Director Matt Wisniewski’s short film Pappy’s World (2018) is a surreal, jaw-dropping, pleasantly confounding blend of live action and animation. It’s bizarre yet wholly accessible in its telling of the carnage of an evil doll secretly unwrapped before Christmas. A girl (Jaz Frazier) uses her sleeping grandfather’s cane to reach a box at the top […]
Writer/director Hyun Lee’s Australian short Asian Girls is an enigmatic, wholly arresting look at two young neighbor women who live highly contrasting lives — and who haunt each other’s dreams. Striking visuals and a striking soundtrack drive this dialogue-free piece. Chan (Rainbow Chan) is a Chinese seamstress who subsists on instant noodles and boiled black […]
Bohemian Industries’ short film Kiss the Devil in the Dark is an eye-popping visual feast that blends a dark Faustian fantasy with shades of classic Hammer Film Productions and Eurohorror vibes. Fans of practical creature effects will find plenty to enjoy here, as well, with the legendary Doug Jones on hand in dual roles. The […]
Blind dates are perfect fodder for horror films, and the short Foxwood takes that notion to highly entertaining levels. Claire (Kalen Marie George) and Nick (cowriter/codirector Ian Hock) meet in person at a bar after some online introductions. After Claire reluctantly accepts a drink after Nick insists, they take a for-hire van to her rather […]
Nothing can get in the way of two sisters who have dreams of becoming Johnny Depp’s personal chefs — not even a crime of passion — in the hilarious, glop-ridden horror comedy short Lunch Ladies. This colorful, energetic romp is a fun blast of feel-good horror comedy. Seretta (Donna Pieroni) and LouAnne (Mary Manofsky) are […]
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]) Â 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;Â 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. Â 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 […]