Horror Shorts Reviews: December 2022

Horror Shorts Reviews for December 2022

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

These films are not in a numbered and ranked order, but rather alphabetically listed by first letter.

 

The Changing Room
Directed by Sam Evenson
Grimoire Horror
4:25 minutes, 2022
The lesson of the film is: obey signs in stores. A woman (Jamie Taylor Ballesta) finds a dress she likes in a shop and goes to the changing room to try it on. The out-of-the-way changing room has mirrors on facing walls, so you can see infinite versions of yourself. But, someone or something (Alan Maxson), who moves like the ghosts in Japanese horror films, appears in an unlikely place, and that’s where the terror begins. I had a smile at the end of this. Ballesta does a great job of showing fear. Also, the SFX was impressive. If you are interested, there is a really cool “Making of” video (which is around 6 min.) linked at the end of the film that I really enjoyed, as well.
Full film HERE

 

Deep Shock
Directed by Davide Melini
LV Hair LTD.
29:19 minutes, 2019
www.facebook.com/DeepShockDavideMelini
It should come as no surprise that this film just screams Italiano giallo. The director worked as AD on a few of Dario Argento’s releases. In typical giallo form, some of the actors are British, and some are dubbed over from Italian. It is full of the kind of imagery you would expect, apart from sharp, primary colors; here the are muted like the mental fog of the main character, troubled Sarah (Muireann Bird). She is in an unstable state over the death of her grandfather and sister, and is being taken care of by her other sister, Caroline (Lorna Larkin), a family friend, Marius (Francesc Pagé), and the brogue-speaking priest (George Bracebridge) at her family’s huge estate on the sea (filmed at Alhaurin el Grande, Malaga, Andalucía, Spain). In her dreams she is seeing the dead, but perhaps it is something more sinister? As with some of the Argento/Bava type giallo, there is extreme violence and some nice-looking gooey gore, as well as the mandatory nude bathing scene. There are lots of surprises in a direction I did not see (though should have considering the influences), and the imagery is quite breathtaking.
Full film HERE
Free Trailer HERE

 

He Knows When You Are Sleeping
Directed by Henrique Couto
Weekly Spooky
5:52 minutes, 2021
A festive genre film, as we see a woman (Iabou Windimere) snug as a bug in a rug. Well, on the couch, anyway. It’s Christmas Eve and something is stirring. She is in for more than one shock that night, and we get to see it play out…well, most of it. Other than some laughing and screaming, the film is silent (ever notice how many shorts have no dialogue?), but effectively creepy. The switch to porn-type music in one scene had me laughing. Short and to the point, the viewer is bound to get their jolly’s worth.
Full film HERE

 

The Manor
Directed by Blake Ridder
Ridder Films
13:44 minutes, 2021
 https://igg.me/at/manor
An American film crew goes over to England to find a shooting location, arriving at a stately, castle-like Victorian Manor that is, frankly, stunning. It is empty as the four go walking around, getting separated along the way. Before long, it is obvious that there is something in the house that can copy them, and also be deadly. There are several good jump scares in here, and frankly, I was a bit jealous, because as they are walking around taking pictures and videos of the place, I wanted to be there doing the same (I love taking pix of decrepit places). With a haunting score, the foursome gets lost as time becomes immaterial, and the rooms just seem to go on forever, reminiscent of Grave Encounters (2011). Both creepy and spooky.
Full film HERE

 

River City (E1, S1: Welcome Back)
Created by Jal Michael
Blind Cat Creations; MB
16:26 minutes, 2021
www.rivercityshow.com
In this animated horror comedy series geared to adults, Edwin (Cricket Cornelius) has the misfortune of his truck breaking down just outside of said City. Strangely, everybody there seems to know him (see the episode title), though he supposedly has never been there before (I have my theories about that). He is squared away at an apartment and befriends his blind and crusty neighbor. The duo head out to the bar and meet some of the sketchy (pun intended) patrons. There are zombies, werewolves, and other horror creatures large and small that populate the area. It was quite amusing, and vulgar, I am happy to say, with a lot a-cussin’. The second episode is due out around Xmas-time. Not to be confused with the Scottish BBC soap opera with the same name.
Full film HERE

