Sometimes working on overcoming an obsession can lead to possibilities beyond a person’s imagination. In the case of Parker (Charlotte Lindsay Marron), the young teenaged protagonist of the Canadian short film Lay Them Straight, those possibilities can even lead to a terrifying new path. Parker is diagnosed with arithmomania, a disorder in which people feel […]
Folklore-based horror meets babysitter-in-peril fright fare in the Canadian short film The Whistler. Writer/director Jennifer Nicole Stang offers up an intriguing spin on Pied Piper tales, introducing a creepy villain who deserves a full-length expansion of his story. Lindsey (Karis Cameron) is charged by her parents with a sudden evening of babysitting her younger sister […]
A dark journey into the mind of a man increasingly obsessed with the desire to be eaten by either animals or monsters, the Belgian horror short Maw (Muil) is a fascinating, unsettling psychological shocker that aims for an artistic approach rather than focusing on the lurid. Matthieu Sys stars as Richard, a lonely elderly-care assistant […]
Rich in atmosphere and a treasure to watch, the short horror film Belladonna is a marvelous effort. From its terrific performances to its mesmerizing cinematography, this latest effort from director/cinematographer/editor Brett Mullen (Bombshell Bloodbath [2014], Fantasma [2017]) is an absolute gem. Opportunistic, smarmy Sam Franco (Sterling Hurst) sees a beautiful blind woman at a social […]
Prolific Canadian horror filmmaker Kyle Martellacci (Canada Day; Candy Skin; I Make Corpses) delivers another stunning shocker with his latest effort, The Scarlet Vultures. An initially enigmatic piece that slowly reveals its dark secrets, the short has been garnering many award nominations during its current early film festival run. Evelyn (Anne-Carolyne Binette) is being interviewed by […]
Prolific horror movie critic, screenwriter, and fiction writer Dan Wilder makes his directorial debut with the short shocker Mercury Screams, a trippy tale of mysterious creatures and miscarriages. The short initially presents itself as footage that was thought lost, from an episode of a 1984 television series exploring paranormal stories titled Within the Gaze […]
With her debut as a writer/director, Mai Nakanishi tackles contemporary social issues in Japan and South Korea by way of a tragic supernatural tale in the short film Hana. A coproduction of those two aforementioned countries — set and shot in Busan, South Korea — Hana offers a take on how a single working mother […]
Prolific filmmaker Wendy Keeling delivers another terrific horror short with Sarah’s Dream. This tale of a possibly sociopathic young woman haunted by perhaps more than just a guilty conscience is highlighted by solid performances and a macabre sense of humor. Sarah (Bailey Ingersoll) is having a tough go of it after her father has committed […]
Writer/director Christopher Jopp delivers an amusing horror short with a decidedly 1980s vibe with Meow. This fun, wicked work recalls the best television terror anthology shows from that decade, but rises above being a simple throwback exercise. Samantha (Eleonore Dendy in a charming performance) has just moved into her own apartment. Her mother (Nancy Marvy) […]
The short film Nite Nite is writer/director Chad Meisenheimer’s mash-up of two time-honored horror conceits: the child who fears that a monster lurks in the bedroom at night, and the babysitter in peril. At a running time of just about three minutes, the short delivers a satisfying jolt of scary fun for the young and […]
Writer/director/editor Don Swaynos’s Don’t Ever Change received a great deal of buzz on its film festival run this year, and for good reason. This deeply dark comedy features a superb job by its cast, and offers some unexpected twists, as well. Karen (Cyndi Williams of You Are Your Body/You Are Not Your Body [2014] and Holy […]
Filmmaker Kyle Martellacci tackled body horror and science fiction in his 2016 outing Candy Skin; now he’s back with another genre-hybrid short. I Make Corpses is a dark-hearted combination of a pre-slasher grindhouse movie and a zombie apocalypse tale, a sort of The Last Serial Killer on Earth by way of George S. Romero and […]
Talented actor Nicholas Vince, who played The Chatterer Cenobite in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Kinski in Barker’s Nightbreed, makes his horror short writing and directorial debut with The Night Whispered. This short will remind viewers of classic supernatural tales, perhaps ones that they read or viewed in their younger years or even today. Check […]
Podcast (gruesomemagazine): Play in new window | Download
DND Creations, a two-man team consisting of Dante Aubain and Danny Summonte, has crafted a short film rife with tension and dread. Mannequin (2017) tells the tale of a young man (Summonte) who receives a box from his uncle that contains the top part of a mannequin. He doesn’t think much of it until he […]
Podcast (gruesomemagazine): Play in new window | Download
Unsuspecting first-time viewers may be puzzled at first as they begin to watch writer/director Robin Comisar’s Great Choice short film, with thoughts such as “So it’s a Red Lobster commercial from the 1990s? So what?” Then, slowly and subtly at first and then building to a startling climax, the short weaves its looping spell, as […]