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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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Filmmaker Alex DiVincenzo’s Halloween-themed horror/dark-comedy short Root of All Evil is impressive, but even moreso when considering that it was made in less than two days and had to adhere to a strict set of rules. This is because the short was created as part of the Providence (Rhode Island) 48 Hour Film Project, in […]
A young girl finds herself caught between her religious beliefs and a very Earthly evil in writer/director Stellan Kendrick’s horror short Goodnight, Gracie (2017). Though less than four minutes long, the film creates a looming sense of dread and packs quite a wallop in a stunningly presented effort. Elementary school-aged Gracie (Caige Coulter) is resting […]
Admonition, director Alexander Mattingly’s eighth and latest short film, is an eerie work that hangs heavy with dread throughout. Low-key lighting and effective use of shadows — as well as portraying something just beyond those shadows — helps mount a macabre atmosphere, and having one of the lead characters being deaf adds a sense of […]
Joseph Perry reviews the short film Pronoia from Marevan Pictures and writer/director Nick Efteriades. The short features Stelio Savante as Jeff, Hannah Jane McMurray as Camille, and Lou Mastantuono (AKA Lou Mast) as a policeman, in an enigmatic neo-noir mystery thriller with science fiction elements. Jeff and Camille meet on a stormy night in a […]
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In her latest horror short For a Good Time, Call . . ., director Izzy Lee tackles the topic of posting Internet sex tapes without the willing consent of both victims. The victim in this case makes a wish that results in a terrifying situation for the perpetrator and a nifty slice of scare fare […]
Writer/director Amelia Moses tackles body horror, social anxiety, and the potential aftermaths of unsafe sex straight-on in her unnerving, disturbing short film Undress Me. Although these themes may have been explored in both feature-length and short films before, Moses makes her mark with a chilling character study featuring truly disturbing special effects, and offers food […]
Gail Morris (writer/director April Phillips) is a security guard who discovers the chilling, but potentially world-changing, secrets of a mute homeless man in the New Zealand horror/science-fiction thriller REM. This offering packs a lot of drama and emotional weight in its running time of approximately 14 minutes. On her rounds one night, Morris discovers a […]
Australian short chiller Alfred J Hemlock is a top-notch short film that balances eerie menace with whimsical charm and a dash of dark humor. The production values are marvelous and the acting is a delight in director Edward Lyons’ latest effort. Emily (Renaye Loryman) is unceremoniously dumped — pretty much literally and figuratively — by […]
Director Wendy Keeling follows up last year’s horror comedy short The Unconventional Gourmet, reviewed here, with a dramatic thriller about a convicted rapist who is freed from prison on a technicality, and the nurse he meets in a bar on his first day of freedom. While Shades of Scarlet has a few darkly humorous moments, its […]