Director: Nick Rowland EXE Producer Michael Fassbender Starring: Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan, David Wilmot, Ned Dennehy, Niamh Algar .UK. 1h 40m
There’s a point in everyone’s life when their past catches up with them and atonement, regret and a moment of awakening can’t be ignored. But when your past is muddled with the dark underbelly of the Ireland fighting and gang scene this event usually arrives with a shed load of pain and grief and that’s what Arm has to deal with in Nick Rowlands debut movie.
Rowlands career was mostly shorts and TV segments, and I don’t think anyone would have been something this powerful coming next, but Calm with Horses is a masterclass of powerful drama and questionable characters.
It’s not easy to get your footing with this delightfully spun story following the evening of a particular family as they ready themselves to receive a new dinner guest. The youngest member of the family is a troubled girl, one who has issues with her fathers death and her elder twin siblings. It’s her sister who’s bringing home a new boyfriend and the only way she believes she can save his life is to attack him with a knife..
Upstairs is a really tight thriller with remarkable acting and a totally engrossing story that I believe can be extended into a full length movie with ease. WIth it’s dark paranormal undertones and folk horror flavors this will delight.
Director: Jane Schoenbrun Starring: Anna Cobb; Michael J Rogers .USA. 1h 26m
In reasponse to a slew of online challenges, either real or unreal, our children have been exposed to the horrors of Slenderman and Momo, and challenged to chuck ice water over themselves to spread awareness or apparently the comitt suicide in the blue whale challnge or wishing for death in Randomnautica, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of this cyber phenomenan. We’ve already seen what an entity from the web can do to a young woman in Daniel Goldhaber’s Cam (2017), but this is something of a step in the “weird” direction..
Director: Scott Derrickson Starring: Ethan Hawk, Miguel Cazarez, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies USA. 1h m
Black phone does all it can to NOT be the typical horror movie, and what it achieves is something not only beautifully crafted but it will keep fans puzzling over the finer details for decades.
Initially kicking off with the troubled life of 13 year old Finney Blake (Thames) , he’s shy and spends his days avoiding bullies and amusing his adorable little sister Gwen (McGraw), their father is constantly at his wits end and often beats the kids more from anger than from being a tough parent but the family get along in their own troubled way, Finney’s best friend is the toughest kid in school, Robin a kid who’s got a mean right hand but needs Finney’s help with his math homework so they look after each other.
Director: Michael Pataki Starring: Richard Basehart, Gloria Grahame, Trish Stewart, Lance Henriksen, Al Ferrara, Jojo D’Amore .USA. 1h 29m
Pataki was a much loved, versatile actor but during his fullfilling career he also directed 3 movies including a risque Cinderella involved a black gay “fairy” godmother who helps Cindereally meet prince charming at a blindfolded orgy, and this crazy gory mad scientst thriller.
For the most part the film rolls out as a reverse Eyes Without a Face, instead of having to replace a face, this crazed doctor is attempting to replace a girl’s eyes. Burdened with guilt the renowned LA Ophthalmologist Dr Leonard Chaney (Basehart) becomes obsessed with restoring the sight of his only daughter, who had barely survived a near fatal crash. Unable to find the willing donors or the raw materials, the Doctor’s dark basement is a gresome reminder of his now blind human experiments.
Holy fuck campers it’s my birthday week! cheer the fuck up and lets go Karaoke!! Or watch some short movies.. no pressure.
Don’t Feed The Cat
Director: J Zachary Thurman
A young woman has the important mission of helping out her elderly grandfather, who is currently suffering from the effects of Altzheimers. On entering his dilapidated home she brings to pack for him, while on the phone to her mother she starts her chores, watering plants packing his clothes and after finding a note in the oven, “don’t feed the cat” she does wonder where the old guys marbles might be as her mother confirms he doesn’t have a cat, until a gentle meowing comes from the basement…. Surely she has to feed the creature… whatever it might be…
The setting is one of the main characters in this tense horror movie, and it’s so massively short but wholesome, holding onto all the best features of any modern horror, it’s pretty slick and I love it.
Lustless
Director: Yousuf Majid
What could possibly go wrong when you order a beautiful escort for the night? Well a young man discovers that he’s ordered more than he can afford when his date turns up with something shiny in her bag…
The opening scene of the movie really sets the viewer up, so I don’t want to spoil it for you but it’s a brilliant cloak and dagger effet from Majid who luls his audience into a false sense of nerves when he opens with an anti red herring. The rest of the movie becomes a twisted nightmare with characters changing from victim to persecutor as the plot unfolds.
It’s strangely satisfying in the way a silent thriller can be. You’ll never quite be able to settle but this does open the movie up for the criticism of what’s really going on when the goal posts keep changing? But on the other hand there’s no way to guess what’s happening next and that in itself is a rare thing.. keep it coming.
Cropped Circles
Director: Mike Stanley
This charming ghost story has a lot of potential and creativity. I know the term homemade can anger some people but I only use it in terms of the Movie Shorts where someone has had to use their mind and natural born talent over throwing cash into special effects, but it REALLY works here. The intro reminds me of a Movie Effects or a power point being played out, the music is all the standard free stuff, but none of these factors are the magic with Mike Stanley’s unsettling movie.