 

Sighs from the Depths
Directed by Richard Griffin
A Reasonable Moving Picture Production
12:57 minutes, 2022
Imagine if a psychic had the power to tell you about how long you have to live, and what terminal disease will cause it? What would you do? This short examines this idea with three strangers close to their time. She has a solution, or does she not? And does this power come from somewhere light, or is there a darkness involved? All of these are explored in Griffin’s new compelling short. Mrs. Lathem (Susan Staniunas), with her assistant (Bruce Church), lead the trio on a “journey” that is full of fear of mortality and a hope for, perhaps, a cure. Beautifully shot, the length of the film flies by incredibly fast. It is nice to see Griffin work his “short” magic on this dramatic telling of facing mortality, and its common, desperate threads.
Trailer HERE

 

Take a Look
Directed by Liam Banks
Superfreak Media
12:59 minutes, 2021
Having recently moved into a new house, Katie (Tonia Toseland) finds a strange box in the attic that contains, among other things, an incredibly creepy baby doll that, when the string is pulled, says, “I see you.” From there on in she is haunted and taunted by a spirit (Charlie Brentnall) similar in idea to Ju-On/The Grudge (2002). No matter how she tries to get rid of the box, of course it returns. The film takes some older tropes and makes them work for this story to be effectively creepy. The spirit’s make-up by Alex Bourne is a bit “cakey,” but works. Katie definitely does things I would not, but even she says to herself, “Why am I doing this?” Toseland does well in the role, making her a sympathetic everywoman. Fun stuff.
Full film HERE

 

The Telling
Directed by Julia Alexander
5:37 minutes, 2016
A young couple, Andy (Shawn McLaughlin) and Alice (Molly Church), meet up with a psychic, Cassandra (Renee Erickson), in a park. Andy knows Cassandra, and brings Alice there for a reading about her future, and other matters. It is an interesting story for its time allotment, and has a really wicked – well, actually a couple of them – turns at the end. Very subtle and surprising at the same time. It was fun, and not just because I used to go see Church in a lot of off-off-off-Broadway plays in the mid-2000s. 
Full film HERE

 

The Tunnel
Directed by Andrew Clabaugh and Alex Spear
5:56 minutes, 2022
Jacob (Jordan Frechtman) is a joggin’ man, running for the exercise of it. He comes to an underpass tunnel that is well lit, and looks like any other underpass tunnel, but once he enters it, it changes his life, because no matter how hard he tries, he can never reach the end or the beginning. The film follows the psychological effect it has on him, as we watch him struggle with his sanity. Simple and to the point, with minimal subtext and a short amount of time, we feel his terror. While the story is a not complex, its direction and acting make it an effective thriller. Run to see it.
Full film HERE

Review: Delusion

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

Delusion

Written, produced and directed by Christopher Di Nunzio

Creepy Kid Productions

85 minutes, 2016

www.facebook.com/CreepyKidProductions/

Here is the truth: I watched this film last year, and wrote a review. Computers being computers, the Word file became corrupted, and the critique went bye-bye. I needed some time to regather before I watched the film again, and as life happens, I forgot about it. Well, one year and two weeks later, I gave it a second viewing. I’m glad I watched it again, because I caught things I missed the first time, having had time to process.

Technically, as the director informed me, Delusion is a “psychological thriller,” and while I don’t belabor the notion, I believe that’s an incomplete statement. There is also a metaphysical level that either takes it beyond the thriller concept, or perhaps is concurrent to it, but either way, it’s something that I like. Thrillers can be fun, and adding the supernatural to it definitely bumps it up a notch.

