife, Sara (Bethany Paulsen). Sort of like the television show “Ghosts,”
but not a comedy; she can see them, though, but they don’t acknowledge her. Of
course, Jeff doubts what Annie sees in demeaning ways. He may not be as
physically brutal as Jacob, but he is verbally unsupportive and condescending. She
is trying, and he is, too, but at, like, 50 percent. There is a mix of surprises
and expectations in this lush tale, beautifully directed and shot. It’s long
enough to give some form of exposition of the two main characters’ personalities,
and yet short enough not to drag the story along. For a third short film by the
director and producer of seven, it is a solid piece of work.
Full film HERE
The Room Upstairs
Directed by Jacob
Arbittier
Burnt Mill Road
4:27 minutes, 2020
Extremely prolific of late, this is one of Arbittier’s earlier films,
and it is simple and to the point. A mother and daughter are trapped in a house
with… well, the poster says it. It’s a bit of a nail biter, though it does not
go into detail about how their sitch came about. The music is really creepy and
effective at helping build the tension, and the ending is actually a surprise.
Simple, short and to the point, and excellent.
Full film HERE
Run
Directed by Alex Magaña
ACMofficial
3:18 minutes, 2022?
http://bit.ly/ACMofficial_Horror_Shorts
As Marshall McLuhan once said (among others), first you use technology,
and then technology uses you (e.g., cell phones). For this film, it is FitnessTracker,
the fictional equivalent of a Fitbit, that helps organize an exercise plan.
However, thanks to a bug, it causes the uses to exercise to death. That is the
problem facing the main character (Michael Glauser), as the device on his wrist
takes control. And because of his relationship with his girlfriend (Esther Lane
Montes), being that he’s the toxic masculinity type, this makes this a really
sharp comedy that deals with both the human and tech. Wonder if this device is
made by Skynet? Oh, and check out one of the director’s earlier films, which is
one of my favorites, “Smiling Woman.”
Full film HERE
Whitetail
Directed by Josh
Minyard
Sunhouse Entertainment
15:51 minutes, 2020
www.facebook.com/whitetailshort/?modal=admin_todo_tour
This short is multi-award winning, and it is easy to see why. Beautiful
cinematography, well-paced, and well-packed with tension. The very end is a bit
obvious, but works incredibly. A young couple on the verge of engagement,
Robbie (Derek Evans) and Alex (Tara Parker) are on a hunting trip. It’s not
clear if this is for food, or pleasure (personally, I have no problem with the
former, uncomfortable with the latter). He goes off to a hunter’s blind in the
woods, and she to the spare and isolated cabin. But in a Most Dangerous Game,
things do not exactly go as planned. My question is the motive for the action,
which is: is it a comment on the first or the second reason for hunting? It
probably doesn’t matter, because it is the sheer tension of the actions that occur
in the story that make this watchable. One could call the ending ironic.
Full film HERE
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