Reviews, and insights into the shorter movies that are often forgotten. These may only be a few minutes long but provide fascinating raw independent talent, from the directors of tomorrow. low budget and surreal imagination is the key to a lot of the films, thought provoking and haunting.
A moody and disturbing dive into poverty, starvation and the loss of a child during potato blight in Ireland. A young couple struggle to survive during a famine but once their young child dies the mother goes into a psychosis believing her child will return as a changeling.
It feels a bit lengthy for the amount of story it tells, but it stays faithful to an overbearing melancholy atmosphere and incorporates some brilliant effects in terms of the changeling itself. Very interesting work overall.
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.
A delightful student project from Tyler Buss that hits on all the typical horror elements such as dramatic noises, a torture artist and creepy cellphone pictures.
An artist and his friend are awaiting the arrival of a patron, a notable collector of art who chooses a quiet hour to visit and view his commission. but are instead visited by an eternally creepy entity.
It’s not all horror and gore, there is a deep philosophical conversation about the artist separating themselves from the world and their art, unexpected but shows a level of flexibility and character for a young director.
Without a budget, traine actors and special effects this is still a superb effort, not exactly a master class in art but a perfect beginning for Tyler if he chooses to carry on making horror stories with sharp twisted endings.
When a fake healer attempts to exercise a woman possessed by a Djinn, his fake work is spotted by her husband and things become complicated as the truth slowly seeps out of Hana Kazim’s beautifully shot and engrossing short movie.
Initially we’re lead down a supernatural path only for the carpet to be stripped out from under the feet of the audience as well as one of the main cast.The twist in the movie hits much harder than any of the long drawn out hollywood epics, There’s a sharp and hard lesson to be learnt here.
On the surface this slick comedy that challenges a bitter case of toxic masculinity quickly evolves into a drama of the senses that Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani would be proud of.
Centered around a charity badminton match, the local macho hero Carol is forced to confront his ideas of masculinity when he becomes obsessed with a new member, a man who’s able to match him while maintaining a feminie air of grace about his technique.
Tommy Gillard has a brilliant technique and captures the emotions between his characters through narrow shots and breathtaking close ups. But once the top dog is threested by the new competitor, the younger and more delicate newbie manages to win everyone over by grace more than brute strength and an attempt to suggest what true strength is.
Markus Meedt’s comedy horror seems to break all the rules for the sake of art and a few giggles. A bunch of friends are hanging out and playing a game but when things get a tad boring they begin to play a game of werewolf, this is when a mysterious stranger turns GM and things get a big redic. The game is simple each night the werewolf claims a victim and the locals lynch the suspected critter.
It’s a bit of messy fun, not much scarier than a halloween giff gaff advert but it’s technically sound and has a chill in the closing.
An eerie retelling of a classic Edgar Allan Poe story, following the aural abuse of a guilty man. Waterhouse films AKA Patrick Stagg have done an excellent job at building mood in this deep sea blue chromatic nightmare. The Tell Tale Heart, a story that has influenced a number of horrors, bites back and reminds us there’s no escape from a guilty mind and there is no escape from an internal mental prison and watching this man spiral into hell is strangely provocative against a beautifully sad score.
A man suffering from depression finds some solace with a strange lump emerging from his side. There’s a strange warmth in this short Finish stop motion film that rings bells with an equally bizarre cult classic, How to get ahead in Advertising or that episode of Family Guy with chips but with a much more rewarding ending. A worthy project by Elli Vuorinen, Pinja Partanen, Jasmiini Ottelin.
On the eve of her 30th birthday a Black London bus driver finds a strange entity on her night bus. Taking the unusual turn of not having a screaming blonde teenager as their main character, directors Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth have made a strong independent black woman a viable strong heroine. Using atmospheric sounds and clever camera work they build up as the bus ride begins to rattle the nerves of the young woman.
The feisty London attitude really kicks in after the bus gets a mind of it’s own and attempts to drive off Christine style but the battle is on when the entity begins to move around and the doors are locked.
It’s such a powerful and highly creepy showdown between creepy old hag type entity and Lakisha from Bromwell High, and rare that a female character decided to kick ass straight away but our girl is like “Na Mate” and goes MMA on this laughing ghoul. It’s refreshing and has a solid execution.
Lucy Rose’s traumatizing dark fantasy film is on par with Hagasuzza at times with tormented characters roaming around a hauntedly shifty world of spirits and repressed memories. Maud’s domineering mother has passed but faced with freedom the young woman is faced with a dark entity in her home, at first stealing her prayer beads, the encounters become more ferocious.
With an unsettling mic of music from Die Hexenand perfect costumes from Maddy Williamson, Rachel Teate is cast deep into a historic where the unknown comes knocking all too frequently. Rose uses a few surreal shots to highlight Mauds frightening experiences but otherwise her world is just one massive supernatural trip, at one point, after a prophetic dream, Maud attempts to end the matter with a bizarre bloody ritual which has devastating results.
Admit One Film Addict 