David Graziano

The plot is like a Buddy Holly song: on first listen, it’s a simple ditty that’s fun to sing along with, but then, when you dig a bit deeper, you see that the chord structures and rhythms are a bit more complex than you first realized; “Maybe Baby” is the example on my mind right now. Like that tune, our protagonist, Frank Parrillo (David Graziano), seems like a simple man (meaning uncomplex; he’s a software developer who telecommutes). He is middle-aged and lonely since his adored wife Isabella (Carlyne Fournier) had died mysteriously three years before. Then, a letter from her unexpectedly arrives in the mail, as he explains to his caring nephew, Tommy (Justin Thibault). Before her passing, he was a typical Eastern Massachusetts (Carver, about 45 miles south of Boston, though the film is shot in a 50 radius of Boston) lug who dismissed Isabella’s suggestions on serenity, but now he’s following her lead post-mortem, mediating and taking life as it comes.

Jami Tennille

He drops into a storefront psychic named Lavinia (Irina Peligrad) on a whim and she warns him of an evil surrounding him. Around this time, he meets a mysterious and scarred man named Grayson (Kris Salvi), and a beautiful (and age appropriate, I’m happy to say) woman who seems to be sashaying everywhere he is, named Mary (Jami Tennille). It’s no question these two are the nastiness Lavinia foretold. How can you tell? Not only do they smoke a lot, but they both draw on the cigarettes really hard. He tends to talk in riddles, and she essentially starts the conversation with “So, you want to fuck me?” Both turn up (at different times) unexpectedly in his home.

Okay, that’s about as much of the plot as I’m gonna give. Mixed in with the madness, there are flashbacks to conversations with his wife, leading up to some missing plot points, and contrasting with his relationship with Mary in the same way Tommy is the anti-Grayson. And that the spirit of Isabella is popping in and out is weighing in on Frank.

Irina Peligrad

Being “psychological,” the big question to ask is how much of this is meta-reality, and how much of it is in Frank’s noggin, considering he’s taking pills because of a breakdown at some point earlier. Plus, in a literary way, one can see the whole devil/angel-shoulder metaphor here, with Mary on one side, Isabella on the other, with Grayson and Lavinia trying to turn him one way or the other.

Despite the languid pace of the story and dialog, and the occasional arty nature of the visuals – and yes, dialog – the film actually is able to keep attention. There’s even a little bit of blood spilt here and there, again, sometimes real and sometimes metaphorical in a dream. Even with all the angles and the coloration of many of the shots, the level of abstraction is rarely high enough to be obtuse (other than occasionally with Grayson’s verbiage).

Kris Salvi

The film also begs the question just who is the titular delusional one? And just what is either delusion or is merely something beyond the knowing? In other words, like that Buddy Holly song, there are different levels to the film in which it can be viewed, but I do believe the deeper the viewer seeks the more satisfaction there is to be had.

Considering the relatively diminutive central cast members (with many smaller parts), there is a decent amount of mayhem to be seen, and even a bit of viscera thrown in to keep it even more interesting. While the few moments of gore are not necessary to the story in the long run, it certainly makes it satisfying for what is unfolding.

Carlyne Fournier and David Graziano

Most of the acting in the film is very “non-acting” and natural feeling, and it took me a while especially to get used to Graziano’s laissez-faire style of going with the flow, but it actually is more of an accomplished build-up of a character. There felt like real affection and chemistry between Graziano and Fournier, which helped the story. Personally, I thought Salvi was trying too hard, and actually would have been more effective to be looser rather than tenser, considering he’s the malevolent Loki or devil figure… or perhaps he’s actually a warning angel; I guess it’s up for interpretation.

The fact that it is debatable for discussion on who is good and evil, and who is delusional – and I would go as far as to say what the definition of delusion in this context is – shows a sharpness of the story and writing. The way the film is shot and the effects added to it (again, the occasional odd angles and hues), I would posit, puts the viewer into the possible delusional position as well.

If you’re looking for a slice-'em-up, even with minimal gore here, this is not for you. If you would like to take a break from that mindless splatter, or just want to think about what you’re looking at, this is a nice little micro-budget indie that stretches itself to fit that bill.

