The Japanese short film Furube is a contemplative meditation on not forgetting old traditions and beliefs as modern “progress” marches on. It invokes different forms of the otherworldy: aliens from outer space and traditional gods of Japan who are believed to protect the Earth and humans. Shibata (Yujiro Taguchi) is spending a peaceful day in […]
A police officer enters a home to find an elderly woman in the kitchen dripping blood from her mangled, fingerless hands. A few seconds later the cop almost falls into the maggot riddled corpse of the man’s wife, propped up in an old armchair in front of the TV. What happens next? Nothing. At another […]
The dating world has never been easy, but Ed Larson is making it even tougher on some people: his murder victims. He is obsessed with serial killers — photos of whom adorn his bedroom walls — and with serial killing. Director Colton Tran’s horror–comedy short Killer Date takes a look at Ed’s methods and at […]
There are many reasons a person goes to see a horror movie. They want to be scared. They want to be thrilled. They want to be grossed out. Above all, they want to be entertained. Not many people go to a horror movie to be lectured, and while there should be no arguing against the […]
Baby Yoda may have taken over the world, but while everyone is reveling in his cuteness-overload I was reminded of an equally precious predecessor. When the adorable mogwai Gizmo popped on-screen during a showing of Gremlins in 4DX, my heart sighed. His furry tiny body, and charming personality easily rival Baby Yoda. He was the […]
Meet the Vaubarns, husband Peter (Max Cavenham) and expectant wife Louise (Emma Kelly), a British suburban couple at the center of the U.K. horror short Burn. They quibble over watching some gruesome news on the television and joke about washing the dishes. They seem to have a happy relationship and are thrilled at the prospect […]
A group of internet hoax busters goes on a team-building retreat to Whiskey Flats, Oregon, and winds up finding out the hard way that not all urban legends — or in this case, a very rural one — are ruses in the new horror outing Get Gone. Writer/director Michael Thomas Daniel’s first narrative feature is […]
Not every horror movie needs to be a gore-filled, action-packed thrill ride; there’s a lot to be said for films that take the time to develop strong characters and build a slow-burn atmosphere of nail-biting tension that drives the audience to the edge long before anything actually happens on the screen. Lost Gully Road, directed […]
On the surface, Red Handed is the story of three estranged brothers whose trip to spread their dad’s ashes along the supposedly spooky Sazerac River gets derailed by a weird religious cult, lead by their creepy uncle (Michael Biehn in a glorified cameo), that plan to kidnap one of their children and use him in […]
Writer/director Heidi Lee Douglas blends virus horror with an ecological message in her latest Australian short film, Devil Woman. The result is an engaging effort that both educates and entertains. Eddy (Marigold Pazar) is a university science student helping fellow ecology researchers Possum (Leith Alexander) and Alice (Flame Kimball) find proof that endangered Tasmanian devils […]
One of the main draws about foreign horror films is that they often introduce viewers to new or unfamiliar mythologies, or unusual takes on familiar stories. This is certainly the case with the South African film 8, and viewers looking for something out of the ordinary in the supernatural vein should be quite pleased with […]
The first film from Newfoundland selected in the history of Canada’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival, New Woman is a remarkable gothic horror short. It is absolutely drenched in atmosphere. The gorgeous exterior shots and wonderfully detailed interior shots belie the film’s modest budget, and the horror is of the classic, slow-reveal kind. In […]
Caper movie meets horror story in the Canadian short film The Remnant when a group of con artists try to pull one over on an elderly lady. Director Navin Ramaswaran serves up a thrilling supernatural tale that is an absolute blast to watch unfold. Sheila Hargrave (Jill Frappier) lives alone in a large, well-appointed home. […]
Horror shorts and feature films that hearken back to the 1980s heyday of theater releases and straight-to-video in the fright fare genre have been plentiful for the past few years, with the quality ranging from incredible to practically unwatchable, and the nods ranging from homage to pastiche to unoriginal aping. Writer/director Rich Ragsdale’s new short […]
Writer/director Brian Shephard delivers good old-fashioned creepiness in his debut short film, Terror Road. Recalling 1980s horror movies and such television favorites as Monsters and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, the short is both a fun throwback film for adults and a fine “introduction to horror” work for younger audiences. This two-hander sees wife […]