Canadian director Kyle Martellacci is a prolific director of terrific horror shorts that tackle myriad subgenres and nail each one. He turns in what I feel is some of his finest work in his latest effort from Red Razor Pictures, supernatural shocker She Must Vanish.
Martellaci wrote, directed, edited, shot, and produced She Must Vanish, and he obviously didn’t stretch himself too thin in any of these departments because the short is a gripping work as mesmerizing as its main character, young witch Mia (Anne-Carolyne Binette). In the opening scene, this woman has slaughtered a man and removed his heart, and when walking in a park area afterward, she encounters a woman who warns her that the town has a dangerous reputation. Mia pays little mind because she is off to meet her next victim. Unheeded warnings in horror movies never end well for those ignoring them, but she tempts fate. Binette gives a first-rate performance, playing her role in an understated manner, and infusing Mia with a quiet confidence and a strong inner resolve.
She Must Vanish looks superb, including gorgeous seaside shots that fairly hypnotize. Martellacci knows his way around a terror tale and helms the short at a nice pace, letting its mysteries unravel slowly after a powerful opening that offers the film’s first taste of splendid gruesome effects work from special makeup effects artist Geneviève Bigras.
She Must Vanish is the type of horror short that casts a spell on viewers, a fitting thing considering its supernatural subject matter. The film, which is just beginning its film festival run, gets a strong recommendation from me.
For more information including future screenings, visit https://www.facebook.com/RedRazorPictures/.
She Must Vanish screened at GenreBlast, which ran at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia, from August 29– September 1.
(4 / 5)
He is a contributing writer for the "Phantom of the Movies VideoScope" and “Drive-In Asylum” print magazines and the websites Horror Fuel, Diabolique Magazine, The Scariest Things, B&S About Movies, and When It Was Cool. He is a co-host of the "Uphill Both Ways" pop culture nostalgia podcast and also writes for its website. Joseph occasionally proudly co-writes articles with his son Cohen Perry, who is a film critic in his own right.
A former northern Californian and Oregonian, Joseph has been teaching, writing, and living in South Korea since 2008.