The set up is around a haunted house, a museum of items that are sought out by the dead to help them pass onto somewhere bigger and better, and what follows is a collage of movie effects that really submerged the viewer into a dreamy purgatory of one man trying to find his way … somewhere.. Doors in the woods, ghostly girls and dolls wander around glitching out of our reality, his focus switches from macro ants to the dark and mysterious world around him. it’s simply brilliant, hopefully Mike is still making experimental movies like this?
Box Fort
Director: Tyler Czajkowski
Based on the r/NoSleep / Creepypasta of the same name, a couple of sisters make a box fort, but during the night they begin to wonder if there’s something alive within their paper creation…
Once the family pet begins to act weird in the cardboard tunnels one of the sisters attempts to creep in and retrieve the dedicated pet but is soon chased either by her fear of the enclosed space or by something ethereal..
I can see why the story is so popular, it’s hella creepy and touches on the whole liminal fears we create for ourselves. Lovingly recreated by Tyler Czajkowski, this whole project is such a successful story that’s bound to get under your skin.. you’ll never leave your packing boxes open again.
The Little Things
Director: Sam Kassover
When a businessman has to take refuge in a random airbnb for the night after his plans are unexpectedly changed, the most he wants from his accommodation is a good night’s sleep, instead he’s faced with a night of upset, the owner is also home for the night, and the chatterbox won’t give the man any peace, along with the noise he’s unwell and there’s just something unsettling about the entire night that keep him on edge.
Lurking deep within the basement is something that should reside in an 80’s pulpy horror movie, and that’s the charm of this character driven horror, The Little Things sits neatly somewhere in between Basketcase and The Brood! It’s a brilliant film, it unfolds the plot steadily and uses just enough practical effects to keep it interesting and grounded. The actors are really cool and it’s just fun from beginning to end.
Hopefully you enjoyed this week’s list, if there are any short movies that you can recommend please let me know.
Director: Michael Petroni Starring: Adrian Brody; Sam Neil; Bruce Spence. USA/Australia. 1h 30m
Surprisingly dull supernatural thriller starring a couple of big names, refuses to make a splash despite having the makings of a depressingly creepy horror but it’s just too long winded and lacking on many fronts which is a shame as usually the cast shine above others.
Set in a misty post apocalyptic landscape, a cottage becomes a safe haven for a long traveler, allowing them time to reflect, taking a trip down memory lane with a corpse, a lonely salvation, a night away from the monsters.
Hickey’s powerful thriller is highly effective and a deep dive into atmospherics, it’s the king of the world you’d expect to see if Frank Darabont’s The Mist was able to carry on spreading. it’s sad and chilling
Inmundus
Director : Reddit
This project was made for a final student piece, using Unreal Engine 4. the hyperreal and crystal clear graphics lead the way in a stylized movie that plays with aspects of size and scale. The camera follows a man on a strange journey through eras and very different landscapes rising and falling along the way focusing on a tiny moth then a metropolis. All the while the imposing modern world systems to be stifling the natural environment around it. is that the overall message of this short or is it just a consequence?
However you read it, the work is probably just an excuse to show what the student has learnt but I’m so excited that they have shared this film as for me at least it tells a vibrant story and I hope they are still being creative.
Goldilocks
Director : Blake Simon
I wasn’t quite sure where this tense sci-fi short was going, and it’s bound to keep viewers guessing. There are so many possibilities when it comes to space exploration and Blake Simon probes the darkest and lightest moments within his film.
Initially a man wakes up from some kind of hypersleep, his mission appears to be searching for another Goldilock planet. Going about his normal routine with an uplifting promise in his heart, things take a tragic turn when he realizes his communications are hours behind and there’s possibly been an a terrible event happening/ed to his loved one.
Being lost in space or at the mercy of the element in deep space is incredibly terrifying and all of those safety net free moments are touched on here. The sets look amazing and acting matches the creative nature of the movie that attempts to answer the questions arising searching for another goldilock planet.
Into the Night
Director Chris Goldade
This multifaceted short movie is worth your attention more than once. Despite it’s dark nature there’s a lot of intrigue going on in Golade’s short that gets your morality in check with it’s probing questions.A man flees from a fatal accident, he unwittingly hits a woman off her bike late at night, panic’s and heads home, but he’s crushing emotions and irreparable guilt seems to get the better of him.
There’s an insanetwist to the movie that bisects the plot, introduces “new” character and silver lines the already chilling movie with a dose of “fuck no”.
So much attention has been paid to the tiny elements that, the amplified sounds, choice of olde time music that sets this story in the then and now. The mix of instantly clear and muffled sounds, the bokeh and active angles allows Goldade to push his audience in and out of his lead’s head. With events like this it’s a director’s dream to attempt to show grief, regret and in some cases consequences, and this is achieved with grace in Into the Night, a film that will grab your attention with outstanding class.
Director: Tony Sebastian Ukpo Starring: Eke Chukwu. Haruka Abe. Gabby Wong, Anthony Ofoegbu .USA. 1h 30m
This subdued experimental movie seems to tell a pair of harmonious stories, set in a bleak future where space travel is everyday and our social norms are quite alien from what we understand today.
Initially an astronaut has crash lands in a tranquil field and attempts to find help but the social dynamics is unsettling to him, families seem to be “clumped” together any male plays a father, any child adapts to the family they find themselves with that day, language isn’t a barrier, it seems everyone is adapted to all human languages and it just rolls off the tongue.
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