Short Movie Roundup 26 March 2023

Stalked

Director: Wesley Mellott

Chilling creature feature starring a group of young filmmakers and a creepy ass scarecrow. It’s similar to a few of the existing Scarecrow movies out there however it has a much more bitter and twisted ending which is always appreciated.

Mellott is quite dynamic with his approach to filming, taking every strange angle he can find as his characters attempt to film a documentary about a town that just vanished overnight. being the ever eager kids that they are, nothing is going to deter them from this hot and spooky story. A little bit of pranking goes a long way in these situations and to top it off there’s a bit of a relationship power struggle.

The monster in the flick is a high point as even after the reveal it remains quite mysterious, it’s stunning work with great results, hopefully there’s more work from this team to come.

Continue reading Short Movie Roundup 26 March 2023

Short Movie Roundup 19 March 2023

Viral

Director: Christopher McClean / C.L. Lowry

Fun thriller centered around aged old wives tales of the Tarot and the dangers of using the occult for lies and greed. A group intends to use a live tarot reading to gain online notoriety, however when their plans are uncovered by a devout follower she confronts them and leaves a little gift, a card typically numbered 13 and depicting Death..

Anyone who knows a shred of anything to do with the Tarot will know that the death card doesn’t mean death, and pulling more than one in a reading would be a huge warning to leave your house and burn it.

But facts aside, this is still a lively movie, with a great tit for tat revenge story behind it all, it’s a touch clunky at times but the script and action keeps it moving.

Continue reading Short Movie Roundup 19 March 2023

Short Movie Roundup 12 March 2023

The Exit Plan

Director: Angus Wilkinson

This cleverly written, thought provoking drama that see’s an older generation having to take a stand against a younger and less understanding world. In Wilkinsons short, a government official is sent to a house where a woman resides with her elderly mother, as the the mother is getting on and there’s a housing/space shortage the mother is to be “canceled” for lack of a better word, legally and medically disposed of just because there’s not enough space for her.

It paints a picture of an overpopulated world and a cold approach to dealing with the warm bodies of our loved ones. Old people’s homes aren’t an option anymore but instead we’ll just eat the soylent green and murder those who we don’t think can offer anything to society any more..

Obviously there’s a slick twist, and more food for thought, in this sensitively produced short with lots of punch.

Continue reading Short Movie Roundup 12 March 2023

Spell (2020)

Director: Mark Tonderai
Starring: Omari Hardwick, Loretta Devine .USA. 1h 31m

18 years on from Ian Softleys powerful hoodoo thriller Skeleton Key (2005), the time and tested horror had graduated into Spell, which is a strange name for a rootworking movie but nonetheless no one will be surprised when the incantations, grimoire and ritual work is let loose. However this darkened story has closer ties with Misery (1990) and the Hills Have Eyes (1977/2005).

Continue reading Spell (2020)

Short Movie Roundup 05 March 2023

The Milkman

Director: Vincent Dorman

There are a lotta chills to send you lactose intolerant in Dorman‘s short spooky film. A man investigates a comic through a vintage Peep Scope and inadvertently invites an evil entity into his home in the guise of a killer milkman. With a powerful drive this killer entity is totally relentless. If you’re familiar with the haunted camera unleashing an entity then you’ll be forgiven for thinking this is like the others but it does in fact play off the trope and does deliver a new vibe so check it out.

Continue reading Short Movie Roundup 05 March 2023

Possessor (2020)

Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Sean Bean, Jenniger Jason leigh .Canada. 1h 43m

the junior Cronenberg stirkes again with yet another brilliant, mind bending, reality busting concept, this time he’s matures his process and developed a highly stylish assasination bureau where agents enter the minds of a close associate of their victim via an implant, allowing the prefect kill to be commited, once the job is done, the agent gets their host to commit suicide and they are “pulled” out of the persons mind and back into their own body, it’s advanced, but so simple and intraceable.

Continue reading Possessor (2020)

The Lighthouse (2019)

Director: Robert Eggers Starring: Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson .USA/Canada. 1h 49m.

An uncategorizable and slightly experimental frolic through unfinished literature and art. Rober Eggers and his brother Max attempt to finish a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe with a gusty and challenging drama that borders on fantasy.

Two Wickies (Lighthouse Keepers) are stranded on their isolated island for an extended time due to a prolonged storm and they begin to trip down a psycho sexual rabbit hole during some intense alone time that draws in cabin fever.

Continue reading The Lighthouse (2019)