Review: Strawberry Cliff

Text © Richard Gary/Indie Horror Films, 2013

Images from the Internet 

Strawberry Cliff

Directed and written by Chris Chow                     

Cinema Asian Releasing              

105 minutes, 2010 / 2012  

www.MVDvisual.com

Let me take you down coz we’re going to Strawberry Cliff, a late comer in the Asian horror genre that has apparently taken it’s time to get to the Western market. This is strange, considering it is mostly filmed in English and contains location shots in Los Angeles, Paris, and the majority takes place in Hong Kong.

 

 

Apparently, L.A.’s occidental waitress Kate (Leslie-Anne Huff) has the ability to know when someone is going to die just by looking at them, though she doesn’t know how, as is explained in the very first and expository scene. She tells a young man that he will perish that very night. It seems everyone she tells has no more than a couple of days. In typical Asian cinema, there is some figure that is too white to be natural crawling around to help speed things up.

 

 

Leslie-Anne Huff

To further complicate matters, this doomed man, Jason (Anthony Chaput), is part of a mental collective of three called a hive, where different individuals all share a “soul”. They can each see what the other is doing as they live their own lives. One character explains that it is like watching multiple televisions as the same time. Truly a cosmic consciousness. The other two, are Jeanne (Antonella Monceau) in Paris, and Darren (Chinese pop star Eason Chan) in Hong Kong.

 

 

The irony of the film is that while Kate can look at others and know, she cannot do the same with herself, despite the fact she has grown up with a congenital heart disorder that should have killed her years before, even though she is a young woman in this story (the film description is that she is a teen, but I don’t buy that). A secondary fatefulness is due to her and Darren’s particular psychic histories, as both have low-level jobs, with Kate working in a diner and Darren as a bartender; we see both taking abuse from overly masculinist customers. You know something has changed when one stands up to their bully. An inconsistency, however, is that both Jeanne and Jason seem to be doing quite well, judging by their clothes.

 

 

Despite some reminiscence of Ringu (1998), such as the quest and the fate of one of the characters, this film relies a lot more on atmosphere than on horror. Sure, there are a couple of good scary moments peppered within, but much is played up in mood, highlighted by a haunting score full of drawn out violin bass notes and woodwinds.



Eason Chan

While Huff’s Kate is obviously the central character of the film, it is also abundantly clear that Chan is the star. Heck, it’s his picture on the cover, and his appearance is probably what sold most of the copies of this film. The Asian markets love their pop stars, and Chan is right at the A-line. As with so many of these stars, especially in Hong Kong, he is also an actor, but thankfully a good one. This is his first film in English, and though he states that he had to learn a whole different rhythm of acting thanks to the new language (from the making of documentary that is not on the disk, but is on YouTube for those interested), it is seamless, and he appears confident in the role.

 

 

Huff’s character often seems stunned about what is happening or being said around her, but that is not surprising as I have found that Asian horror either over- or under-explains things, and this case is the former. Not a complaint, just an observation.

 

 

Another character of the film is the city of Hong Kong, with its numerous dauntingly high buildings (this statement coming from someone from New York City), and both new opulent and older seedy neighborhoods. For us in the West, a good thing about filming in Hong Kong is that because it was until recently a British regent, nearly everyone speaks English, and all the store signs are bilingual.

 

 

 

The way the film leaves off would make it primed for a sequel, though as far as I know there haven’t been any plans for it. I get the feeling this didn’t get the audience numbers it was expecting, despite Chan’s presence. I’m not surprised, because today’s audience of Asian horror have come to rely on much more creepy killings, in such now classics as the aforementioned the Ringu (The Ring) series, Ju-on (aka, The Grudge, 2002), Gin qwai (The Eye, 2002), or Chakushin ari (2003), rather than this amount of suspense and mood.   

 

That being said, this film kept this viewer’s attention throughout, even with all the expository chatter, and the action moments (such as the growing shadow) were all the sweeter for their moments. Personally, I hope a sequel does rear its head.

Bonus video: